Abstract
Sculpture Symposium (Bildhauersymposion), a place of art activity where sculptors share the space and time for creation each other and open the process of making sculpture, was initiated in 1959 at the Roman quarry in St.Margarethen, Burgenland, Austria. A monument "Border Stone" which is created by sculptor Karl Prantl two years after the Hungarian Uprising caused the emergence of sculpture symposium. Prantl, one of the leaders of the symposium, suggested a new concept of "art in the quarry" and artist colony for overcoming the egoism of artists. Sculpture symposium spread to the surrounding area until it has changed into an international movement in the 1960's. The leading sculpture symposium such as Symposion Europaischer Bildhauer St. Margarethen, Forma Viva, and Lindabrunn, played a significant role for inspiring the creativity and mutual interaction of sculptors. On the other hand, however, a fundamental change of the social mission and actor of symposium began to be seen in the middle of the 60's. The initiative of symposium is moved from artist to local government and industry as the patron, and more attention was given to permanent installation of artworks than the process of symposium. In the disintegration of the ideology of the Symposium, a wave of criticism and controversy has occurred in the 60's. Two project by sculptors in 1970 - "City Planning at Stephan Plaza" and environmental art "Japanese Trench" were the responses from artist as the answer to the question about the essential meaning of sculpture symposium.
