People, Bricks and Weeds

2025, Publikation, drawings on walls, video, permanent installation in the garden of the 70er Haus der Geschichten, Mattersburg, Austria

In this project, the artist collective CRAFT engages with a historical chapter of Northern Burgenland that has largely faded from public awareness: the brickworks Erste Walbersdorfer Dampfziegelei and Hartig & Rothermann. From the 1870s onward, millions of bricks were produced at these former industrial sites, which stand as emblematic examples of the profound transformation from an agrarian way of life and labor to industrial modernity.The project not only examines economic development, but also foregrounds the social consequences of this transformation. At its center are the living and working conditions of the people who, under intense pressure and often precarious circumstances, ensured efficiency and profit—both in Burgenland and throughout Austria.At the same time, People, Bricks and Weeds questions how the ideals of industrial optimization have reshaped our understanding of work, meaning, and community—and how these ideas continue to resonate today. How might creative and collective forms of labor be (re)imagined in the present? Can we rethink our relationship with nature beyond notions of utility and exploitation?The installation of the same name is permanently on view in the garden of the 70er Haus der Geschichten (House of Stories) in Mattersburg. To coincide with the opening, a publication will be released, offering in-depth documentation of the historical research and artistic reflections developed within the project.