Art & Science
Art & Science with Bernd Koller & Joseph Strauss: Mycelium
Bernd Kollers’ work Mycelium, consisting of graphics and objects, dates back to a study stay in Jingdezhen, China, in 2012, where the first ink drawings of tree fungi were created. Like fungi growing from mycelium, these ideas needed time to become visible. Fungi and art both require specific conditions to grow.
The graphics correspond with the ceramics, which also originated during the stay in Jingdezhen. Like the graphics, the ceramic casts have multiple characters and at times serve as templates for the printmaking works, returning from space back to the plane.
The artist – Bernd Koller
Bernd Koller (*1971) is a Vienna-based artist who studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Arnulf Rainer. He has received the Georg Eisler Prize and the Strabag Recognition Award, as well as grants and residencies in France, the USA, China, India, Mexico, and Indonesia.
His works have been exhibited at institutions including the Bank Austria Kunstforum, Museum Liaunig, the Austrian Cultural Forum in New Delhi, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, the Daejeon Museum of Art, and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (Rupertinum).
He has received numerous prizes and awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize (1993), the Anton Wildgans Prize (1999), the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art (2006), the Golden Medal of Honour for Services to the province of Vienna (2007), and the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2016).
The scientist – Joseph Strauss
Joseph Strauss is a professor at BOKU University Vienna and heads the Institute of Microbial Genetics in Tulln. His research applies molecular genetics and functional genomics to mould and plant-pathogenic fungi such as Fusarium and Aspergillus, with a focus on transcription factors, chromatin/epigenetic control, and secondary metabolism.
He investigates fungal roles in the soil nitrogen cycle, mycotoxin formation, and bioactive natural products, and leads BiMM, an open platform to identify new microbial metabolites for sustainable crop protection and drug discovery.
