Austrian Homecoming - Friends, Culture & Nature - Dominique Hurley

It’s hard to believe I’ve only been back in Austria for 3 days. I’ve already experienced so much that I want to share with you. I loved my trip to Bali and It’s good to be back. Everything felt instantly familiar when I landed, even if the Czech speakers behind me in the customs line-up made it harder for me to come out with anything in German when it was my turn.

my 30 hours in transit went smoothly – time for a few movies, a nap, blog writing
note: unlike with other airlines, with Qatar Airlines, pre-ordering a special meal (Asian vegetarian) does not mean you’ll be served before everyone else. You get served a the same time or even after everyone else.
the toughest part of the journey: I took the S-bahn + subway + tramway with my wonky old suitcase & carry-on from the Vienna airport to downtown, where I stayed for a night at my school’s directors’ home. I saved about $60 on a taxi, but quickly became nostalgic for Bali’s affordable driver and porter services.
had a wonderful dinner with Florence Ménard, Laurence Caruana, their son Clovis, and Kuba Ambrose – a friend and former teacher. So nice to catch up and be amongst loved ones. I felt very much at home.
was in bed a little after 9pm, grateful to be lying down to sleep- airplane naps are always hard on the neck. It’s also nice to brush my teeth with tap water again…
up at my usual 5am (I love the fact my brain doesn’t understand jet lag) and edited my Sanur photos until the family woke up. Their cat Zen kept me company.
went to the housing office to pick up my key at the prescribed 2pm, went to the bank, and stopped for lunch at the nearby pay-what-you-want Divan Pakistani buffet. I paid more than the $2-4 meals back in Bali, but less than I would have for a meal that would have satisfied my hunger in a Viennese restaurant. (Later that night, I listened to a podcast on pay-what-you-want in the art world… I’ve done lots of stuff like this before and the idea of offering a regular karma painting appeals to who and what I am. Loved hearing more about it.)
on my way back with my new key, I saw that the Votive Church had its doors open. I had long wanted to visit it, so I walked in and found myself in the midst of a contemporary art exhibit intermingled with the more traditional offerings of an active church built centuries ago. The juxtaposition had quite an effect on me and once the theme was explained, I decided to walk through another time. I found out that the Minister of Culture and the Cardinal had sponsored this show of international artists on the theology of the body and sexuality. Actually, the German word “Leiblichkeit”, I’m told, has no accurate English translation and I won’t attempt remembering what I was told – it’s simply worth a visit if you’re around, plus it’s free. Because of this project, the back of the church has been opened for the first time in 60 years. From video screens in confessionals, to bronze skulls chained to coffins, to lighted globes with used up fly tape, to a bronze sculpture of a skinned man holding the scissors that had been used in the Emperor’s failed assassination attempt, to window panes with multiple digital screens, to mirrored halls… some of it was definitely poignant and, as I said before, so much better when you understand the story behind each piece. Sometimes, however, I had to ask myself if what I was looking at was art … like the aesthetically stacked benches and chairs. I asked the security guard and found out it was only storage. He said folks were taking pictures of him sitting in front of his security screen, thinking it was another digital art display. Ah, contemporary art… The exhibition runs until June 15th.
I don’t believe in coincidences – there’s a reason for everything. I’m still trying to figure this one out. As I got my 8 pieces of stuff out in front of Florence & Laurence’s apartment to wait for a taxi (2 suitcases, 1 carry-on bag, 2 bags of art and misc., 1 tripod, 1 camera bag, 1 purse), a man crossed the street and said “I thought I recognized you and then you turned around and still had your yellow carry-on tag on your backpack, so I knew it was you”. In a big city like Vienna, on a small side street, I met the man who sat beside me on my long plane ride back from Asia. Of German or Austrian background, he now lives in Indonesia and exports teak furniture – one of his stores was right across the street. Of course, the way my mind works, I wondered why we were meeting again. There must be a reason. You know, soul mate movie stuff – but I knew this man was married and he had annoyed me a bit on the plane (my issue, not his). I had trouble hearing the Keanu Reeves samurai movie I was watching because of his exuberant conversation with the woman across the aisle. Also, he was quite overweight and had no choice but to repeatedly enter my mini-on-plane space bubble by leaning his leg into mine. So I decided this “coincidence” was simply an occasion to send good vibes and well wishes his way instead. I’m glad I had this chance to correct my karma within such a short time frame. His extroverted friendliness was actually quite welcomed this time around.
I moved into my new residence room – exactly like the previous apartment (same Ikea furniture, same bedding, same dishes, etc.), but at the end of the walkway and a few floors up. The only mind-bending aspect is that one of the walls follows the contours of the building at a slight diagonal instead of the previous straight wall. I’ve caught myself a few times needing to reassure myself that I wasn’t seeing crooked – I’m just in a new apartment. The different view out the windows quickly snaps me back into real time. 🙂
May 1 was a holiday here – something like Labour Day. What a perfect day of culture & nature and a welcomed opportunity to see my classmates again.

