Lectures / 06/04/2009 7:30 pm

„Wegzeit”. What impact does commuting have in cultural terms?

Linz as a regional capital and as European Capital of Culture is inevitably associated with the ebb and flow of commuters. The fact that many people from the Mühlviertel commute to Linz every day and that countless Linzers regularly go to nearby Mühlviertel to spend the weekend in an unspoilt environment is not only a process of economic give and take, it leaves traces, exerts a formative influence and creates a relationship. The predictability and rhythmic character of these movements leave their specific imprint on Linz on one hand and on the towns and villages on the other: they interpenetrate one another to a certain extent. A process of mutual influence in social and cultural terms has shaped and broadened this relationship over the past decades and has created a situation that is partly specific to this region, partly relevant also in a wider European context. This is why it would be helpful to develop an aesthetics of commuting in the sense of an aesthetics of perception. This would make us more aware of opportunities and challenges inherent in these exchange processes by exploring both the history and diachronic aspects of the practice of commuting in general and the forms this phenomenon has assumed at present.
Receptive aesthetics deals with emotions and experiences triggered by the complex impulses of the situation and is realized in various cultural projects based in the region which is visited by Linzers on such a regular basis
Reflexive perception results in identifying relevant preconditions, parallel developments, origins and historical processes and will be embodied by the “travel guides” on these cultural commutes. There will be accompanying programmes on four sets of themes. This results in a kind of pendular movement with Linz as the starting point and end point for trips that aim to make regional culture accessible. In this way it is possible to make visible the degree to which the region redefines its relations to Linz and the rest of Europe.