bending the rules
DESCRIPTION
Art Book - KDM - Seminar, Academy of Fine Arts ViennaTRANSCRIPT
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Impressum: Work by: Bernhard Garnicnig, Nora Rekade, Stefan Feiner, Heike Kastler, Julia Hohenwarter, Julian Feritsch, Miltiadis Gerothanasis, Karoline Hogl, Barbara Kapusta, Ivette Mrova, Jennifer Mattes, Branko Andric.
Realised as part the Seminar Bending the Rules, at the Institute for Art and Digital Media, Prof. Constanze Ruhm, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna 2009.
Axel Stockburger
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Contents
Axel Stockburger - Introduction 4
Julian Feritsch 6-10 Bernhard Garnicnig - Look into the camera 12-17
Nora Rekade - Gogo 19
Stefan Feiner - Letzter Akt 20-29
Heike Kastler - Fort - Da Spiel 30-32
Nora Rekade - Ohne 35
Julia Hohenwarter - untitled (opening) 36-37
Annalisa Cannito - The wave‘s propagation 38-42
Julia Hohenwarter - untitled (move) 44-45
Nora Rekade - Frau 47
Miltiadis Gerothanasis - Game as Knowledge Production 48-49
Karoline Hogl 50-53
Barbara Kapusta 54-63
Ivette Mrova - played [dis]order 64-73
Jennifer Mattes - Identitube 74-86
Branko Andric - Gesellschaftliche Spezifikationen 88-90
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Introduction
This publication is the result of a seminar called Bending the Rules that took place at the Department for Art & Digital Media, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna in 2009. The seminar positioned the notions of game and play as a framework for the discussion of the functions and meanings of rules in fine art production.
The history of fine Art is accompanied by a discoursive cloud dedicated towards explicit and implicit rules that govern the production and reception of art. On the one hand, rules that governed pictorial representation, such as for example Alberti’s famous treatises on Perspective, had a huge impact on painting, on the other hand the emergence of modernity brought with it a host of diverging schools and isms that all seem to share their internal sets of rules, leading to a myriad of formal differences and styles. With the avantgardes of the 20st century deliberate attempts to highlight and break implicit or explicit rules, in the social sphere as well as in the field of art, became a primary objective. Especially the Situationist notion of play as potential transgressive force that should enable the blurring of the boundaries between art and life has had an important impact on the production and reception of art. At present we are confronted with the paradox logic of a double movement: there exists the legacy of the avantgardes that seems to demand a neverending search for rules that can be broken and borders that can be transgressed. At the same time this demand has become a dominant rule and transgression frequently presents itself as a formality that leads to short-termed spikes in media and market attention while we also witness neoliberal western societies generating increasingly finer meshes of regulations under the banner of safety and risk aversion. In this context it seems necessary to re-address the meaning of rule governed behaviour and production. The present publication attempts to do this in the form of practical experimentation, rather than academic engagement. Rules were discussed, but most importantly set in motion by the different participants, leading to a highly diverse set of works, concepts and sketches. The final result is a collection of dramatic texts, artistic interventions, text fragments, collages, drawings and short statements that serves as a snapshot of the engaged and intensive process of the seminar. Thanks to everybody involved!
Axel Stockburger
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Look into the camera
Be ready to ride the big dipper of the mixed metaphor. Be ready to dip your hands in the lucky bag of life, gather the storm clouds of fantasy and anoint your own genius. Because it is only by following the clear and concise instructions contained in this book that you can realise your childish fantasies of having a successful solo show in a internationally renowned art gallery thus guaranteeing you a place forever in the sacred annals of art history.
Other than showing your works in a gallery we offer you nothing else. There will be no endless wealth. Fame will flicker and fade and sex will still be a problem. What was once yours for a few days will now enter the public domain.
Now, we all know that fine arts is not going to save the world but it does, undeniably, create a filing system for the memory banks. In years to come people will wander around art galleries and museums thinking of your works and comparing them to what they see right now. Your work will become a life long point of reference within the comparative system of judgement of many different kinds of people, from serial opening drinkers to museum directors. What will remain in their memories will have nothing to do with what you had in mind when you looked at your piece before you sold it in order to pay the bills. It is you, though, who will be responsible for bringing back those lost tastes, smells, tears, pangs, forgotten years and missed chances. So enjoy what you can while at your exhibition.
Even if the unsuspecting artist doesn’t know the above, rest assured most of the art business does but for some lemming-like reason refuses to acknowledge it. They continue to view the artists cheaply made debut blockbuster as striking gold and will spend the next few years pumping fortunes into production costs, documentation budgets and logistics whilst praying for a repeat of the miracle and the volume art sales that bring in the real money. Of course there are those artists that have worked long and hard building personal artistic confidence, critical acclaim, a loyal following (all strong foundations) and then have a solo show, that is that crowning glory. But even then the disgruntled purists amongst the loyal following desert in disgust at having to share their private club with the unwashed masses. So
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what’s left? What’s the point? What can be achieved when no great financial rewards or long term career prospects allowing for creative freedom can be hoped for, let alone guaranteed? We don’t know.
