"Leibesübungen"-"physical exercises" is the title of an exhibition, which opens in September 16th 2007. The focus of this exhibition is sculpture: about 25 international artists invite the audience to real action by experiencing instructions and animations, tolerant scores, precisely usable objects, equipment and installations. Mushrooms in the nose, a leather bag in the mouth, a tub over the head - these objects by the Austrian artist Erwin Wurm displace daily experience and explore the border bewteen sculpture and action through audience involvement. "Stand with both cups on the podium and adopt the position (like drawing). Remain in this position for one minute" he instructs the viewer while tacitly questioning definitions of sculpture, original and reproduction, work and author.
"Press as much of the front surface of your body (palms in or out, left or right cheek) against the wall as possible ... " says the first line of instructions by the American artist Bruce Nauman - instructions, which can move the viewer to a contemplative, nearly autoerotic level of experience. In a real stunt Georg Winter allows the user of his piece to explore in free fall. A quirky installation by the Dutch group of artists and designers, Atelier van Lieshout, enables the user to receive sweaty "strengthening", like in a fitness center. The young Norwegian artist Kristian Pettersen offers the audience a sculpted, wooden motorbike, in the middle of the exhibition, which can be used to test character and therefore be a barometer for mood, if the "driver" expresses himself vociferously. Sonja Alhauser's oversized recipe paintings celebrate cooking and share the pleasure of eating with the audience.
The exhibition "Leibesübungen" proposes suspenseful ideas about the possibility of galleries enlarging their function as a place of quietness and distance to be something else too: a place where the viewer is an irreplaceable and creative partner to the artists. An exhibition can be a lively place, where in every moment artistic concepts and pieces of art transform into something new and unique by intervention of each visitor. Here and now the once passive visitors are going to be an extension of the artists, they become collaborationists, assistants, users, guinea pigs and researchers in personal union. The guiding idea is participation - factual sharing, which was determined the selection of the exhibited works. This includes the confrontation of artists and audience within terms of serive, attendance and support as well.
This exhibition shows works from such artists as Sonja Alhauser, Claus Bohmler, Tania Bruguera, George Brecht, Stanley Brouwn, Baldur Burwitz, Robert Filliou, gelitin, Patrycja German, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jeppe Hein, Carsten Holler, Fabrice Hybert, Arthur Kopcke, Tunde Kovacs, Antal Lakner, Via Lewandowsky, Atelier van Lieshout, Bianca Muckelmann, Bruce Nauman, Yoko Ono, Kristian Pettersen, Laercio Redondo, Santiago Sierra, Tomas Schmit, Franz Erhard Walther, Mirja Wellmann, Franz West, Emmett Williams, Georg Winter and Erwin Wurm.
The title of the exhibition, "Leibesübungen ", volitionally evokes associations of physique and physical exercises. It explores the borders between the work of art and exercise, artistry, theatre, (physio)therapeutical actions, slapstick, foolishness and exhibitionism. Tension is created through the juxtaposition of conventions and creative rulebreaking. Control is shown next to chaos, seriousness to hilarity: the viewer grapples to create new definitions of the work and the artist. More then ever the doubt about the material object, its character as a fetish, is an active topic in the current dispute in contemporary art and culture. Since the historical avant-garde, as seen in Dada and Futurism, art as performance demotes "high art" to a mere artefact. Nowadays the so-called performative turn can be seen as a widely spread cultural phenomenon, which is discussed in different fields: in visual arts, in a huge number of happenings (readings}, in contemporary music, in cultural events of sports, games and celebrities. If we look back to the development since the 1960's, the spirit of utopia is still up for discussion in this critical and emancipated approach (art as intervention into the establishment).
The exhibition "Leibesübungen" is part of a current research project connected with a professorship at the HBK Braunschweig (University of Art). The central idea is that until today, no art history - not even on a rudimentary level- has been written about artistic delegation and participation. When dealing with artistic approaches, which do not inevitably create portable and representable objects, neither common perceptions and methods of art historiography, nor popular depiction are suitable tools.
After Goppingen, the next stop of this touring exhibition will be the HBK Braunschweig, the Kunstmuseum Heidenheim and ICA in Dunaujvaros (Hungary) the part of the concept is to involve university students to participate in the process of curating through a collective internship. The do-it-idea of the exhibition will continue with an accompanying publication, which is going to be produced within the "communication design" study programme of the HBK (Prof. Ulrike Stoltz).