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270409: 1968. The Great Innocence. Kunsthalle Bielefeld
1968. The Great Innocence. Kunsthalle Bielefeld
The Bielefelder Kunsthalle reveals how the art system was adjusted during the 1960s. The extensive show displays more than 300 works, which demonstrate how weighty these major changes still are today.
Mario Merz became widely known in the 1960s for his art, which rejected eternal value and museum consecrations. The Milan born artist’s rejection was so far reaching that he constructed archaic looking shacks with everyday objects. Noteworthy are his igloo-like objects, which are meant to depict an “ideal organic form” and are composed of small sandbags. To literally “enlighten” the poetic texture of the objects with writing, Merz adds neon lamps twisted in the form of words. One of these dwellings is displayed at the current Bielefeld exhibition.
The huge exhibition “1968. The Great Innocence”, whose title is irritating at first, shows 300 works, which demonstrate how artists questioned the art system during the political rebellion in 1968, and their questioning was not in the least innocent. The curator Thomas Ellein analyzes American, European, and Asian art as well as visionary architecture. He presents examples of Pop Art, Fluxus, Happening, Performance, Land Art and Conceptual Art . All of these movements, which at the time were misunderstood by the audience, marginalized by the market, and scandalised by the media – completely redefined art methods, media and materials. Ranging from the utilization of abstract terminology, human bodies, and electronic media, new forms of happenings were developed, which clearly rejected the until then classic understanding of art.
In this connection, a large part of the show is devoted to examples of the Austrian art revolt. Günter Brus’ “Malerei- Selbstbemalung-Selbstzerstörung” (Painting-self-painting-self-destruction) as well as works by Christian Ludwig Attersee, Arnulf Rainer, Valie Export, and Peter Weibel are presented to the Bielefeld audience in the form of photographs and documentations. A chapter in the catalogue written by Roman Grabner is devoted to Viennese Actionism titled “geht’s heim zu mutti” (“Go home to mom”). He describes Hermann Nitsch’s “Orgien-Mysterien-Theater” (Orgy-Mystery-Theatre) as well as VALIE EXPORT’s and Peter Weibel’s street actions and thereby introduces the special Austrian art revolt, which, unlike Germany, did not take place in parallel with the political protest of the leftists.
Strictly speaking, 1968 does not mark the year of upheaval and change – at least in the art world this turnaround already commenced in the mid 60s. The international context into which Thomas Ellein positions the 1960s and 70s offers an insight into the substantial transformations of art on an international level. This is, for example, clearly displayed by works by Yayoi Kusama (Japan/New York), Milan Knizak (Czech Republic) or Jerzy Beres (Poland) and contrapositions the “art phenomenon of the 60s” with the political turmoil of the time, which, in contrast to art, did not ensue in an equal number of countries.
This synoptic exhibition clearly demonstrates that today’s art would not be possible without the art of that era. Today’s crossovers, multimedia installations, utilization of everyday objects and the references to mass media makes it clear that contemporary art still strongly depends on the artistic Avant-garde of the 60s and 70s. And maybe the criticism of the system of those days offers, in view of the current global economic crisis, an incentive to rethink the existing system.
By Berenika Partum
1968. The Great Innocence”
March 15 – August 2, 2009
Catalogue: DuMont publishers, 28 € and 49,95 € in bookstores
www.kunsthalle-bielefeld.de
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
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270409