So how do you go about achieving fame in the art world? Follow this simple step by step guide:
Firstly, you must be skint and on the dole. Anybody with a proper job or tied up with full time education will not have the time to devote to see it through. Also, being on the dole gives you a clearer perspective on how much of society is run. If you are already an artist stop “developing your work further”. Even better, burn everything you created so far. That could possibly bring you extra critical acclaim in the future. Just get rid of it and use the storage space as your own artspace while art historians in future will give more meaning to your art burning that you could ever imagine. It will become clearer later on but just take our word for it for the time being. Sitting around tinkering with the paintbrush or artistic tools (either ancient or modern) just complicates and distracts you from the main objective. Even worse than being a artist is being a artist in a collective. Only name-surname branded artists will ever get to number one - if you decide to stay in your collective: make sure that’s you. If you are in a collective you will undoubtedly be aware of the petty squabbles and bitching that develops within them. This only festers and grows proportionately as the group gets bigger and no group ever grows out of it. All collectives end in tantrums, tears and bitter acrimony. The myth of a collective being gang of lads out “against” the world (read as “to change”, “to shag” or “to save the world”) is pure wishful thinking to keep us all buying the works and reading the journals. Mind you, it’s a myth that many group members want to believe themselves. That said, it can be very helpful to have a partner, someone who you can bounce ideas off and vice verse. Any more than two of you and factions develop and you may as well be in politics.
You can begin any Sunday evening by looking at the top 100 ranked artists on the website artfacts.com. You don’t have to sit down and dissect and study it, just look at their works and biographies while listening to some of your favourite music. After that do whatever you do on a Sunday evening but before you go to sleep that night you are going to have to come up with a name for your artspace. Nothing too clever or inspired. Something that
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sounds solid. You just want something that’s not going to be offensive and people are going to be happy doing business with.
Monday morning. Check that the artspace name that you have chosen is still sound. Be up, dressed and out by 9am. You are going to have to get used to getting up earlier; no lying in until noon now. From now on every time you telephone or email someone on business remember to give them your name and the company you are from (even though it’s only you). Don’t bother getting headed note paper. People waste a lot of time, effort and money having stationery produced when getting a new business off the ground. People in the beginning of this new century can see through the smart graphics. Spend the remainder of the morning amassing the rest of the tools you will need for the job in hand. These are:
1. A laptop computer with a wireless internet, preferably of Apple brand (the crappier the better as long as it actually works). 2. A copy of “Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas” by Charles Harrison and Paul J. Wood. 3. A couple of the discounted Taschen books on idealized, successful, contemporary artists and styles. 4. A hard back note book and a fine point, blue ball Pentel.
If you do not already have any of the above, or are unable to borrow them, then we are afraid you are going to have to spend some real cash. Hopefully, this will be the last time in the whole project that you will have to use up some of your Giro, other than the odd sub fare and phone calls. If you have a broadband internet access where you live and it hasn’t been disconnected yet, great. If not, buy a 3G USB modem with a contract. If you have all that done and it’s not yet one o’clock, start looking at the pictures of all your art books from end to end. Of course, your conditioned brain will tell you it’s all a pile of shite and pale into insignificance compared to the golden era in art, that you were told about in school or by other “art-educated” people. Dig deeper into your heart and you will know that you are just lying to yourself. All eras in art are golden ages, or will be looked upon as such by the only generation that matters at any given time. Not only are all ages in modern art equal, modern art never changes, it only appears to change on its surface level.
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Unwrap art’s layers and what we are left with is the same old plate of meat and two veg that have kept generations of art pickers well satisfied. The emotional appetite that contemporary art satisfies is constant. The hunger is forever. What does change is the technology this is always on the march. At some point in the future science will develop a commodity that will satisfy this emotional need in a more efficient way. There was a period in our own prehistory when Superstars and famous galleries didn’t exist, when thursday night wasn’t synonymous with countless exhibition opening parties. For the time being we have our top rated artists and international superstars and while science marches to the beat that will finally destroy it all, it also comes up with the goods that will satisfy our other endless appetite, that of apparent change. All artists in the Top 100 (especially those that get into museums) have far more in common with each other than with whatever genre they have developed from or sprung out of.
