Austrian town gets its lederhosen in a twist over modern art

Xenia Hausner’s Atemluft sculpture, outside Bad Ischl railway station, is described as “a sensory image of despair”. Photograph: Jamie Fullerton

I’m walking through the town of Bad Aussee, in Austria’s alpine Salzkammergut region, where I’m expecting a vision of depravity to emerge through the drizzle. The artists Wolfgang Müllegger and Georg Holzmann gleefully tell me how their big pink sculpture, which was recently placed in the town’s cafe-flanked park, caused shock among locals. Many want it removed, they explain, as we arrive at the artwork. It’s a rather pleasant pastel-pink wooden piece that could depict a pig in a mildly psychedelic kids’ TV show.