K.Ö.N.I.G./K.Ö.N.I.G Dienst am Kunden - Nr. 6

17. September – 21. September 1998

Concept: Anne Schlöpke

Symposium: künstler&alltagspraxis: Schlaraffe oder die hohe Kunst über die Runden zu kommen
Presentations, discussions, films, exhibition

The Künstlerhaus is organizing a symposium from September 17 to 21, 1999, titled künstler & alltagspraxis SCHLARAFFIA oder DIE HOHE KUNST ÜBER DIE RUNDEN ZU KOMMEN.

"When the factories will have been cleared of people, there will only be welfare. Some grant, others receive, and every four years there is an election." (Hartmut Bitomsky)

The main topic is the question of the status of the arts in a society that is thus relieved of "work":
What expectations for "crisis management" are formulated for art? And how do artists respond to them? (Instead of visions, they develop concepts for cheerful failure or, ideally, work on the development of a new common sense).

The symposium is at the same time the third meeting of a group of artists who, in addition to organizing projects, also see art education as part of their work. The first joint project OdA* (Organization of Everyday Life), which was successfully realized nationwide in spring 1999, will be presented in an exhibition from September 18 to 21. Based on previous experiences, this time the political effectiveness of collective artistic practice will be examined.

Two lectures will introduce the topic.
The sociologist Andreas Weber (Freiburg) analyzes the social restructuring that results from the loss of work, among other things. He describes the failure of democratic politics and asks whether artistic work can provide impulses for solving the problems.

The art theorist and curator Holger Kuba Ventura (Hamburg/Konstanz) poses the question of the definition of "political art". How is it decided whether an artistic work is political, and what interests are pursued with it? Starting from positions secured by art history, current artistic practice and theory formation will be examined.

A film program has been selected for the artistic part of the symposium. Four films by Warum Farocki (Berlin/Oakland) will be shown at Kino 46 on 9/19/20/21. These films are particularly suited to visualize the topics addressed.
They are sharp analyses of everyday life in the service society and convey a picture of how people live more and more in illusory realities under the changed conditions: they try out life in courses and continually prepare themselves for the real thing. "Happiness and misery are disciplined by social techniques, and thus freed from their degree of unpredictability."

Yours sincerely

Anne Schlöpke, Barbara Thiel