THE STORY BEHIND NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE
THE CHURCH PAINTER AND THE PHARMACIST •
IN 1912, THE CHURCH PAINTER ANTON NIEDERMAIER (1886–1932) PURCHASED A PLOT OF LAND ALONG A GRAVEL ROAD – NOW KNOWN AS THE B471. ON THIS LAND, HE BUILT HIS RESIDENCE WITH AN ATTACHED STUDIO, WHERE HE LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY. DURING THE WINTER MONTHS, HE CREATED NUMEROUS DESIGNS FOR HIS CHURCH PAINTINGS, WHICH HE THEN COMPLETED DURING THE WARM SUMMER SEASON.
AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1932, HIS WIDOW MARIA AND THEIR TWO CHILDREN, ANTONIE AND HANS, MANAGED TO PRESERVE HIS LEGACY THROUGH GREAT EFFORT. TOGETHER WITH ANTONIE’S HUSBAND WILHELM, THEY BUILT A WOODEN STRUCTURE IN THE MIDST OF WAR, WHERE THE PHARMACIST DR. HANS NIEDERMAIER FOUNDED A COMPANY IN 1939. THIS COMPANY GREW IN SUCCESS, AND IN 1950, THE THREE OF THEM – ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THEIR OWN – CONSTRUCTED THE FIRST TWO-STORY BUILDING, “LOTUS.”
IN THIS BUILDING, LIQUEURS WERE PREPARED IN LARGE GLASS CONTAINERS, SUCH AS APRICOT BRANDY AND DANZIGER GOLDWASSER. THE ALCOHOL FOR THESE WAS PURCHASED FROM THE MONOPOLY OFFICE.
DRUG STORAGE AND BOILER HOUSE •
THE TONIC “GALAMA” WAS ALSO PRODUCED UNDER CONTRACT MANUFACTURING – BASED ON A UNIQUE RECIPE AND MADE FROM PLANT-BASED ACTIVE INGREDIENTS, KNOWN AS “DRUGS” (HERBAL SUBSTANCES). THEREFORE, IN 1953, A LOW STRUCTURE CALLED THE “OLD GALAMA HOUSE” WAS BUILT.
WHEN THE PRODUCTION OF “GALAMA” REQUIRED LARGER CAPACITIES, AN EXTENSION WAS ADDED IN 1972. THIS EXTENSION WAS STRUCTURALLY REINFORCED TO HOLD A PERCOLATOR WITH A CAPACITY OF APPROXIMATELY 3,000 LITERS. IT WAS CONNECTED TO THE “BOILER HOUSE,” LINKING BOTH BUILDINGS INTO A SINGLE UNIT.
HERBS AND WATER WERE POURED INTO THE LARGE PERCOLATOR FROM THE FIRST FLOOR THROUGH A SLIDING LID TO BOIL A HERBAL EXTRACT. THIS EXTRACT WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO TANKS, MIXED WITH ALCOHOL, AND BOTTLED. THE REMAINING HERBAL RESIDUE WAS PARTIALLY USED AS ORGANIC FERTILIZER.
AFTER DR. NIEDERMAIER’S DAUGHTER TOOK OVER THE COMPANY, IT EXPANDED TO BECOME THE GLOBAL MARKET LEADER IN CASCADE FERMENTATION. A TWO-STORY DISTILLATION UNIT WAS INSTALLED IN THE PERCOLATOR BUILDING TO DISTILL ALCOHOL FOR ISLAMIC COUNTRIES. THUS, THE BUILDINGS WERE ADAPTED OVER TIME TO MEET THE COMPANY’S AND OWNERS’ NEEDS: OFFICES, PRODUCTION ROOMS, BOTTLING ROOMS, MANUFACTURING AREAS, PACKAGING ROOMS, STORAGE AREAS, AND LIVING SPACES.
AS THE COMPANY’S SUCCESS CONTINUED TO GROW, IT EXPANDED AND MOVED INTO A LARGER BUILDING IN HOHENBRUNN IN 2016.
AN ENDING, THREE FRIENDS, AND NEW BEGINNINGS •
THE HOUSE AND PROPERTY REMAINED COMPLETELY UNUSED FOR SEVERAL YEARS AFTER THE COMPANY MOVED OUT, UNTIL IN 2014, AN ARTIST, A CURATOR, AND A CREATOR CROSSED PATHS.
MARC THALBERG, MANUELA HILLMANN, AND JOHANNES ROTH.
ARTIST MARC WAS STILL WORKING IN A STUDIO IN GIESING AT THE TIME, WHICH WAS SOON TO BE DEMOLISHED. WHEN THE DEMOLITION TOOK PLACE IN 2016, MANUELA, TOGETHER WITH ALVA ANGELI, CURATED A FINAL EXHIBITION THERE TITLED "NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE," FEATURING MARC'S WORKS AND THE OPEN DOOR COLLECTIVE. THIS MARKED THE FAREWELL TO AN ARTISTIC HOME — BUT ALSO THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER. WHILE SEARCHING FOR HIS NEXT WORKSPACE, MARC DISCOVERED THE OLD FACTORY THROUGH JOHANNES. THERE WAS NO HEATING, NO TOILET, BUT SOON THERE WAS A VISION: FROM STUDIOS TO EXHIBITION SPACES, AN ARTIST HOUSE WAS ABOUT TO BE BORN.
STARTING IN 2017, MANUELA HILLMANN, MARC THALBERG, AND JOHANNES ROTH BEGAN RENOVATING THE BUILDING AND TRANSFORMING IT INTO NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE. THIS WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE OUTSTANDING WORK OF CRAFTSMEN ADRIAN COSTIN LEOCAN AND GEORGE TIGAERU, DEDICATED HELP FROM FRIENDS, AND THE GENEROUS SUPPORT — BOTH IN KNOWLEDGE AND FINANCIAL MEANS — FROM THE ROTH FAMILY.
