Schlagwort-Archive: Zerstörung

A Banksy was sothebyed — Sich selbst zerstörende Kunst

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Banksy, Metzger, Rühmann …                           (scroll down for English version)

Bei Sotheby’s wurde heute, am 6. Oktober 2018, ein Bild von Banksy für 1,3 Millionen $ versteigert. In den Bilderrahmen hatte der Künstler zuvor einen Schredder eingebaut, der das Bild nach der Versteigerung in Streifen schnitt. Das Fotos von Rasimov zeigt von dem bekannten Streetart-Motiv, dass die Figur schon zerschnitten unterhalb des Rahmens hängt und der Luftballon aus dem oberen Teil des Bildes im Rahmen schon nach unten gerutscht ist.

Twittermeldung vom 6. Okt 2018, Versteigerung von Sotheby’s, (c) Ramin Nasibov, Twitter @RaminNasibov

Mit dem Bild, das zur Aktion wurde, hat sich Banksy in die Reihe der Künstler eingefügt, die den Ikonoklasmus nicht den Bilderfeinden überlassen, sondern die mit ikonoklastischen Handlungen selbst ein Zeichen gegen die Inanspruchnahme von Kunst setzen.

Autodestructive Art 1960er

G. Metzger, Acid Painting, 1961 (Kat. Generali Foundation, Wien 2005, S. 116)

1960 stellte Gustav Metzger die ersten sich selbst zerstörenden Bilder her, die er „Auto Destructive Acid >Action< Paintings“ nannte. Öffentlich „bemalte“ er auf Rahmen gespannte Vinylfolien mit Säure, so dass sich die Bilder in kurzer Zeit  auflösten. Ebenfalls 1960 veranstaltete Gustav Metzger das Destruction in Art Symposion (DIAS) in London.

Einen Akt der Sabotage der Ausstellung seiner Kunst lieferte auch der Hamburger Künstler Dieter Rühmann anlässlich der Verleihung des Lichtwark-Stipendiums, das er 1973 in der Hamburger Kunsthalle zugesprochen bekam. Als das Publikum den Ausstellungsraum betrat, schnitt Rühmann seine Bilder aus den Rahmen, so dass die zuvor dort präparierten und montierten Arbeiten eines Künstlerkollegen sichtbar wurden.

Dieter Rühmann. „das bist du“, 1973, restauriertes Bild (rechts) in der Ausstellungsansicht 3/2018

Ist Banksy überhaupt der Urheber der Zerstörung?

Die Arbeit von Rühmann zeigt aber auch was nach der Zerstörung passieren kann. Der Dienst den er seinem Kollegen erwies, dessen Bilder er freilegte, wurde Jahre später von einem anderen Kollegen erwidert. Es stellte sich heraus, dass dieser die Fetzen der Bilder, die Rühmann aus den Rahmen geschnitten hatte, geborgen hatte. Das Portrait brachte er restauriert zurück, während er die anderen als Lohn für seine Bemühungen behielt.

Die Weiterverwertung zeigt uns jetzt schon, dass der Sammler, der Banksys Bild erwarb, entweder die parallelen Streifen zusammenfügen lassen wird oder das Bild in seinem für einen Schablonendruck viel zu wuchtigen Rahmen als Dokument der Aktion präsentieren wird. Allein dieser Rahmen gibt aber zu denken. Wer hat entschieden, das Bild in so einem grotesken Rahmen anzubieten. War es ein abgekartetes Spiel, das inszeniert wurde, um Publizität zu erzeugen und Wertzuwachs in Sekundenschnelle zu generieren. Mit dem Rahmen zusammen hat sich der Kauf doppelt gelohnt, denn das Bild ist zum Dokument geworden. Ob es eines der Aktionskunst ist, muss sich erst noch erweisen.

© Johannes Lothar Schröder

A Banksy was sothebyed

For 1.3 Million USD the girl with the balloon went to Mr. or Mrs. XXX. However somebody built in a shredder into the frame, which began to work shortly after the auction. Social-media posts show half of the picture cut into strips looking out from under the frame.

No matter who designed the mechanism of autodestruction, that put Banksy into the line of iconoclastic artist, the happening brings into mind Gustav Metzger, the pioneer of autodestructive art. Since 1960 he executed several acid-paintings which destroyed themselves while being painted. By this he seriously avoids to be sothebyed nowadays after his dead in 2017.