In certain galleries across Europe in the late 90s, artists were selling the latest in conceptual objects and abstract painting to drugged and delirious software developers, advertisement art directors and investment bankers. If any of these artists had any ambitions of following in the paths of Tracey Emin or Damien Hirst to the top of the market they have to acknowledge the fact that what they have learned out there in front of their canvases can only provide them with the fashionable icing when it comes to the real action inside the top ranked galleries and the battle for the solo show slot is on. They must also follow The golden rules. Anyway, by now you should have removed all the remaining artworks you had in your apartment or studio and have a fresh, empty room to start with. In case your apartment has a certain worn out look, do not bother painting the walls or refurbishing your floor. Any elements of the space that do not conform with the assumption of a white cube artspace will give that special touch to your soon-regarded-as-institution-hobby room and inspire artists through that very special ambiance. Also don’t worry if your space is not situated on street level in a lively area of your town. People will come anyway, they enjoy the illusion of discovering something new, whether that is in some kind of basement workshop or on the 4th floor of an apartment building. The idea behind opening up your former art studio is quite simple: The fact that you read this manual means that you did not succeed anywhere in the art game yet. Based on this observation we assume that other people‘s works are much
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better than yours - that’s why you burnt your works in the first place anyway right? Thus we conclude that if you present other people‘s works in your once-studio-now-artspace, this will have several positive effects for yourself. Not only will you basically let other people deliver templates to copy from to your door, but also you will get to know more successful, more famous and better connected to people on a professional level, far more than you ever could by running from one thursday night opening to the next. They will regard you as person who is in the same game as they are and accept a temporary joint venture, of course only until the point where one of you gets the opportunity to pursue his individual career, which of course will happen regardless of any former friends or partners in crime. Until then, invite as many local and international young artists to show or perform their art in your place. Invite only the people whose work you like and where you think you could learn something from them. Do this frequently, so often until you think you cant see anything more, which is the state of mind where you will find strategies to talk about art and deal with artists that the outside world will regard as “professional”. Use weblogs, newspaper websites, social networks and mailing lists to send your invitations without having to pay for the printing of postcards or newspaper ads. Local art colleges are a good place to start your word-of-mouth promotion at because art students, who will accept to go and show almost everywhere if provided with snacks, alcohol or the prospect of selling their work, will also make your place look hip and vibrant. You will, in fact, create what looks like a win-win situation for everyone involved, including you, because everyone is just as desperately trying to get to the next step - and the final goal - as you are.
If you did not notice until this point that the author of this text copied and adapted the KLF manual to introduce this text - now you know. The KLF was a highly successful pop music act in the late 80s of the last century which, after having placed numerous billboard Number One hits in the UK under various alias, wrote “The Manual (How to have a number one the easy way)” which included chronological instructions and personal commentary about how to repeat their success. This book inspired other people to go for gold, of which some succeeded and some not. While the recent developement of contemporary art business bears certain similarities to the development of the highly professionalized, mechanistic popular music system that shifted music into the realms of products that gain popularity not because it sounds good and gives people something for their lives but
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because they were pushed by clever marketing strategies, it is not the aim of this text to provide similar advice, because the art world is just too slow to be conquered at such a fast pace as the pop music system made up from radio broadcast monopolies and music distribution systems was back then. The only difference between you, that is the yet unsuccessful, new to the game artist, and them, being what you regard as the upcoming and accomplished artists, is that they elaborated whatever idea or emotion came to their mind and have not been to shy or out-of-this-world to talk about it with anyone they met in a way they understand, and had the guts to make respectful but confident and creative use of any resources that were available to them. Establishing some kind of community that helps you and others to get their message across helps a lot. There are several ways to do this, one of them is opening a non profit artspace in the basement of a decentral part of a capital city, others are opening a bar or place for concerts, founding a shared studio or publishing a weblog. All of these joint-forces strategies will keep you sane while constantly pondering and working on your very own Next Big Thing, simply because of the fact that you are not lonely single player and it is not your goal to become a solitary individual that is only being treated respectfully by its peers because they are scared you will completely loose it if they don’t. But you must always keep in mind that in such a multi player game that you just joined you have to keep constant attention to which games are beeing played by whom with you. Because you are not the only one trying to achieve something several other people might have come up with similar strategies and made yourself a part of them. Retrace the hidden agenda behind this generous invitation or that exciting proposal. If you have identified what might be the other person‘s goal, decide if you can live with that, or if the result for yourself weighs up to the amount of work and risk of failure. If you succeed you might at some point watch the sun set behind the towers of a roaring city waiting for your major international gallery show to open. And still, nothing will change and you will get up the next morning and think: What will I do next.
Because it’s only through mastering the art of having complete control when you are at the same time totally out of control. You must hold the reigns tighter than you have ever held them before but let the chariot head over the cliff top. The abyss is calling.