AS A RESULT, SIX PRIVATE STUDIOS, ONE GROUP STUDIO, A SHARED KITCHEN, TWO EVENT SPACES, AN EXHIBITION ROOM, AND TWO TERRACES WERE CREATED.
NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE, GETTING REAL •
FOLLOWING THE VIBRANT HISTORY OF THE HOUSE, NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE AIMS TO GROW INTO AN EXPERIMENTAL, INCLUSIVE, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY SPACE FOR EXCHANGE AND DIALOGUE IN ART AND CULTURE. IT SEEKS TO FOSTER AN ATMOSPHERE THAT REJECTS PERFECTIONISM AND PERFORMANCE PRESSURE, AND INSTEAD INVITES FREEDOM AND EXPERIMENTATION.
THE NAME NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE IS CONSCIOUSLY COMPOSED OF TWO DISTINCT TERMINOLOGIES. THE TERM "WHITE CUBE" REFERS TO A SPECIFIC GALLERY AESTHETIC CHARACTERIZED BY ITS SQUARE OR LONG SHAPE, WHITE WALLS, AND LIGHTING THAT USUALLY COMES FROM ABOVE. THIS STYLE EMERGED IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AS A RESPONSE TO THE INCREASING ABSTRACTION OF MODERN ART. ARTISTS FROM GROUPS SUCH AS DE STIJL AND BAUHAUS FOCUSED ON COLOR AND LIGHT, PREFERRING TO PRESENT THEIR WORK AGAINST WHITE WALLS TO MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS. THE WHITE WALLS WERE ALSO MEANT TO SERVE AS A FRAME, MUCH LIKE THE EDGES OF A PHOTOGRAPH. A PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN PROVIDED THE IDEAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THIS ART.
IN 1976, BRIAN O'DOHERTY WROTE A SERIES OF ESSAYS FOR ARTFORUM MAGAZINE, LATER PUBLISHED IN A BOOK ENTITLED INSIDE THE WHITE CUBE. IN THESE ESSAYS, HE CRITICIZED MODERNISM’S OBSESSION WITH THE WHITE CUBE AND ARGUED THAT ANY OBJECT PLACED WITHIN IT BECOMES ALMOST SACRED, MAKING ART INTERPRETATION MORE DIFFICULT.
(DEFINITION WHITE CUBE: TATE MODERN, LONDON)
BY CHOOSING THIS TERM, COMBINED WITH "NOT ANOTHER", THE INTENTION IS NOT TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST THIS EXHIBITION PRACTICE, BUT RATHER TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE SPACE AND FORMAT AS AN ARTIST AND STUDIO HOUSE, AS WELL AS AN EXHIBITION AND EVENT VENUE.
THE CHOICE TO PREFIX WITH "NOT ANOTHER" IS MEANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE UNRESTRICTED OPENNESS OF NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE. THE TERM "THE OTHERS" IS OFTEN USED IN THE CONTEXT OF DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, AND THE EXCLUSION OF MINORITIES — IT REFLECTS A MAJORITY’S PERSPECTIVE TOWARD A MINORITY. THE NAME NOT ANOTHER REFERS TO A STRONG DESIRE FOR INCLUSION.
YOU, US & THE FUTURE •
TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AND PARTNERS, WE WILL GRADUALLY BRING NOT ANOTHER WHITE CUBE TO LIFE THROUGH A VARIETY OF EVENTS, FOSTERING EXCHANGE BETWEEN AUDIENCES AND ARTISTS.
CURATOR MANUELA HILLMANN AND ARTIST AND CURATOR PHILIPP PESS CONTINUE THE PROGRAM OF THE VENT GALLERY, FOUNDED IN VIENNA IN 2018, IN THE BASEMENT EXHIBITION SPACES. IN ADDITION, OUR EVENT SPACES CAN BE RENTED FOR CELEBRATIONS, CONFERENCES, OR WORKSHOPS. WE ARE ALSO HAPPY TO ASSIST WITH THE PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS EVENT FORMATS.
WE WORKED WITH •
ELKE HARTMANNSGRUBER (ARCHITECT) • THOMAS STÜLLEIN (TAX CONSULTANT)
MATTHIAS BRUGGER (LAWYER) • BIANCA SCHAUER (CATERING)
B.R.A.S.K.O.S (CATERING) • CASPAR PLAUTZ (COOPERATION PARTNER)
JULIA SCHÄRDEL (PHOTOGRAPHER) • AGNES BACHMAIER (TEXT)
SOLVEIG ROTH (TEXT) • NOËM HELD (GRAPHIC CONSULTING)
ANDREAS JUNGK (ARTIST) • JIEUN LEE (ARTIST) • ALBANE CHAUVEL (ARTIST)
GABRIEL STEINMANN (ARTIST & DESIGNER) • VERONIKA WEGENER (TEACHER)
EVA WAWATSCHEK (ARTIST) • FRANZISKA SIEDLER (PHOTOGRAPHER)
UTA PÜTZ (ARTIST) • LUDWIG STALLA (ARTIST) • ROBERT KIZIELEWICZ (ARTIST)
JUDITH ADELMANN (ARTIST) • ANKA HELFERTOVA (ARTIST) • ABE HIROYUKI (ARTIST)
RAINER HAAS (ARTIST) • FLORIAN SCHAUMBERGER (ARTIST)
DANIEL ENGELBERG (ARTIST) • CHEMA CHINO (ARTIST)
