Secret Identities of a Psychoanalyst

Dietmar Schwärzler: Your studio on Gartengasse is the setting of Secret Identities of a Psychoanalyst (2001). Gartengasse was also home to the School for Artistic Photography from 1990 to 2013 and the School for Independent Film from 2006 to 2013. And besides that, it was a therapy room and a living space.

Friedl Kubelka/Friedl vom Gröller: That’s right—though it was only a living space until 1985. I felt an ethical responsibility about using it as a therapy room. It was really hard. I couldn’t afford to rent another space, and I didn’t have time, because I loved both schools and they took up so much work. For therapy I tried to hide all the other functions—you can see that in the film. I was always moving things around. There was no waiting room, and I couldn’t exactly rearrange the darkroom. (Laughs.) In that context, I always wanted to hide that I was also an artist. 

From: Let´s Misbehave! Sometimes Rules Are Made to Never Be Learned. Conversation between Friedl Kubelka / vom Gröller. Stefanie Reisinger, Dietmar Schwärzler. In: Friedl Kubelka / vom Gröller. Home but Not at Home. Exhibition catalogue Belvedere 21, Verlag Buchhandlung Walther and Franz König, 2026.