P.S. GOOD LUCK
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The wave’s propagation15.12.2008
In a strictly-regulated Europe, Italy is one of those places where people still speak out against the decisions imposed by politicians and create open discussions to critically reflect this set conditions. This text focuses in particular on the current situation of theeducation system and on the reactions from students as a consequence of the reforms for the future of Italian universities. The text is a kind of self-reflection of this massive rule changes in the Italian landscape of education and explains my experiences with these transformations.
In this period of deep economic crisis, one of the choices that the Italian government has carried out to restrain its effects is directly affecting the educational system. The minister of education, Maria Stella Gelmini, has reduced university funding to an amount of 1.441 million euro in five years (Art 66/L133/2008). This decision was the spark that induced the radical mobilization of thousands of students in the last months. After many years - in which students have seen the transformation of universities into private foundations; substantial raises of tuition fees and the introduction of novel fees; the transformation of the university into a “knowledge factory“ characterized by disqualification and homogenization of education, studies and research; the surge of precarious jobs – students felt the necessity to state in a clear and strong way what they stand for, that they must be heard and that they want to be part of the decisions that concern their future.
Q: QuestionA: Answer
Q: The education ministers of 29 countries and European university heads issued the Bologna Declaration in 1999, with the goal of achieving a European higher education area by 2010. How have the mass media and the universities discussed and informed the students about the changes that are implemented in the new university structure?
A: Well, I think there has not been enough information about it. I never heard on television or from my university that the implementation - in the academic year 2001/2002 - of the new university structure (BA/MA), more widely
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known as 3+2, was part of a European project, the so-called Bologna process. After having studied three years in Bologna I only discovered these facts when I studied abroad. That means that even if the 3+2 has a European dimension, in Italy this plan has been hidden and nationalised, i.e. shaped to the interests of the country. For example, after almost ten years we still don’t have enough courses in English that would invite foreign students to study in Italy or to prepare the Italian students to go abroad. I think that at least the university, as an institution, would have the duty to provide better information to the students about these processes.
Q: As I mentioned, beginning with the academic year 2001/2002, the Italian universities have started to adopt the Bachelor/Master model, better known as 3+2. How did the new educational structure influence the learning process and the qualifications of students?
A: I have to say that there has been a radical change in how education is distributed and produced since the new structure was adopted. First of all we have to choose the field of study where we would like to specialise after the second year. This means that we have to accept a “ready-made” curriculum; the possibility to choose courses is very limited. The quantity of courses to follow during the year has increased. The method of dealing with the subjects has become more superficial. The intensity of knowledge production entails the impossibility to reflect and delve deeper into a topic. We know a bit of many things. If you want or need to be in time with your studies, you have to be fast, not think too much but produce something. I often felt like a machine, which needs to produce a certain amount of knowledge every month. The university started to become a factory of exams. The quantity of credits you get is more important than the quality of knowledge you gain.
Q: What are the costs of education after the introduction of the BA/MA structure?
A: The fees have excessively increased. Usually, the student fee for a one-year master study is double the amount of the bachelor. In many universities this price is much higher. New kinds of costs appeared as well. For example in most of the universities you now have to pay for the entry-exam. When I decided to study at the university I had to pay the fee in advance and because I didn’t know if and where I would be taken, I paid fees at four different universities
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to have more choices. Five years ago the price was around 50 to 60 euro. Now it reaches up to 100 euro. If you want to move from one class to another, as well as for the final exam of every level (BA/MA), you have to pay. Those who don’t have adequate financial resources are practically excluded from the university, especially on the higher levels that are more expensive. If you need to work to pay for your studies, as well as a rent, food, books and so on, this becomes counterproductive for your career because it will not be possible to finish in time, to make experiences abroad, to train your English or to learn a new language. To be precise this means that you will not be competitive in the labour market and the possibility to get a job will diminuish.
Q: Another important point in the Bologna declaration concerns private funding for universities. How can private companies influence the curricula of the university?
A: No one offers something without the intention to get something in return, especially when it’s about money. This means that the production and distribution of knowledge will be under the influence of certain private interests. These investors will have an interest that a certain kind of knowledge reaches the students, who, once they are ready for the labour market, might have the skills to get a job in those companies that sponsored the universities. The transformation of universities into privately funded institutions threatens the public character of the education, a fundamental right that is necessary for the functioning of a democracy. One of the consequences of the privatization process is the increase of tuition fees, that can be paid through the introduction of the so called “prestito d’onore”, a bank loan that is handed out without any particular kind of guarantee. There exist similarities with the introduction of the highly problematic debt systems that developed in the U.S. American and Anglo-Saxon world, which are partly responsible for the global financial crisis.
Q: Which is the relation between the education system and the labour market? How do they influence each other at present?
