Pragmatic leftwing, ecological art

WochenKlausur supplements the arts by social interventions

WochenKlausur * invitation for intervention in Augsburg, Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus.

WochenKlausur let not coincidentally their design coloured name be reminiscent of two capitalized nouns and the seriousity of classical latin. Hard work is actually signaled here, one could nearly say: Conference - please do not disturb. Little like what we expect in an exhibition was to be seen during the recent project in Augsburg. But WochenKlausur is a group of artists. Since the first project 1993 in Vienna, when the members of the association of the same name did not want a classical exhibition of their works but instead wanted to use the opportunity of an art exhibition for an interventionist project, the name stands for, politically leftwing and ecological oriented practice in the frame of the arts. Examples are:

2007 Augsburg intervention (water supply in third world countries)

2006 Leeds intervention for the overcoming of social barriers

2006 Limerick intervention: Cinema for immigrants

2006 Leipzig selection of work (“art of acting”)

2005 intervention for the utilization of committee material, Chicago

2004 intervention for the improvement of the public perception of subcultures, Helsingborg

2003 intervention for the vocational qualification of former drug-dependent, Vienna

2003 intervention for animation of mentally handicapped, Graz

2002 intervention for the right to vote, Stockholm

2001 intervention for local development “from place to place”, Steiermark/NÖ

2000 intervention for public controversy culture, Nuremberg

2000 intervention for participation with the organization of the public area, Krems

2000 intervention for the mechanism of project instruction at schools, Fukuoka

1999 intervention for the setting up of language schools in Macedonia, Venice

1998 intervention for the future of work, Linz

1998 intervention for the situation of unemployed persons, Berlin

1997 intervention for local development, Ottensheim

1996 intervention for the improvement of the thrust prison conditions, Salzburg

1996 intervention at school, Vienna

1995 intervention for the employment of alien politics, Graz

1994 intervention for the social status of older humans, Civitella d´Agliano

1994 intervention for the drug problem, Zurich

1993 intervention for the medical supply of the homeless people, Vienna

In the period of 26th June by 18th August 2007 the group of artists was in the Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus in Augsburg. Issued was only a desk, on its advertisement of the urban projects, especially the Augsburger Pax project, some Notebooks, a few sheets and papers. Thus office work, as one may assume it also for the urban authorities themselves. But these do not work on invitation of an art institution but for years in established, institutional structures. This routine creates blindness, so Martina Reuter, member of the group WochenKlausur told Arts On. Asked, why and how the artists judge themselves to be qualified for the interference into the regional social work, Martina Reuter of week examination appoints in particular to the new, unabashed perspective to the respective situation:

Ritter: “Is your approach consciously elitist? You offer a particularly good intellectual and artistic achievement?”

Reuter: “No, that is not an explanation. I regard as our quality, that we come from a system, which does not have to do anything with the system, in which we settle the project. We e.g. cannot replace a machine-builder, since this has its own vocational profile and capital, as we also have. A strategy, that is substantially more easy, is to change or improve systems from outside in a small framework, that is determined by the fact that everyone must adhere to the rules. That is actually what we point out - in what way such a change could happen. We use our individual "capital funds” - therefore we must always be invited by an art-institution to change then into another range - whereby we try then and there to change something punctually.”.

A role plays thereby the self understanding of art in the sense of the Septem Artes as science (as e.g. Leonardo da Vinci's concept of the arts) and an adequate everyday culture in the sense of the building house tradition. Art contributes by formative authority to the improvement of contemporary life circumstances. Leonardos requirement was certainly higher, and also in the quasi empirical research and documentation surely without consideration or itself consciously distinguishing from the term relating to crafts of the “Septem Artes”, in whose names in the cities of the Middle Ages the most important basic rules of each subject were arranged for the tightened craftsmen from the county. Apart from the view of art as conceptional and shaped by ideas and a fundamental requirement on a theoretical authentication, also this aspect relating to crafts in the Septem Artes concept applies to the interventionist practice of week examination.

Reuter: “It is one of our main points that we have an exact framework with the search and conception from the outset, which is clearly defined and reachable [...]. Certainly factors of risk always participate, it can also happen that one says after one week, we must redefine the project completely. But nevertheless the framework must be put again and again so that an attainable goal is actually there. Even if we upset it then sometimes”.

But refinement is added to the way WochenKlausur practises, what differentiate the social preparatory work from the usual work. As artists, - thus acting in the context of an art project - the group may act deviantly, if useful, even systematically deviant. This is based on the liberty of acting that is conceded to art and the artist, which can include every now and then also irregularities - that are not irregularities if practiced in the arts. A typical example was the project “intervention for local development in Ottensheim”. Within its framework WochenKlausur placed - after it had become evident that the parties in the town councillor would not come to any decision - a skating ramp, which should recruit the public for the local development, directly in the middle of a place in the city's center. Since it could not remain at the place, had now be clarified, where it had to be put, and such the decision-making was reinforced. There were no legal measures against the action, because WochenKlausur had been assigned officially to act out any appropriate art actions.

