Self-Timer Stories
June 18–September 8, 2014
Opening: June 17, 6–8pm
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
11 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Hours: Daily 10am–6pm
T (212) 319 5300
Artists: AA Bronson, Renate Bertlmann, Katrina Daschner, Carola Dertnig, VALIE EXPORT, Sharon Hayes, Matthias Herrmann, Birgit Jürgenssen, Friedl Kubelka, Roberta Lima, Anja Manfredi, Dorit Margreiter, Michaela Moscouw, Laurel Nakadate, Lilo Nein, Carolee Schneemann, Peter Weibel, Hans Weigand, Martha Wilson, Francesca Woodman
Curator: Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein
Exhibition design: Dorit Margreiter
This group exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, titled Self-Timer Stories, shows works from the Federal Austrian Photography Collection—situated in the Museum der Moderne Salzburg—in interplay with international positions from the field of extended photography.
The leitmotif of this exhibition is the creation of a self-portrait via self-timer. This practice, popular both in everyday life and in art, reciprocates with technical developments and shows itself in the release cables appearing in the compositions, the digital remote-control release, or the extended hand. In the moment of the camera’s clicking (which is even artificially reproduced in digital photography) the “I as self-timer” becomes prevalent and thus marks the relationship of subject and world, which has always been inseparably linked with the media.
The choice of the medium for publishing self-portraits—mere photography, slide show, or as a book—makes the private matter shown therein public. In contemporary social media, intimate and personal matters, which people wish to present and put on display, ultimately are only staged and performed for the camera. The publication of the private, also in autobiographies, harbors a moment of fictionalization.
Therefore, the exhibition demonstrates how discourses on identity and photography in de-fixation mode, which do not necessarily focus on the subjects but rather the relationship between image and gaze, can be used as an emancipatory artistic tool to intervene in visual politics.
The opening reception for Self-Timer Stories will take place on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, from 6 to 8pm. Admission is free. The exhibition will be accompanied by a supporting program, ranging from performance and film to discussion:
Tuesday, June 17, 6pm
For the exhibition opening Martha Wilson will perform a re-enactment of her work Self Portrait (1973).
Wednesday, June 18, 7pm
Concert by the legendary DISBAND followed by a book presentation of the brand-new anthology, Performing the Sentence: Research and Teaching in Performative Fine Arts (Sternberg Press, 2014) by editors Carola Dertnig and Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein and series editor Andrea B. Braidt.
Thursday, June 19, 7:30pm
Screening of Fuses and Plumb Line by Carolee Schneemann followed by a panel discussion with the artist. Click here for more information.
Press images are available here.
About the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
With its architectural landmark building in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York hosts more than 200 free events annually and showcases Austrian contemporary art, across the board: visual arts, music, performance, film, literature, architecture, and academic thought. The Austrian Cultural Forum houses around 10,000 volumes in its state-of-the-art library, and enjoys long-standing and flourishing partnerships with many venerable cultural and academic institutions throughout New York and the United States.
Admission to exhibitions, concerts, and other events is free.
Reserve tickets online at www.acfny.org or call (212) 319 5300 ext 77.
Directions
Subway:
E, M Train to Fifth Avenue/53rd Street
B, D, F, M Train to 47–50 Street/Rockefeller Center
E, M, 6 Train to 51st Street/Lexington Avenue
Bus:
M 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to 53rd Street
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Media contacts
ACFNY: desk [at] acfny.org / T 212 319 5300 ext. 77
Andy Cushman: ac [at] 8op.us / T (917) 744 4042