A: As I just said, the labour market can easily influence the educational system once private companies get access to the control of the student’s knowledge. In the new university structure, the bachelor period has been conceived as a combination between theoretical and practical education. These last are
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achieved through three/six months of internship in private agencies/companies that have special contracts with the universities. The compulsory character of this structure brought undergraduate students to accept any kind of condition, with the goal to acquire the necessary credits to finish their studies. Students are not paid at all during this period and they don’t even get the knowledge they are supposed to get. Often they are just asked to make photocopies, some phone calls or just to bring coffee from one office to another. In these companies there is a continuous turnover of students, who are simply exploited.
Q: The student-movement, which is present throughout Italy, calls itself “Onda anomala/ Anomalous wave”. Why anomalous? How does this movement differ from those of previous years?
A: This is a new movement of the current generation that wants to regain the future, which they claim has been stolen. The students weren’t that organised for many years. Many on-line platforms were created in order to spread information and to communicate with people from different cities and countries. In this way we could bprepare ourselves, organise simultaneous actions all over Italy and propagate the effect of the wave in different directions. It’s anomalous because the movement is a heterogeneous grouping of people -students, workers, researchers, teachers, parents- who share the dissent with the government’s choice to sustain the banking system to the detriment of the young, the precarious workers, the whole of society, after years of neo-liberal politics. Furthermore, the wave has been driven beyond the nation borders. In all of Europe there have been solidarity demonstrations with the Italian movement. This marks the transnational dimension of the problems we are facing and makes the movement much stronger in a globalised space.
Q: What is the criticism of the education system and which alternatives are suggested?
A: Well, as I already mentioned before, the critics of the educational system highlight some of the effects of the bachelor-master structure: the parameters of evaluation pushed by productivity and not by quality; the compulsory attendance of courses as a tool of control over the student’s lifes; privatization that is set against the public nature of the university; the fragmentation of the courses that leads to the disqualification of knowledge; the diminuished student autonomy regarding decisions of the study plan. The challenge of the
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movement is an auto-reform as open-process that implements the production of knowledge and a critical analysis of the university system, but also the frailty of labour and the welfare system. Auto-reform as grassroots participation means to address the university with our desires and proposals that we want to build up starting with an analysis of the crisis and it’s relations with wider parts of society. We want to construct a public, open, free university for everyone.
Q: One of the slogans, which appeal to students, is: “We don’t pay the crisis”. What does the movement mean by that?
A: The Italian government decided to cut the investment into the educational system (L133/L137) in order to bail out the banking system. With this slogan we clarify that we do not want to pay the costs of the global financial crisis. It also clarifies how important the political reflection and the discussion about labour and welfare is for us students. We believe that a way out of this crisis will only be possible by creating new models that enable higher investment in schools, universities and free research.
Q: In the last weeks and months, students from all around Europe have struggled and fought for better conditions in the educational system. How are the European students interconnected in this rebellion?
A: Students from all over Europe feel more than ever the pressure of the capitalist system in universities, cities and social relations. In the next months thousand of people will be losing jobs, the cost of living will rise, education will be privatized and impoverished. In Italy, Greece, Spain, France and the United States, students are protesting, occupying and rioting. With our denunciations and demands we are critical of the global system. We say no to the financial cuts in public education, no to the impoverishment of learning, no to the privatization of education, no to the precarious conditions of work, no to the police violence, no to the discrimination against immigrants, no to the authoritarian oppression and no to any kind of exploitation. We say no, we don’t pay the crisis.
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Game as knowledge production Knowledge as the rules of the game
Normally a crossword puzzle is a game about wasting time. Wasting time on some beach where you spend your holidays, in some public transportation system waiting to come to your final destination. Normally a crossword puzzle is full of useless information that is only superficially interconnected through common letters.
This crossword puzzle is a specific one. One that can only be solved if one considers that knowledge and especially knowledge production do not function inside of a preordered frame. A frame which was set by historical institutions and power and that struggles to survive by subjugating any kind of resistance. In order to solve the crossword puzzle you have to extend the form, to break out of the frame by questioning our way of perception and our innate sense for aesthetics.
Solution: p. 93
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✃
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✃
✍
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YOU ARE EXPELLED !
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... I don´t think I was able, ever, to write in the 1st Person. I had to find these ciphers for myself because whenever I tried writing in the 1st Person it sounded like some other person, or else the tritest most neurotic parts of myself that I wanted so badly to get beyond.
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Work is self-expression.
We must not think of self-expression as something we may not do.
Self-expression is inevitable. In your work, in the way that you do your
work and in the results of your work your self is expressed.
Agnes Martin
There will be moving ahead and discoveries made every day.
