The works of the Austrian artist Heidrun Holzfeind focus on the relationship between individual life stories and political realities. In her documentary projects, in which she blurs the boundaries between video and documentary film, the focus is on portraits of people on the fringes of society.
For the exhibition commissioned by steirischer herbst, Holzfeind has studied everyday life in the Austrian-Slovenian border region around Bad Radkersburg. In a three-channel video installation, the filmic exploration project portrays people who have embarked on an alternative path through life away from consumer society.
The search for an existence more fit for human beings forms the starting point of a reflection on empathy and the contrast between communalism and individualism. Holzfeind’s work can be seen as an artistic attempt to pick up the thread of neglected social narratives in Europe and to confront them with visitors’ wishes, expectations and emotions. Heidrun Holzfeind succeeds in creating a political moment beyond the conventions of political art.