Handle With Care
2021
A medium-sized parcel is on its way from the artist's studio in Vienna to Graz; at this very address it is received by an employee. It is an everyday, logistical process that Julian Palacz places at the center of his present investigation. His deliberately prepared package collects data as it documents its journey from Vienna to Graz by means of a hidden camera, microphone, GPS tracker, and motion sensors, revealing insights into those transit spaces that actually remain hidden from the recipient.
Directly and unfiltered, we experience almost deserted halls the size of several soccer fields, which are set up solely for the optimal processing of goods, experience endless assembly lines across countless levels, carton after carton glides past us as if choreographed by a ghostly hand. Somewhere there is a squeeze at the bottlenecks, but for the most part the process seems perfectly coordinated and absolutely effective. Coded according to destination, everything is automatically scanned and sent on the right path. Only at first glance do the imposing images show a rhythmic choreography; a closer look, however, reveals a regime of strict efficiency in which there is hardly any room for people.
Photos: Lena Prehal, Gerhard Pichler
- Parts
- Video, HD, 18:15 min
Shock (acceleration), fineliner on paper, 35 × 370 cm, four sheets
Orientation towards north (magnetometer), paper cut on cardboard, 30 × 30 cm, 28 parts
Limited Quantity Warning Label, truck tarpaulin on stretcher, 212 × 212 cm
Other Dangerous Goods Warning Label, truck tarpaulin on stretcher, 212 × 212 cm
Keep dry, Fragile, This way up, adhesive film, 765 × 290 cm - Technique
- video HD, fineliner on paper, paper cut on cardboard, truck cover on stretcher frame
- Exhibitions
- 2026, Proyector Festival 2026, Madrid
2025, xCoAx, Victoria & Albert Museum, Dundee
2022, Handle with Care*, Steiermärkische Landesbibliothek, Graz
2021, Handle With Care, Solo, Forum Stadtpark, Graz