The LOT

Vienna does not yet offer a place where independent, transdisciplinary art can be developed and published together. There are hardly any spaces where artistic research and exchange is possible. The city has far too little affordable and professionally equipped rehearsal space. The few existing structures are also hierarchically organised and almost always only accessible through "who knows whom". Finally, the outer districts are neglected when it comes to art and culture. We want to change that! Because new times need new formats and new forms need new places.

The LOT shall:
1) become the centrum for transdisciplinary art & artistic research in Vienna. Art, culture and applied research should be able to be conceived, produced and communicated here together instead of side by side.
2) become a meeting place and provide a space for artistic work, experimentation and failure. We are constantly expanding our regional and international cooperations with artists and at the same time are a contact point and springboard for a new generation of artists and cultural workers.
3) not become an institution, but is founded as a permeable platform. The construction site & process remain, the platform will thus be uniquely accessible, changeable and flexible.
4) reduce competitiveness and promote community building between the arts.
5) question and criticise entrenched sexist, racist and classist structures. And then try out and create new relations - both structurally and artistically in the projects.
6) be in continuous exchange with the immediate surrounding, the 10th district. We integrate the residents and their themes into the artistic process and bring professionally developed art & culture to the people in a low-threshold way and out into the suburbs.

Current events/projects at the LOT:
Our annual program is composed of the three pillars ECHOLOT, MOSAÏQUE and OPENLOT. They build on our last year's experiments in relational art and together form the main tool for realising our transdisciplinary vision:

1) ECHOLOT = SEND + RECEIVE:
It is important for us to keep going to the people with our art and out into the public space. This includes, e.g., our "Field Research Favoriten": a regular swarming into our immediate neighbourhood to conduct artistic urban surveys and to communicate our findings publicly in an "ARTWALK". The reception takes place in the LOTLab by means of regular "jam sessions" of transdisciplinary artists and is complemented by networking meetings.

2) MOSAIQUE:
MOSAÏQUE is an open feedback format to show ideas and processes from different disciplines and to enable exchange about working methods and intermediate states. Artists show excerpts of their unfinished projects, viewers talk about their impressions, wishes and ideas. MOSAÏQUE focuses on the raw, the flawed and the unfinished and celebrates the moment of creation and thinking, away from the presentation of finished, rounded works.

3) OPENLOT:
For one month a year, an open communal space is to be created in the LOT where it is possible to work in a self-determined way in a community of artists of all disciplines and currents without having to pay a fee or make an appointment. OPENLOT is a transdisciplinary experimental arrangement in which different people and practices work simultaneously in the same space and use material in equal parts in a self-determined way.

Between these three pillars, space is deliberately left for the regular series and formats of the artists of our management team, for innovative ideas of our LOTs:innen & collaborations with regional and international artists:innen.

You finally want inspiring events again after so much social isolation and lockdown? Are you interested in progressive, contemporary art and culture? Or do you want to know what transdisciplinary art and artistic research means?

Are you looking for new formats, new structures and new people who make art together? You want to exchange your opinion on art with people and contribute your experience, but also learn something new yourself?

You have creative ideas and you want a space that gives you the courage and possibilities to realise them? Or are you simply looking for an inspiring and modern rehearsal space for your next performance?

You want to finally get to know the district of Favoriten yourself and explore it artistically? Practise, visit or promote art and culture there?

Or are you looking for a space for your next release, a corporate event, a film location or a place to offer training or a workshop? And for that you need a lot of space, modern equipment and a spirited brick aesthetic?

Then you belong to our target group! Whether as an enabler, supporter, artist, researcher, visitor, friend, family member or partner in crime, you can help us build this place that is so desperately needed and become a part of it.

We want to enable a whole generation of young artists to innovatively work their way out of the often precarious circumstances of the independent art scene and the additional corona-related hardship through affordable working space and good feedback structures. And we want inclusivity and genuine participation for audiences from all backgrounds - beyond class, gender, origin, language or appearance.

But would you have thought that a barrier-free toilet costs around 6.000 euros, or that we need a sound assessment of 3.000 euros for approval as a venue? These things cannot be absorbed by any artistic project funding from the city or the federal government. That's why we had to put a stop to construction and completely forego the procurement of some equipment for the time being.

To make a virtue out of necessity, in the midst of Corona we put all our inventiveness, all our courage and all our money together to create new space and new possibilities for artists and spectators, despite or because of the crisis. With success! The LOT has opened and the programme has started. In order to finally free ourselves from the clutches of the pandemic and to equip the LOT professionally in the long term, we need: you. Because with your support we can stand on both feet and finally get going the way we want for our audience and artists!

So we need your help! If our vision convinces you, then support us with a small or larger amount of money to our crowdfunding! Every contribution, no matter how small, counts. Even if you support us with only 10 Euros, it will bring us further. And in a few months you can come to us at the LOT and feel: "Awesome. I helped finance this."

100% of your money will go towards the professional and sustainable expansion of the LOT, especially towards the artistically urgently needed, technically modern basic equipment.

To give you an idea of how much things actually cost, here are a few examples:
You donate / We can afford:
€ 5 / 1x pair of work gloves to keep our helping hands safe.
€ 10 / 1 spray can of black paint or 1 mason's chisel for our brick wall
€ 15 / 1 small pack of Spax screws, for screwing to the floor
€ 20 / 1 simple euro container for storing and transporting our equipment
€ 25 / 1 bag of mortar for renovating our brick walls
€ 50 / 5 rolls of tape for the dance floor, so that our dancers do not hurt themselves
€ 60 / 1 radio headphone, which you wear at our Artwalk or Silentparty
€ 80 / 1 sandwich maker to offer you really good ham and cheese toast
€ 100 / 1 microphone or 1 bucket of black paint
€ 150 / 4 channel hand dimmer for our spotlights
€ 200 / 1 toilet vent, so that it doesn't stink if someone was tall before you
€ 300 / 100m DMX cable to wire our spotlights together
€ 400 / tiles for the toilet, in case something goes wrong
€ 500 / 500l buffer tank, which we need for our heating system
€ 1.000 / 1 theatre curtain, so that the performance can start
€ 2.000 / dance carpet to do barefoot professional dance performances
€ 3.000 / Necessary sound expertise for the event permit
€ 4.000 / Basic set of LED spotlights to let the arts shine
€ 5.000 / Sound barrier we have to build to be allowed to perform
€ 6.000 / Handicapped accessible toilet to make the LOT a barrier-free place for everyone
€ 7.000 / air-conditioning to be able to entertain audiences in the summer months as well
€ 8.000 / dance floor with 67% joint-friendly shock absorption
€ 9.000 / Used PA system for proper sound reinforcement of contemporary music
€ 10.000 / Construction of railing, lighting grid and ladder
€ 20,000 / Event-compliant ventilation system

And depending on how much money you help us with, we can manage the following:

€ 23,300
Basic equipment for hosting incl. seating, basic sound/lighting equipment, dance floor and barrier-free WC facilities
37.700€
Basic equipment plus: air conditioning, dance floor and podesterie
61.000€
Extended equipment plus: Event-compliant ventilation system, theatre curtains and lighting grid on the ceiling.
98.700€
Complete equipment: PA system for professional sound reinforcement for new music, professional lighting system and sound lock.

If we do not reach the funding goal, there will of course be no costs for you. The money will not reach us, but will be refunded to you by Startnext. In this case, we unfortunately cannot offer you any rewards and we cannot expand the LOT according to our vision. But we believe in our vision and in your support! And we will be insanely happy when we get the LOT up and running together!