I was born in Vienna in 1971 and still live and work there.
My work often begins with scenes, images, observations or moments of irritation. Some texts start with a character in a particular situation; others with a thought or an image that lingers. From these emerge stories, essays, analytical texts and visual works.
In my stories, characters, relationships and situations are not fully explained before they begin to take effect. Connections emerge through action, perception and the gradual formation of context. Later information may shift what has already been perceived without resolving it conclusively.
My analytical work likewise begins with an observation or irritation. It distinguishes between concepts, examines assumptions and sets possible explanations against one another. The personal point of departure remains visible as the perspective from which the inquiry begins.
I regard images as independent spaces of perception. They can convey conditions or states without having to classify or interpret them. Some perceptions are too concrete to be reduced to abstraction and at the same time too ambivalent to support a single, unequivocal argument.
Form and structure emerge during the course of the work. Not every movement requires an event, and not every meaning has to lead in a single direction. Some projects develop over longer periods; others remain brief, fragmentary or open.
Brief & to the point
Name: Günter Schaden
Arbeitet an: literary, analytical and visual projects
Schreibt: novels, short stories, miniatures, visual works