There will be great disappointments and failures in trying to express
them. Renée Greene
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I´d even made up art theories about my inability to use it. (…) Th at in order to write 1st Person narrative there needs to be a fi xed self or persona and by refusing to believe in this I was merging with the fragmented reality of time.
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(…): Plagiarism, was that something that came out of your exploration of the I?
(…): No, the I became a dead issue because I realized that you make the I and what
makes the I are texts. So I became interested in just text. Other people´s texts. If there´s
no problem with the I, then in terms of text there was no self and other, I could use ev-
eryone else´s writing.
Kathy Acker
Im Anfang meiner Arbeit bin ich vielleicht von Gefühlen ausgegangen,
inzwischen aber haben sich Ideen herauskristallisiert.
Joseph Beuys
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Ich war mir immer bewusst, dass ich das Geordnete gegen
das Chaos setzen wollte, das Faserige gegen die Masse,
das Riesige gegen das Kleine.
Eva Hesse
To talk about polyphony not just in terms of acoustics, a layering of different
sounds, but also different elements, coexisting, but in their difference and
never collapsing into a single, kind of unified, harmonic, whole.
Imogen Stidworthy
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But now I think okay, that´s right, there´s no fi xed point of self but it exists and by writing you can somehow chart that movement. Th at maybe 1st Person writing´s just as fragmentary as more a-personal collage, it´s just more serious: bringing change and fragmentation closer, bringing it down to where you really are.
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Art is not ethical, moral or even rational and not automatic.
Agnes Martin
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Etwas zu tun, setzt Dinge in Bewegung, und das führt weiter. So geht es immer. So
führt eine Arbeit zur nächsten. Daher kann ich mich auch nie erinnern, nur an einer
Sache gearbeitet zu haben. Es waren immer wenigstens zwei und mehr... Arbeiten
führt zu weiterem Arbeiten und weiterem Denken.
Eva Hesse
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Text:Chris Kraus: I Love Dick, Semiotext(e), Los Angeles 2007, S 138-139.
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played [dis]order |////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////\
entry point:
Secession, Karlsplatz, Vienna. 14.46. One of the highlights of a tourist’s visit to the city, located on a busy junction. At least 6 buses are parked in front of the building, tourists wander around making photos of the building in the background, looking for the entrance for the current exhibition. Some walk up the stairs, as if to enter the building, but instead of granting them entry to the exhibition space, the narrow corridor leads them straight out through the closed-off building, towards a space behind: a parking-space and small green belt. They walk around disappointed. There is no „show“, no „entertainment“. Some resignedly approach a food stand and decide to take a rest at an improvised table nearby. Some decide to ask the people working in the stand, where the exhibition is.
The green area is clashed on both sides by busy 4-lane streets. An autonomous island trying to claim its existence within the harsh environment. The conversation can only be heard during the short intervals when the lights stop the traffic. Red light brings a moment of relief, with the anxiously waiting cars in the background. On the other end of the green belt is a place for a bonfire. A space of contemplation for the ones who could survive and accept the invitation to play. Visitors of this playground become an interface, an instrument.
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PA’s (1) modulated space of the Secession draws towards the notion of tourist as argued by Zygmunt Bauman. Spaces often visited such as corridors, spaces that are imperceptible background to everyday encounters. Spaces of no interest since there is no entertainment to be seen. PA tries to recreate an art space in an attempt to break out of its heterotopia. Yet the very attempt still accepts the institutional framework, thereby recreating a slightly transformed heterotopia. PA’s chosen framework also draws closely from the Situationists International notion of play in everyday life. Attempts to raise awareness of the everyday.
„ The tourist moves on purpose (or so he thinks). His movements are first of all „in order to“, and not only secondarily (if at all) „because of“. The purpose is the new experience, the tourist is a conscious and systematic seeker of experience, of a new and different experience, of the experience of difference and novelty - as the joys of the familiar wear off and cease to allure.“ Zygmunt Bauman (2)
level 1
hacked hierarchies.
Many groups and individuals have been invited to participate. Anyone can do anything, according to PA. All rules within the art institution are expected to be broken. Or so it seems. One can appropriate, add, remove, destroy. Are the visitors / users liberated from rules? The institutional space became shared space - but on who‘s rules? The curator’s, the artist’s or the user’s?Instead of visible rules (and signs) there is the notion that the space is being shared by all participants. It is replaced by the assertion that everyone has the same access to the public space. Such a structure is symbolic for the principle of order in the society. Observe and be observed - disciplining oneself.The space became a juncture where different events introduced/directed by users, artists, curators collide.
„The rules the player may follow can be no more than rules of thumb; heuristic, not algorithmic instructions. The player‘s world is the world of risks, of intuition, of precaution-taking.“ Zygmunt Bauman (3)
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level 2
someone always tells you how to behave.