A remarkable act of destruction of his own work of art was done by Hamburg based Dieter Rühmann, who during the opening of his show at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, cut his own artworks out of the frame, to show works of other artists, which were not honored by the Lichtwark-prize he has received.

Rühmann also shows that destruction is not only selfish and an act of self-promotion. It can also be an act of generosity as Rühmann offered his space in the frame of an exhibition to somebody else. Years after that one of the pictures he had cut out of the frame was returned to him by a colleague. He had collected the remains of the destruction and restored three of the pictures.

The grotesque frame, in which Banksy’s screen printing was presented, teaches another lesson: The new owner of the sheet has doubled the value of the work seconds after the purchase. The work is a document of destruction as well as it is a document of a coup. As the work was not given to Sotheby’s by Banksy himself, one can guess, that somebody else did the job of manipulating the frame not for artistic reason but to generate publicity.

© Johannes Lothar Schröder

Myth and Orange Desert Dust

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(A German version is available. Please scroll down./Eine deutsche Version der Rezension wurde am 13. Juni veröffentlicht. Siehe unten!)

While the ruins of the Haitian Sans-Souci provide a theatrical attraction in front of the building of the Akademie der Künste in Tiergarten, you have to enter the KunstWerke (KW) at Auguststraße to realize the attractions. The two story central space in the basement has been transformed into an abandoned battlefield bathed in an orange light by Dineo Seshee Bopape. It reminds me at strangely illuminated days, when dust from Sahara sandstorms travel into central Europe and the sunlight changes its color. Becoming aware of the reason of the orange light we might realize that this atmospheric phenomenon connects two continents. Perhaps the matter of the smashed bricks covering major parts of the floor, contain parts of original Sahara-sand.

Dineo Seshee Bopape: Untitled (Of Occult Instability) [Feelings] 2016-18, 10. Berlin-Berlinale, Kunstwerke (KW) Auguststraße, Foto: johnicon

Where the continents are in touch

Such phenomena tell us that continents stay in touch, no matter if people stay disconnected from the word or in private realms. Also history offers evidence of global exchange.  A visit of the cloister of Monreale near Palermo gives evidence that Sicily was a center of the world in Medieval times. Every single pillar, capital and corbel of a total of 228 is formed by different craftspeople from all over the world as far it was known thousand years ago. Forms and constellations of plants, animals, humans, masks, monsters etc. prove a ‘global’ exchange between Africa, Asia and Europe at that time. (Do not miss this place when visiting Palermo, which is hosting the MANIFESTA 12 this year.)

Among numerous artworks at KW there was a video that attracted me. It suggested a re-interpretation of Oedipus by Grada Kilomba. She challenges the power of the ancient myth by seven dancers, including herself, who was the storyteller, too, and music. The research examines whether or not the myth has the power of predicting fate and biography of humans and their relatives. The video presents ways, in which the dancers act, move and play to break the spell of the role. How strong is the frame given by the oracle, and when the spectators cannot identify the play anymore. Kilomba accepts the plots and the persons of the myth and fulfills the symbolic form up to a certain point and despite of her intention to get rid of the symbolic system as a semantic relic of oppression. The only chance is to actualize the frame in which every person acts and shoulders the struggle against the spell as a challenge in searching variations to escape the power of the past.

Grada Kilomba: Ödipus, Video mit sieben Tänzern, 2018, 10.Berlinbiennale

Other impacts against self-determination are unrest and wars. The French-Lebanese movie “La Femme qui chante” (2010) drastically shows that chaos creates a contemporary variant of the ancient myth of Oedipus. Facing the trouble in the world, we should appreciate the optimistic version of Iocaste and Oedipus by Kilomba and enjoy the dancing couple freeing itself by breaking with traditions.

Robert Rhee __ Occupations of Uninhabited Space, various objects 2013ff

Returning to the impressive installation in orange, spectators find themselves in a singular environment covered with debris, which is overshadowed by a sphere made from cardboard by Jabu Arnell. Hanging over a disastrous scene it can be associated with Darth Vader’s Death Star rather than with a “Discoball” as it is named ironically. Two smaller objects by Robert Rhee rotate on top of pillars from corners of smashed walls. Extending grotesquely through a grid of steel the two organisms, which after examining them can be identified as pumpkins having survived the simulated disaster which happened in this space. It is hard to tell whether these fruits survived thanks to the cage or despite of it.

(c) Johannes Lothar Schröder