There is still a lot to do in the former health center, the large brick house with many windows on Dachauer Strasse, which is now “Art laboratory 2In the entrance area, a brick counter is set up, men push cleaning machines through the aisles and in the backyard Samy Deluxe is spraying the wall of the former bus garage. Samy Deluxe? You actually know him as a rapper. But he has at least as long as the microphone already spray cans in his hand, making him one of currently 64 artists who have created Art Laboratory 2 on behalf of the Museums of Urban and Contemporary Art (MUCA). In spring 2019, the MUCA, which had already operated an “art laboratory” in a former Tengelmann in 2018, applied for the five-year temporary use project. It will be celebrating there on October 16 as part of the Long night of the museums now its opening.
The fact that the 10,000 square meter building in Maxvorstadt used to be the home of the health center and the blood donation service there until 2017 can still be seen in details such as the furniture left over, some of which the artists work with. Or signs like “Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Advice Center” or “Subject area tuberculosis”. Otherwise, says Boris Schmidt, head of marketing at MUCA, around 600 radiators had to be replaced and 200 wash basins removed. In addition, the elevators were repaired so that the building is now barrier-free. The ground floor and the first floor are filled with street art and conceptual art from Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia and Tenerife. Each of the artists could work on site for six or seven weeks. In a few months, the rooms will be advertised again, and then others can use them.
There is an event hall, a book shop, in December the gastronomy will open on the ground floor, a pop-up gallery and two inner courtyards that can be used as a courtyard bar, cinema or for workshops. As for the basement and floors 2 to 4: This is where the Refugio art workshop, the Munich Philharmonic ticket office, 40 artist studios managed by “Super +” and agencies such as Digitalpunk are housed as tenants. As already mentioned, visitors are allowed to enter art laboratory 2 for the first time on October 16. After that, from October 22nd, it will initially only be open on weekends and later from Wednesday to Sunday. There will be concerts, readings or performances there, and an exchange with numerous other actors is planned. All current information is available at kunstlabor.org.