One of the groups that has been invited to intervene are students from the Performative Art class (Academy of Visual Arts). Most of the students are not willing to participate, precisely because they were told they may do anything. The lack of (visible) rules turned into creative void. Fluidity restricted them. If one may do anything there is no fun to participate in that play. It seems as if the (visible) rules have to be established in order to cause reaction. Rules are precisely created to be violated.
In fact, the rules haven’t been dissolved entirely, they are just made less perceptible than within the white cube self. PA aimed to invert a gallery/institutional space, as commonly perceived by its visitors, inside out. And the rules have been inverted with it. The invited group of students has been told that if they want to do „something radical“, they have to consult the curators of the exhibition first. At night, there is security patrolling. There are also hosts and hostesses working at the place during the day. They haven‘t received any guidelines on what they should communicate to the visitors.None of the players (with the exception of security, perhaps) has been provided with details about rules. Everyone has to figure it out for themselves.
level 3
playing [dis]order. rules of engagement.
If dealing with uncertainty is the obstacle for the visitors/users/players, then some of the implicit rules have to be revealed so that players would be able to either adapt to them or be provoked to react to them. Through this intervention these rules are reopened for continual negotiation. This attempt to alter the perception of the space, reveals the illusion of freedom and openness. Above the portal / entrance the motto by one of the founders states: „Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit“ (To every time its art, to art its freedom). Secession as the oldest Viennese independent exhibition house run by artists since more than 100 years, claims that the motto still describes the self – understanding of the Arists Association and its willingness to
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experiment. However, in the context of the PA trial to break out of the worn out convenances, the motto’s notion becomes an ironical remark. To intervene with given presets (as posed by the art institution and currently exhibiting artist) and trigger reactions from the visitors/users/players, a few adjustments have been made. Above the entry portal to the corridor, a grey flag with the word ‘void’ has been placed. By displaying the flag in this prominent spot, the symbolic act of transgression questions the “freedom” and claims autonomy over the space. On the other side of the corridor, exit to the green belt – a white flag with the word ‘salvation’ has been installed. From that spot a ramp leads straight onto the green belt. On the end of the ramp stands a board with the artist’s name and the exhibition title. On that board several attention labels such as “no photo allowed”, “no food and drinks allowed”, “no smoking”, “no dogs”, “no trespassing”, “no mobile telephone allowed”, “drinking from tap water prohibited” have been fixed. These labels, which are called “Hinweisetiketten” in german, install the new set of rules for the visitors/users/players. Additionally a street sign (“Umleitung”) is used to redirect the potential visitors of the permanent exhibition in the basement of the building. The sign is portable and therefore it might be repositioned by visitors/users/players, according to their inventiveness and willingness to dis-order.
„Ideas improve. The meaning of words participates in the improvement. Plagiarism is necessary. Progress implies it. It embraces an author‘s phrase, makes use of his expressions, erases a false idea, and replaces it with the right idea.“ Guy Debord (4)
(1) PA, Pawel Althemer, further referred to as the artist(2) Zygmunt Bauman „From pilgrim to tourist“(3) idem.(4) Guy Debord „Society of the spectacle“
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This so called application is supposed to be used as a toolfor the individualisation process going on in terms of socialmedia use and internet.
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IDENTITUBEPERSONAL IMPERSONATION TOOL
Using this application it`s importantto represent in a serious and natural way.
So try to be AS INDIVIDUAL AS POSSIBLE!!It´s your chance to finally succeed in an ongoing
representation system based on impersonation rules.These 12 very individual suggestions might help you
to categorize your own personal individuality.
Start appearing!!!You should start today!!Please work with video!
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#2 WHAT`S INSIDE YOUR MONEYBAG. PUT EVERYTHING OUT.
#1 MAKE A VIDEO WHILE BRUSHING YOUR TEETH.
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#4 WHAT DOES YOUR FRIDGE LOOK LIKE?
#3 MAKE A VIDEO OF YOUR DAILY WAY TO - - - - -
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#5 PREPARE SOMETHING AND EAT IT.
#6 RECORD A TELEPHONE CALL WITH YOUR MOTHER/FATHER.
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#8 GO OUT. FOLLOW SOMEBODY IN THE STREETS.
#7 DO NOTHING. MAKE A VIDEO OF YOUR PERSONAL NOTHING.
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#9 HANG AROUND.
#10 FALL ASLEEP.
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#11 SPACE FOR ANY SIN.
#12 SPACE FOR ANY THOUGHT.
