INFERNO

VERTIGO OF REALITY : Exhibition, events, Metabolic Office for the Repair of Reality / 17 September to 14 December 2014 / Akademie der Künste Berlin-Tiergarten

How does today’s art alter reality? How do aesthetic production and political, social space interact with each other? Through its current priority programme ‘Vertigo of Reality,’ the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, is examining the construction and deconstruction of reality in the arts. This exhibition and event project, beginning with a ‘Preparation Office’ held weekly until July, is the focal point of the Akademie’s autumn programme.

The profound changes in artistic practice as a result of new media, in particular digitalisation, have resulted in a stream of new strategies tackling how to construct or deconstruct reality in and with art, attempting to make a contribution to enlightenment and resistance through critical appraisal. The project seeks answers to the question of the beholder’s repositioning between artwork and reality, highlights key concepts such as participation and interactivity, and fathoms changes to our self-determination which affect all areas of modern life. The autumn programme includes an extensive exhibition, the ‘Metabolic Office for the Repair of Reality’ and a packed programme of events with more than 40 lectures, performances, conferences, concerts, workshops and tours. The project is already being introduced online, with live streams, videos, interviews and a blog on its website http://www.vertigoofreality.com.

The exhibition presents artistic strategies and methods of working which focus on the viewer’s perception. The artwork materialises only in and through the viewers themselves. Current developments in game art here stand within a tradition of artistic explorations beginning in the 1960s, in particular closed circuit video installations as well as performances, participation projects, films, photographic works and mirror objects. For example, visitors will walk through Bruce Nauman’s ‘Live-Taped Video Corridor’ (1970), with their image on the monitor at the end of the corridor becoming smaller the closer they are to the screen. Hamish Fulton has conceived his first ‘Public Walk’ for Berlin; ‘Walking East – Walking West’ involves 800 participants. In the computer game ‘Frontiers’ by artist group gold extra, players take on the role of refugees and border police at the frontiers of Europe.

Exhibition artists:
Marina Abramovic, Art+COM, Herman Asselberghs, Alexander Bruce, Peter Campus, Andrea Clemens, Thomas Demand, Ariana Dongus, Olafur Eliasson, Valie Export, Christian Falsnaes, Harun Farocki, Rosa Feigs, Hamish Fulton, Jochen Gerz, Dan Graham, gold extra, Lars Harzem/ Bastian Schmidt, Alex Hay, Jeppe Hein, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Richard Kriesche, Bjørn Melhus, Sarah Möller/ Christian Brinkmann/ David Wiesner, Molleindustria, Bruce Nauman, Julian Oliver/ Danja Vasiliev, Trevor Paglen, Paidia Institute, Nam June Paik, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Sophia Pompéry, Franz Reimer, Ulrike Rosenbach, Tino Sehgal, Tale of Tales, Nasan Tur, Bill Viola, Giny Vos, Thomas Wrede

At the centre of the exhibition, the ‘Metabolic Office for the Repair of Reality’ serves as a permanent opportunity for escapade, dialogue, contradiction and the triggering of diverse processes ignited at the exhibition in a variety of forms. Building on Joseph Beuys’ concepts of ‘social sculpture,’ the thematic threads of ‘Vertigo of Reality’ here undergo a ‘metabolic process’ in their interaction with the visitor and guest protagonists.

The realities negotiated by actors on the theatre stages of today are illustrated by the ‘Acting Methods’ video conversations – curated by Ulrich Matthes and with actors including Josef Bierbichler, Edith Clever and Fabian Hinrichs – which will be shown as part of the exhibition and released as a parallel DVD edition.

http://www.vertigoofreality.com

Visuel : Marina Abramovic « Joke » (2014)