Researcher Theory
01.01.07 – 31.12.07
What is it, I want to ask, with this idea(l) of the subject of aesthetic experience as an inevitably distanced one within what is named critical position or even “political effectivity (of art) within the sphere of culture” (G. Pollock). What are the implied concepts of the other of distanciation: illusion, dissolution, identification, loss of self, contemplation? And if it is realist representation that is the aim of critique, which conception of realism has to be confronted? Departing from these questions I would like to advance an idea of aesthetic experience, which unfolds under the impact of antagonistic forcefields and might be (at least) double in a perpetually shifting relation of involvement and distance, reflection and affect. This is seen in connection to a practice in art and film which I would call critical, which can reflect a (beholder) subject, whose agency and responsibility is not necessarily attached to an active, souvereign or distanced positioning. Rather, in referring to the concept of a subject as traced out in Butler, Derrida or Deleuze, this (beholder) subject might be imagined as unsouvereign, fragmented, exposed to the other (within), a subject that has become estranged to her/his self, strange within oneself, traversed by contradictory desires and experiences. Furthermore, along within this shift regarding the (beholder) subject, it might help to follow Badiou’s line of thought to shift the understanding of art as such. He casts Brecht, one of the proponents of a strategy of distanciation, within what he calls the didactic/Platonian model of art (as opposed to the romantic and the classical/Aristotelian) and tries to outline another, fourth, model: art – within this understanding – in itself can be seen as a way of thinking. Art works, then, can be supposed to be real by themselves (not through external effects, not depending on an external truth). Even though this idea seems to recast the romantic model, Badiou sees it in relation to the didactic model as well. This might offer the possibility to think art in a contradictory way: the illusionistic effects and affective impacts of art might be seen as a form of (critical) productivity, art might be seducing, tricky and false, but at the same time it might be understood as an investigation of truth. Parallel and loosely connected to the theoretical research and its outcomes, a series of gifts to artists/grafts on artists’ works defined through the label of institutional critique (have been and) will be produced.
Villach, AT.
PhD Studies. Academy of Fine Arts. Vienna, AT.
MFA. Merz Akademie. Stuttgart, DE.
MA Media Theory, Film and New Media Studies. University of Vienna, AT; University of Salzburg, AT; Filmacademy, Vienna, AT; Academy of Applied Arts, Vienna, AT.
MA Roman Languages and Literature. University of Vienna, AT.
Lecturer. Department for the Science of Art. Academy of Applied Arts. Vienna, AT.
Lecturer. Department for Contemporary Art. Academy of Fine Arts. Vienna, AT.
Lecturer. Department for Experimental Design. University of Art and Industrial Design. Linz, AT.
Misshapen. Commodification. In: Fabrics interseason 1998-2006. Vienna, AT; Cologne, DE: Verlag Walther König.
To offer you something… Sarah Morris at Galerie Meyer Kainer. In: Texte zur Kunst, 63, September.
Daria Martin, Bernd Krauss. In: springerin, 3.
Glanz auf der Nase. Florian Pumhösl bei Krobath Wimmer. In: Texte zur Kunst, 60, March.
The answer is yes. Michael Krebber in der Sezession Wien. In: Frog, 2, autumn/winter.
Hans Scheirl. Hans im Auto – Inneneier Begleitprogramm. In: springerin, 3, September.
Praxis der Bilder. Zu NOVEMBER von Hito Steyrl. In: Materialien #009, Diagonale. Die strenge Valerie, die fröhliche Valerie. Josephine Pryde in der Secession, Wien. In: Texte zur Kunst, 57, March.
That bodies speak has been known for a long time. Dass die Körper sprechen, auch das wissen wir seit langem. Edited with Hemma Schmutz.
Gespengt und vergrößert. Das künstlerische Subjekt als Produkt der Arbeit. In: Orte der Produktion. Stuttgart, DE: Künstlerhaus.
Let’s get lost within that critical project. Andrea Fraser and Abbas Kiarostami. In: The ghostly aspects of cinema. Maastricht, NL: Jan van Eyck Academie.
That bodies speak has been known for a long time. Revisited. Rotterdam, NL: TENT & Witte de With.
Come into my room of embarrassments revisited. In: Vom Horror der Kunst, Steirischer Herbst.
Blick A, Blick B. Exhibition with Johannes Porsch. Salzburg, AT: Salzburger Kunstverein.
Sich nackt ins Bild stellen. Und ob das revolutionär sein kann. Evening of performances and DVD presentation with students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Carola Dertnig.
The personal is political, and embarrassing/The personal is political, und peinlich. Exhibition with Michaela Pöschl. Panels with Bernadette Corporation, Peter Grabher, Judith Hopf, Renate Lorenz, Ariane Müller, Johanna Schaffer. Vienna, AT: Kunsthalle Exnergasse.
Dass Körper sprechen, auch das wissen wir schon lange. Exhibition with Hemma Schmutz. Lecture by Ruth Noack. Performance by Jutta Koether. Workshop with Meike Schmidt-Gleim. Vienna, AT: Generali Foundation.
Here and elsewhere. A strange place to meet. CD workshop with Johannes Porsch. Los Angeles, US: at-risk-youth.
First visit. Workshop and lecture series with Johannes Porsch. Discussants (in order of appearance): Norman Klein, Owen Jones und Patrick Polk, Marc Grotjahn, Brian Smith, Miles Coolidge, Brian Butler, Jeff Poe, Uebermain, Bob Smith, Nancy Buchanan, Barbara Smith, Richard Newton, Bob Wilhite; dispute resolution services, Jane Hart and Tobey Crocket, Kelly Mason, Liz Craft, Margaret Crawford, Mark Bennet, Meg Cranston, Sam Durant, Dora Epstein. Los Angeles, US.