In his much cited Nobel Prize speech of 1987, the Russian-American poet Joseph Brodsky demands that poems should be available at every petrol station and classics in cheap editions. They were the mental fuel for the day, a "colossal accelerator of consciousness, of thought, of perception of the world".
The Institute for Art in Public Space Styria and the internationally renowned poet and translator Matthias Göritz take up these ideas and bring poetry into the urban space of the literary experimental city of Graz. Three vending machines, normally filled with children's toys, refreshing sweets or condoms, turn into lyrical spatial in(ter)ventions and dispense poetry.
For six months, residents and visitors of Graz are invited to withdraw poems from three different machines. The Frische Gedichte (Fresh Poems) vending machine in the Joanneum quarter contains previously unpublished, new works by Graz poets, the Mein Nachbar auf der Wolke (My Neighbour on the Cloud) vending machine on the Schloßberg surprises with poems by Slovenian poets in Slovenian and German, and a historical condom vending machine next to the entrance to the Forum Stadtpark has particularly Gefühlsechte Gedichte (Romantic Poems) in store.
Each vending machine is equipped with 14 different poems, which are available for 50 cents each. As part of the 50-cent prize, readers are also invited to get active: Choose one of the poems from the vending machine in the Joanneum Quarter as your favourite via online voting. The winners of this audience award will be presented at the finissage of the project in December at the Literaturhaus Graz.
Locations: Joanneumsviertel, Schloßberg & Forum Stadtpark (8010 Graz)
