Christine & Irene Hohenbüchler

Born 1964 in Vienna (AT)
Live and work in Eichgraben (AT)

The work of Christine and Irene Hohenbüchler engages with different sociotopes, exploring their microcosms in order to develop what are often participatory forms of art projects with the relevant protagonists. What the artists themselves titled multiple authorship relates to the twin sisters' joint work, which in this case not only comprises a twofold but, in a psychoanalytical sense, brings components of multiple personalities into play, supplementing these further with the participation of other individuals. This differentiated, situation-specific working method frequently allows the Hohenbüchler sisters' works to emerge in new forms, whereby there is no superficial preference regarding the levels of expression of particular media. The focus on different forms of materiality and textures is always being re-explored. This is also due to the fact that the twin sisters, who have been exhibiting together since 1988, themselves come from different disciplines: Irene from painting and Christine from sculpture. For both of them, the artistic act per se should be in the foreground of a discussion where the resulting product is merely the outcome of a long process of discussion and reflection.

“The thesis of this article is that the Hohenbüchler sisters' artistic procedures are distinguished by the fact that they define their authorship as multiple. This is not only because both sisters contribute to many of their works or because they often work with non-artistic people, whose artistic work is integrated into their own, but also because, on the textual level, they bring together literary, philosophical, historical and scientific texts as well. But they also do that on the image level, as the last work discussed here demonstrates. Their preoccupation with the world puts everyday life experience, art, nature and philosophy on one level, thus making it renegotiable. By ignoring the appropriate code, Christine and Irene Hohenbüchler are in a position to open up completely new worlds of thought and imagery with their work.” (Hildegund Amanshauser)