COVER STORY
CECI N’EST PAS UNE VIE
The painter René Magritte’s The Human
Condition shows a landscape obscured by
an exact replica of the landscape. We can
choose to accept the painter’s perception
or try to see the “real” view behind it. Per-
haps that view leads to a similar trompe
l’o e i l, an endless succession of layers
upon layers of reality.
Magritte doesn’t provide any answers,
merely presenting the conundrum that
frustrates us all. Life, at its core, is for us a
mystery, perplexing and enigmatic.
Certainly not made any clearer by lighting
a candle at the Augustinerkirche. I might be
having a martini-sodden blast at the Loos
Bar, while somewhere else in the world a
child is blown to smithereens. I share a
social media post against child labor, but
buy a €1 high street T-shirt on Mariahilfer
Strasse. If we are all connected, how is it
possible for my good life to not be entangled
with those of everyone around me? Ourconnectedness makes The
Good Life frustratingly
unreliable and unstable, like
love, capable of swinging
wildly from ecstatic happi-
ness to soul crushing de-
spair. We work hard to achieve la vie en rose,
and risk a lot, but the rewards never come
with a money-back guarantee. Beautiful
moments, like the fashion shows that
launch eager new designers each year at
Vienna Fashion Week, taking place in the
MuseumsQuartier, can be as ephemeral as
a butterfly’s life span. Even when we reach
our goal, we may discover there is no such
thing as paradise. Lazing by a 19th district
villa pool includes mosquito bites. A beauti-
ful love affair that started over a candle-lit
schnitzel at the Villa Aurora ends with two
hearts irreparably damaged on the rain
soaked platform of a Strassenbahn.
The Good Life comes with a health
warning: Be careful what you wish for.Parents yearn for carefree
single days when they enjoyed
the all-night dive bars around
the Naschmarkt. In lonely
single moments, Tinder swip-
ers wish for the life of that cute
family cycling through the Prater.THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
It’s always easier to ask others the big
questions of life. Despite the boxes they
seem to fill – banker, aristocrat, hedonist,
mother, conservative, liberal, startup guru
or journalist – deep down the wide variety
of people who call Vienna home share
some very common human desires.
For the aristocratic Austrian property
developer and art lover, The Good Life
means “privacy, not having to use a mobile
phone or be reachable all the time,” as well
as fresh air and water. For the Swiss perfor-
mance artist and spoken word poet, The
Good Life means “an orgasmic experience“In those big cities, you are always chasing the
next big thing. Here in Vienna, you can go
inside yourself to see what is really there.”
Peter Kruder, Viennese DJ and electronic composerThe popular rapper and
hip-hop musician Skero
sings cheekily and often in
dialect about Austrian
tropes like vacationing at
public baths, skiing or
cycling in the city.PHOTOS: THIS PAGE: FROM TOP DOWN: MICHAEL WINKELMANN; BEATSPACE; NEXT PAGE: MANFRED WERNER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.