19 September 2014–6 January 2015
Künstlerhaus
A-1010 Vienna
Karlsplatz 5
Austria
T +43 1 587 96 63
office [at] k-haus.at
What is the value of an art association? What is the value of communality?
In 1996, a Japanese investor offered 600 M. Schilling for the premises of the Künstlerhaus, Gesellschaft bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler Österreichs (Association of Austrian Visual Artists in Vienna). Since then, the interest in the premises has been growing and the interest in the artistic activities and in the programme has been diminishing. This serves as point of departure for the title of the project, which poses the urgent question: are the only remaining assets the building and the land?
600 M.—Friends and Accomplices places emphasis on how to respond to processes of economization from the perspective of artists and art institutions, without giving up an interest in communality and common goods. The project examines the 150-year-old history of the Viennese art institution—with particular consideration of its outstanding economic history—and looks into the future. In 22 chapters, it presents the most significant ventures of the past. Central to the project are numbers, which depict monetary values connected to art and economy. The subtitle refers to friendship and complicity as important factors by which institutions are founded and shaped. Complicity is understood in two ways: On the one hand, it can be seen as a strategic bond, which allows pushing on emancipatory agenda, and on the other hand it shows powerful political and economic entanglements, which hinder emancipation.
Within the frame of 600 M.—Friends and Accomplices, historical formats, such as the so-called permanent exhibition and the studio shows, basically two sales shows from the 19th century and early 20th century, and the “club evenings” (debates held by members and guests) are reactivated. Between now and the beginning of 2016, a total of ten commercial and non-commercial formats will be reactivated—such as a library, reading, music, study room, a bookstore and shops. In the first staging of Friends and Accomplices, artworks by Goldin+Senneby, Superflex and Isa Rosenberger—anticipating the continuation of the project in 2015 and 2016—and interviews with friends and “accomplices” by Christian Helbock’s and Markus Lobner are shown. Goldin+Senneby’s proposal for 2016 might have the strongest impact on the upcoming show: They suggest placing the full budget for the upcoming exhibition in 2016 (including production funds, fees for artists, etc.) in one of the trading strategies they have developed within The Nordenskiöld Model, and let the performance of this trading determine the actual budget for producing that show.
Curated by Barbara Steiner
Display by buero bauer
Film installation Christian Helbock and Markus Lobner
Artists: members of the Gesellschaft bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler Österreichs, Künstlerhaus, and Guests: Goldin+Senneby, Superflex and Isa Rosenberger