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Alte und neue Gesellschaftliche SpezifikationenEine Arbeit zu den 12 Bauernartikeln (1525) und dem Computerspiel „Die Siedler“
In Hinblick auf das Thema der Spiele, der Regeln und ihrer Präsenz in den Kulturen und Gesellschaften halte ich aus künstlerischer Sicht die Fragestellung ihrer Transformierbarkeit, sowie die Bedingungen ihrer Transformationen für wesentlich. Zu den Bedingungen zählen, die Fähigkeit zur Reproduktion (Bildung) und die Fähigkeit zur Innovation (Kreativität). Innovative und Reproduktive Methoden und Herangehensweisen sind sowohl in Kulturen als auch in kulturellen Umgebungen (Spielen) in unterschiedlicher Weise verteilt und vertreten. Psychologisch verzweigen sich an dieser Stelle zwei Auffassungen und Erlebensweisen der Freiheit. In der Theorie über das Spiel, spricht man von Ludus und Paidia. Als Vorstufe für eine künstlerische Arbeit habe ich zwei konkrete Beispiele, die mit den zentralen Begriffen in Zusammenhang stehen aus der Kulturgeschichte und der Gegenwart herausgenommen und gegenübergestellt. Das sind die 12 Bauernartikel, welche 1525 in Memmingen durch die Vertreter der oberschwäbischen Bauern verfasst worden sind. Es ist ein Forderungskatalog, der heute als die erste Formulierung von Grund- und Menschenrechten auf deutschem Boden gilt. Das zweite Element ist das Computerspiel Siedler . Es ist von der deutschen Software-Firma Blue Byte entwickelt worden und kann als Aufbaustrategie-Spiel bezeichnet werden. Beim Spielen des Spiels ist zu bemerken, dass Kriegsführung und Vernichtung im Vordergrund stehen. Der Aufbau stellt eine notwendige Voraussetzung dar. Jener soll möglichst optimal, also auf Gewinnmaximierung ausgerichtet vom Spieler gestaltet werden. Durch die Überschneidung dieser zwei Felder, möchte ich den Betrachter mit den gesellschaftlichen Prozessen eines historischen Ereignisses und dessen Resultaten konfrontieren. Darüber hinaus sollen auch Prozesse aus dem weit verbreiteten Spiel Siedler durchscheinen, und auf diese Wiese eine neue Perspektive entstehen. Demgegenüber erzeugt das Spiel Siedler eine quasi historische Perspektive. Es gibt keinen Unterschied zwischen den großen Kriegsmodellen aus Zinnfiguren, die in alten Columboserien in den Privatzimmer von Generälen zu sehen sind, und dem Spiel Siedler. Besonders in Hinblick auf die Betrachtung des Menschen, und seiner Rolle in der Welt. Sowohl im einen als auch in dem anderen wird seine Identität und seine Subjektivität nicht wahrgenommen. Darüber hinaus ist nicht nur der Mensch im Spiel, sondern auch der Spieler selbst zur Reproduktion
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verurteilt, und zwar dadurch, dass er durch eine endliche Menge von definierten Handlungsmöglichkeiten beschränkt ist. In der Geschichte gibt es immer wieder Versuche mit meist tragischen Folgen die Handlungsoptionen des Menschen systematisch, also mit Hilfe von Gewalt, einzuschränken, zu selektieren und dadurch in eine Richtung zu lenken. Das waren etwa auch die Rahmenbedingungen für die Bauernkriege, welche als Ausgangspunkt für die Versammlung der oberschwäbischen Bauern in Memmingen mit dem Ziel neue Regeln für das Zusammenleben der Menschen aufzustellen, gesehen werden können. Ohne Zweifel war viel Kreativität, sowohl für die Vorstellungsbildung als auch die Niederschrift einer völlig neuen Gesellschaftsordnung, notwendig. Der Grund warum man von dieser Transformation auch heute noch spricht, ist weil sie äusserst innovative Züge zeigte. Im Perspektivenvergleich scheint sie paradoxerweise innovativer als die ca. 472 Jahre jüngere im Spiel „Die Siedler“. In diesem kurzen Beitrag wollte ich grundsätzlich auf die Relation zwischen dem Alten und dem Neuen, sowie der Krise des Kalenders als Maßstab für neue und alte Perspektiven und Vorstellungen verweisen. Aber auch auf die Frage welche Rolle die Innovation und Reproduktion in Spielen aber auch im Leben einnehmen kann. Die Arbeit ist unter Verwendung neuer Technologien entstanden, deren Qualität ich den neuen Möglichkeiten der Veranschaulichung von zeitlichen und inhaltlichen Verhältnissen sehe.
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Solution to the crossword puzzle on page 51:
On the Geneology of morals by Friedrich Nietzsche 1887
Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant 1790
The non-objective world by Kasimir Sewerinowitsch Malewitsch 1959
Corpus Platonicum by Plato 5th century B.C.
The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin 1936The man without Content by Giorgio Agamben 1994sss
Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses by Louis Althusser
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