Actions, with which facts are created and decision makers are pushed for co-operation, are not atypical for WochenKlausur and verify them as non-bourgeois and politically, in so far as in politics the goal is taken to sanctify the means generally. One can be safe that the goals of WochenKlausur always aspire the improvement of the life situation of socially disadvantaged people. To that extent the proceeding covered by the art term is legitimized by noble goals. Anyway, it is not raised as a principle, let alone a theory. To the remark that also right-wing policy or already established institutions could use such liberties for itself, Martina Reuter answers that the proceeding of Wochenklausur is actually not to justify irregularities. Their practise does thus not entail a fundamental objection against democratic-civil right principles.

Every now and then Wochenklausur - more or less conscious - plays with the theoretical ambiguousness of its practice. Explicitly rather untheoretical and politically realistic - the feasibility of projects is one of the most important principles of their work, Martina Reuter emphasizes - designations of their interventions with “art of acting” show an orientation at the public area and theoretical references to the French cultural philosophy, e.g. and in particular perhaps Michel de Certeau's theory of the public room (see Alexandra Gerbaulet. Heterotopia. Foucaults andere Räume. Grin 2002).

“Die Kunst des Handelns" ("The art of acting”) - so the German title (Merve publishing house, 1988) of its work “L'Invention du Quotidien. Vol. Arts de Faire. Union générale d'éditions. 1974 ” - is for Martina Reuter a designation, which includes the art of WochenKlausur into the tradition of the classical categorizations in the sense of “the art of painting”, “the art of sculpture”, "art of photography” etc. In comparison with the interventionism of the 70ies - e.g. again the Biennale actions of Yayoi Kusama, moved into new awareness by the world-wide exhibition “Summer of Love”, WochenKlausur is not deconstructive or confusing - but rather realistic, as such, conservative in its habitus and integrative.

De Certeau however - framed by whose theoretical field WochenKlausur can gladly, even if not intention-following, be understood - would see interventionist art and a chess move like the integration into the elevated, quasi aristocratic autonomy of the arts rather as quite a typical switching between the codes. He would thus judge it positively as a fundamental kind of delinquency. But with the refusal of a theoretical background of this kind - if also not refusal of a political awareness in respect to objectionable instrumentalizations - accompanies the attempt of reducing or of completely rejecting symbolic courses of acting in favor of more concrete. WochenKlausur has principally a theoretical background, more abstract and system-theoretically, as the justification of their interventions “coming out of another system” shows and they point out, how a punctual change is possible within the rules.

Dr. Elsen, who had invited WochenKlausur into the Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, justified his interest in their artistic work with the fact that they would compile something concrete within the project, that was continuative outside the project, for the city and other involved people. In relation to this positive view as an increase of quality of life or possession at places, where it lacks, can in particular be objected that straight in the socials schemas, that justify WochenKlausur's authority referring to the “other” view on the established structures in the own culture, will not change if only a product is needed. Instead one might even create a new substitution, which feigns the general givenneess of a variety of perspectives - as intervention-needs can be brought forward not only to economically oriented consultancies but also to socially oriented artists. In the everyday work in the social institutions, which could profit from the art project in regard to a higher self attention, such the usual routine turns in afterwards, just possibly with an extended institutional structure, suitable for the establishment at the end of a project. To assume that such an “institution” functions endures, independently of a critical attention in relation to the established decision and action patterns, appears to be a little short-sighted. How Wochenklausur reflects a promotion of self attention for “systemic” action patterns within the work on the projects, is otherwise not the subject of their own artistic work or documentation.

Report: Dr. Ulrike Ritter

For WochenKlausur: Martina Reuter

(c) Photos by WochenKlausur

WochenKlausur
Gumpendorferstraße 20
A-1060 Wien

t+f: +43 1 585 65 68
m: wk@wochenklausur.at

Website: www.wochenklausur.at

WochenKlausur Project:

Wörgl/Tirol, 6th - 27th august, "Alternative Economics"

The experiment of Wörgl in the 30ies:

Inflation and depression as consequence of the world wide economic crises did inspire the city Wörgl in Tirol in the year 1932 to introduce a new currency to help the regional economics.

The project of WochenKlausur Das Projekt der WochenKlausur intends to get economic scientists and sociologists into social economical activity, to remember this project of Wörgl in the thirties. Online sections of important newspapers like the austrian Der Standard and the german weekly Die Zeit shall participate to let the scientist talk to each other. The discourse in the form of a chain reaction will start at the end of August with an author, who gives a first abstract statement concerning the topic. Another author will answer his approach, with further authors discussing the antecedent articles in the following.

As a kind of equivalent all the involved will get a hamper with goods from Wörgl, sponsored by regional producers and companies.

Read this article in german at ARTOU, Büro für Kunstvermittlung, Kunst-Spektrum