I joined the group for a field trip to the Austrian countryside to visit Peter Gric, a famous visionary artist and nice guy. I recognized one of his pieces from the Phantastenmuseum, but knew nothing about his work (not surprising – I’m not one to know other artists much). I’d heard his name though – in class and even in Bali…
We had a great visit. Peter explained his process and demonstrated how he spends weeks creating worlds on the computer that he then collapses and studies as they’re collapsing. He can see the inside of the buildings he’s created from all sorts of angles and then decides on perspectives for paintings. I don’t do his process justice. It’s truly fascinating! Again, understanding the process and hearing him talk about it helped me appreciate his work even more. You can see some of the videos we watched on his YouTube channel.

After a few hours in his studio, we went for a hike up the nearby mountain. Beautiful views. It took a while for me to stop imagining I was looking at rice fields.
After taking the train back to Vienna (about an hour), I had dinner and rejoined the group and some of my other teachers/ friends for another cultural excursion. De Es was having a party in his studio – a huge warehouse off Mariahilffestrasse (that huge shopping street a few minutes away from my place). Wow!
I was familiar with his big man sculptures – there are a few in the Palais Palffy, where the school is. Again, he’s a big name in the visionary art world, but I knew nothing about him. His early work was more what I’d expect from a visionary artist. His newer work, however, spoke to me so much more – worlds conveyed in a more abstract style on a huge scale in a huge space. Do you remember when I talked about using 3D glasses to see my paintings pop? Well, you don’t need 3D glasses for these – it’s as if you were wearing them just looking at his work. Of course some pieces resonated with me more than others – passages into fantastic worlds of colour. What a great day! I felt more social than I had in a while. Nice.
On Friday, I registered my new address at the magistrate’s office, stocked my fridge with food from Denn’s organic market, and cooked a batch of soup and a batch of salmon/veggie stir fry on white rice (sigh, I miss brown rice, but it’s not good for Pitta imbalances) – my first time cooking in a month! I successfully fought off my recurring urge to go out and buy chips (only time in Bali was at the airport) … I must break that addiction if I want to heal my skin – no good being a health food nut with a chip habit. Within a day of my return, my eczema started up beneath my eyes and my hands got worse too -my hair also tangles up after showers – it’s so much drier here than Bali and the water seems harsh (albeit drinkable). No worries – it’s just a reminder that certain locations are more conducive to certain people – it’ll be humid again when I return to Newfoundland in July – without the unbearable heat of Bali (which so many love).
my email inbox is empty for the first time in a month – trust me… such a relief 🙂
It seems that my super immune boosters and healing treatments in Bali spared me from anything serious while there, but I did catch a cold that started with a bit of a sore throat on the plane. After a day of nothing, it has moved into my sinuses, so I’m staying home today (at least I’m hoping it’s just a cold and that I won’t hemorrhage to death in my sleep tonight from dengue fever… oh, ooops… drama. Rewind – cancel. Hee hee. It’s true, some symptoms are similar and manifest days after a mosquito bite, but I’m not worried – just the sniffles. No high fever, soreness, or headache. Just the sniffles. All is well. 🙂 I just might get a couple of movies in instead of a full work-day on my art business e-course. My new apartment came with an Internet cable that reaches all the way to my bed – bonus! It’s raining out anyway – perfect for a home day. It’ll be good to have a day of rest after so much running around for over a month. Ah, so many blessings!