Site Inspection 11: Formats for Action
July 2 to August 14, 2005
Opening: July 1, 7 PM
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Chausseestraße 128/129
10115 Berlin
T 49.30.280.7020
F 49.30.280.7019
nbk [at] nbk.org
Tues-Fri: noon-6 PM, Sat-Sun: 2-6 PM
www.nbk.org
Artists
Laura Horelli, Daniel Knorr, Katya Sander
Curator
Marius Babias
Site Inspection 11: Formats for Action
The eleventh exhibition in the Site Inspection series, Formats for Action, was conceived by Marius Babias and addresses the theme of the public sphere, or more precisely, the possibilities for intervening in reality through a critical praxis of art. Capitalist society, which is becoming increasingly brutal in the process of globalization, embellishes itself with increasingly critical micropublic spheres, of which the visual arts represent one highly symbolic example. The critical work of art can achieve both things: charging up the subscene in question with oppositionality and supplying profits in the form of distinction, outwardly in the form of institutional legitimacy and generating a cultural self-image of capitalist society.
The exhibition Site Inspection 11: Formats for Action defines the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein as a public space that is reclaimed for art. The exhibition space, as Brian ODoherty has shown, is the exterritorial space in which the public, as representatives for the society, can try out aesthetic experiences, including those that are directed against society. The works shown in the exhibition thematize in different ways arts external relationships to society. Though they do not directly initiate action or call for specific deeds, the works nevertheless contain an aspect of action; they represent a format for action that questions artistic activity in the public sphere and formulates the critical and artistic interest, combining reflection with perception. Just as the catalog is at once a display and a coproducer of the exhibition, the exhibited works define themselves as exemplary perceptions of the effectiveness of art in a society that is gradually losing its public sphere.
The exhibition, which will also be shown in the Kunstverein Göttingen beginning in November 2005, will be accompanied by a catalog with texts by Marius Babias, Laura Horelli, Daniel Knorr, Katya Sander, and Alexander Tolnay.
