A discursive-performative series of think tanks based on artistic research and the method of cut-up (*)

idea | concept | installation settings in public space alexandra reill
by + with peter koger, media worker / mimie maggale, director and performer / alexandra reill, concept and video artist / christian stefaner-schmid, sound composer, concept artist, media theoretician + guests
production kanonmedia | vienna 2015

Where is contemporary art today? Which roles are fulfilled by nowadays’ artists in urban societies, which role/s is/are played by art in contemporary societies? Salon Volkertmarkt is a series of five open brainstorming sessions in public space based on performative artistic research and working with the method of cutting-up thoughts, ideas, notes, images, gestures, acts, films, sounds …

In a setting staged in the sense of a salon, together and in recurring discussion and trial rounds, the artists, guests and the public explored questions like what the artist is looking for; where the artist is in society today and what roles she/he is aiming for. All think tank sessions were documented and/or recorded by sound, some as video.

Selection of titled sound recordings [German originals only, no translation into English available]:

— Das Ausschlussverfahren
— Das Einverstaendnis, dabei sein zu wollen und das Karrenziehen
— Das geistige Verhungern und die dezentrale Regie
— Das gemeinsame Lesen
— Das Kuchenmodell 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
— Das Kuchenmodell 6, das Spielgeld und die Metapher
— Das Kuchenmodell 8 und das Spielgeld
— Das Papierbudget
— Das Postkartenspiel und das Fahrrad
— Das Projekt des Kommens und Gehens
— Das Spiel als naive Zone
— Das Spiel zum Welten schaffen
— Das zerknuellte Papier dreht sich
— Der Aktienmarkt und das Wettbuero
— Der limitierte Zufall
— Der Zuckerberg
— Die Abrechnung
— Die Arbeitszeitscheine, der Bischof und die Liebesfruechte
— Die Beschlussregeln 1
— Die Gruppe, das zerknuellte Papier, die Peruecke und das Fahrrad
— Die Gruppe, das zerknuellte Papier, die Peruecke und das Postkartenspiel
— Die Marquise 1 / 2 / 3
— Die Negation eines Brainstormings, das Rauschen, der Umgang miteinander und das Kuchenmodell 10
— Die Peruecke in Ordnung bringen
— Die politische Korrektheit, das Verdrängen, die Rechte und die Linke
— Die Regenpfuetze
— Die spielende Maschine und die Stundenliste
— Die Sprechordnung 1 / 2
— Die Sprechordnung 3 und die Gerichtsordnung
— Die Urheber_innenschaft und das Gerichtsprotokoll
— Die zentrale Moderationsfrage wuerde lauten… 1 / 2
— Die zwei Rechner im Nullsummenspiel
— Eigen- und Fremdwahrnehmung
— Es wird immer Blade Runner sein
— Schach als Nullsummenspiel
— Spielen um zu spielen
— Tic Tac Toe 1 / 2 / 3
— Wir sind im Spiel
— Zerknüllte Werke 1 (**)

The following lines of argument emerged:

In a constellation, the questions were staged in discursive-performative acts in public space, at Volkertmarkt; the artistic research process led to the following performance ideas and outlines; scenic drafts and dramaturgical mark outs as well as performances [titles developed in German only]:

— Das Hütchenspiel.
— Geld knüllen [und entknüllen].
— Das Münzen kleben auf die Mind Map.
— Die Mind Map und das Farbschema für Fragen zu den gestellten Fragen zum Berufsbild Künstler_in.
— Der Ton der verstorbenen Frequenz.
— Die Herzfrequenz aufzeichnen.
— Das Go Spiel.
— Das Schachspiel.

— Die Werke entknüllen.
— Die poetische Kantate nach Nöstli.

— Die Perücke kämmen, bis sie keine Knoten mehr hat.
— Die Schweigestunde.
— Zwei Maschinen im Nullsummenspiel.
— Die selbstredende Maschine.
— ELIZA.
— Das Kalkül.
— Das Wettbüro.
— Die Sprechordnung.
— Die Spielregeln.
— Das Spielgeld.
— Das Kuchenmodell.

—

From these, the so-called Kuchenmodell [Cake Model], the implementation of which needed to be decided by consensus every time again among those present at the respective salon, developed into the recurring main scene of all think tanks. In allusion to the fact that the vast majority of art events beyond those located in commercial art production and highbrow are lacking in audience, and in a participative-collaborative approach, the bureaucratically dealt with and protocoled performance Das Kuchenmodell provided for a payment in equal parts of the average amount available for each of the five afternoons that always extended into the evening – out of a total funding amount of 500 Euro [thus 100 Euro for each think tank] – to the contributors to the respective think tank as expense fee for the content-related contributions.

As final session, the performer Mimie Maggale presented a nude performance on the subject of equality of women, gendering and identity formation in the context of digitally and urbanely conditioned individuality, which can certainly count as the second main scene. The performance was video-documented.

(*)
As an historic art term Cut-up refers to the method of montage discovered by accident by Gysin who developed it further in collaboration with Burroughs. By deconstructing of content in texts on an unconscious and associative basis and re-composing them on a random basis they created quasi meta-conscious content. The approach of both of these main representatives of the Beat Generation was to go beyond used speech, thus producing content beyond pre-defined ideas. Soon, words were replaced by signs, colours and photographies, and the medium of the written word was augmented by the photo collage. A further approach was – completely following the principle of contingency – to read texts out of print media and to record them on tape to then – again according to the random principle – overwrite them with new text samples. Finally, the texts were amended by sounds and found audio footage. It was just a logical step to apply this method of montage acting out of the unconscious to film collage.

Still today, the genres of Extended Performance as well as of Expanded Cinema invented by the Dadaists and the Beat Generation need to be looked at as the most important pioneers of contemporary approaches of a huge variety of artistic production, and their methods of associative media creation still need to be perceived as contemporarily relevant. Such terms as Remix or Resampling would not exist without them.

(**)
Titles of recordings of discursive sessions: Alexandra Reill, 2015

SALON VOLKERTMARKT supported by

our thxs go to
— nelke – cafe am markt
— GB*2/20 Volkertplatz
— commission of culture 1020 vienna

SALON VOLKERTMARKT enactments at

— volkertmarkt / vie / a / 15

SALON VOLKERTMARKT featured by

— falter / vie / a / 15
— artmagazine / vie / a / 15
— esel / vie / a / 15
— gb2/20 online / vie / a / 15
— estherartnewsletter / facebook / 15
— estherartnewsletter / vie / a / 15
— vienna inside / vie / a / 15
— wherevent / vie / a / 15
— stadtbekannt / vie / a / 15
— stadtbekannt events / facebook / 15
— mrs. hyde talks culture / vie / a / 15