FLATZ: Physical Machine

The OK Linz is showing a cross-section of the work of Wolfgang FLATZ (born 1952 in Dornbirn/Austria). FLATZ is among the most extraordinary artistic personalities of our day. His oeuvre encompasses nearly all genres and media, from jewelry to mobile sculptures to performative works, as FLATZ explores myriad facets of artistic design. He grapples with, scrutinizes, and dissects current developments as well as the individuals who are inextricably entangled in them. His central starting point is the human body, which is pushed to its limits or expanded using various means.

Very early on, the artist FLATZ was already casting himself in the guise of a total work of art. In the 1980s, he decided to stage himself as a brand, signaling his intention by changing his name from Wolfgang Flatz to FLATZ in capital letters. The jewelry he designs for himself and his tattoos can be seen as part of this endeavor. In one of his tattoos, he labels himself “Physical Sculpture No.0,” declaring his own body to be an artwork and the source of his practice. FLATZ’s works are marked by a profound engagement with human perception and how we interpret our environment.

The temporary installation “Endzeit” (End Times) on view in the voestalpine open space above the rooftops of the OK was specially developed for this site. It suggests a dystopian landscape containing relics of human civilization. FLATZ borrows moments from popular film culture here, transforming mobile objects—motorcycles and cars—into dystopian artifacts that recall movies such as “Mad Max” and play with a post-apocalyptic aesthetic.

A four-volume catalogue raisonné scheduled for publication in the fall of 2025 will be presented for the first time at the OK Linz.

Curator: Sandra Kratochwill