Gallery One
Wealth of Nations

Curated by Institute for Flexible Cultures and Technologies – NAPON (Kristian Lukic, Gordana Nikolic)
Preview: Friday 08 October, 6-9pm. Exhibition runs: 09 October to 28 November alongside Notes Part I, II & III, Charlie Tweed in Gallery Two. Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11am-5pm
WEALTH OF NATIONS – Daniel Andújar (Spain), Michael Aschauer (Austria), Slavko Bogdanovic (Serbia), Luchezar Boyadjiev (Bulgaria), Heath Bunting (UK), Bureau of Inverse Technology (Melbourne, San Francisco, Berlin), Shu Lea Cheang (France/ USA), Derivart (Spain),
Irational.org – Kayle Brandon (UK) & Heath Bunting (UK), IRWIN (Slovenia), Ola Pehrson (Sweden), Société Réaliste (France), Kate Rich (UK), Vladimir Todorović (Singapore / Serbia)
Curators: Institute for Flexible Cultures and Technologies – NAPON (Kristian Lukic, Gordana Nikolic)
Independent curators Kristian Lukic and Gordana Nikolic, who collaborate together under the banner of the ‘Institute for Flexible Cultures and Technologies – NAPON’, have been invited by Spike Island to re-stage their 2009 exhibition ‘Wealth of Nations’.
‘Wealth of Nations’ explores the influences that the economic and financial sectors have on society and consequently, on cultural production through a selection of works by international artists and collectives, some of whom have directly experienced the shift from socialist to liberal political and financial systems. The artists selected by the curators variously investigate the role of the market on the ‘true’ value of an artwork, illustrate stock exchange relations in choral form and parody the commoditisation of nature in new forms of currency. Others explore alternative economic systems from the social and cultural capital traded by artists to quasi-legal trading in real world identities and the historic moral propositions laid down in Islamic Banking.
This group show, presented for the first time in 2009 in Novi Sad, Serbia, as part of the Cinema City Festival, was initially organised in response to the global financial crisis that became abruptly visible in 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers: an event symptomatic of the on-going crisis of Neoliberal capitalism. This free market system, predicated on deregulated trade and private investment, has developed since the 1970s whilst State Socialism has waned as a viable alternative. The free market is now so enmeshed within contemporary political systems that governments cannot afford for it to fail, yet are powerless to regulate it. Increasingly trading in virtual commodities and debt, the global financial sector appears to have its own momentum, a momentum beyond the control of even the few who directly engage with its dematerialised processes of futures trading and shadow banking, that in turn affect the very stability of society.
The Curators have taken the title of the show from Adam Smith’s seminal 1776 thesis on economics, ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations‘, in which he proposed that the ‘invisible hand’ of ‘self interest’ would spur economic progress. Hailed in the twentieth century as the father of free market economics, Smith instead advocated ‘rational’ self-interest and ‘justice’ for the individual, rather than rampant self- interest and monopolisation of wealth by the few. ‘Wealth of Nations’ is thus used as short hand for the corrupted free market system we have today, even if this system is not one that Smith himself would recognise.
As well as highlighting contemporary and historic practices, NAPON use the framework of this exhibition to ask, what really constitutes value in its material and immaterial forms? Is value manifested in social interaction, beliefs and fears as well as market indexes? To what extent is money nature or culture? Is capital the equivalent of goods and labour, or is it self-referential? Both Gordana and Kristian will be present in Bristol on the first Saturday of the show to discuss these questions, the art works they have selected and their wider research into virtual communication systems, emergent technologies and unofficial media histories
Gordana Nikolic was the recipient of the 2009 Spike Island Accented Curatorial Residency, supported by the British Council’s Creative Collaboration Project Fund via the
Accented Residency Programme – project partners: Townhouse Gallery (Cairo); Vector Association (Iasi); Delfina Foundation (London); Spike Island (Bristol); Platform Garanti CAC (Istanbul).
For more information on the first installment of Wealth of Nations which took place in Novi Sad, Serbia in 2009, please see: www.napon.org/exhibitions/wealth-of-nations- exhibition
Notes to editors:
Spike Island is a place of production and exhibition of contemporary art and design situated on the southern end of Bristol’s historic docks. We form part of an exciting hub of creative and cultural activity amongst Bristol’s harbourside community and have been established as an excellent working environment primarily for artists and those developing a path within the contemporary visual arts. Originally emerging from independent and artist-led culture, related concerns remain close to the organisation’s values and priorities.
Within the 80,000 square foot building, Spike Island offers visitors a year round programme of free exhibitions, events and family activities in the stunning central gallery spaces, as well as providing artists’ studios and various services and office space for both new and established designers and commercial creative businesses.
The wonderful public galleries, situated right at the heart of the building, have been described by Richard Cork in the Financial Times as amongst the best gallery spaces in the country. This excellent arts building provides audiences with a range of opportunities to engage with and experience the work of artists, often commissioned specifically by Spike Island. The fast growing Spike in the City programme enables Spike Island to develop new communities of interest across the city, engaging artists in developing new approaches and working collaborations as part of their practice.
Spike Island is also home to a number of creative tenants with whom we work closely to maintain the dynamic and busy working environment that makes Spike Island the unique place it has become known to be. The University of the West of England’s Fine Art department and Spike Print Studio are just two examples of the valuable partnerships that have evolved within the building. The success of Spike café is evidence of this – providing a fantastic sunny café space at the front of the building and open to tenants and visitors 7 days a week.
For press information and images contact: Nemia Maclachlan, Marketing Manager nemia.maclachlan@spikeisland.org.uk +44 (0)117 929 2266 Spike Island. A place for the production and exhibition of contemporary art and design. 133 Cumberland Road Bristol BS1 6UX, tel. 0117 929 2266 www.spikeisland.org.uk

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09 October – 28 November

Gallery One & Perimeter Gallery

Galleries open 11-5pm Tue to Sun
Spike Café open Mon to Fri 9-5pm, Sat & Sun 11-4pm
Spike Island 133 Cumberland Road, , Bristol BS1 6UX, UK
+44 (0)117 929 2266

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Proizvodi koje nudi „Technologies To The People“ (TTTP), kompanija koju je osnovao Danijel G. Anduhar, idu od „the Street Access Machine®“ (mašine za pristup ulici), preko „the Recovery Card®“ (kartice za oporavak) i „Internet Street Access Machine®“ (internet mašine za pristup ulici), sve do „The Personal Folkcomputer®“ (ličnog narodnog računara). Svi ovi (izmišljeni) proizvodi i tehnologije za cilj imaju da omoguće onima na nižoj društvenoj lestvici da učestvuju u nastalom informatičkom društvu. Dok „Street Access Machine®“ obećava „pristup za svakog”, „Street Access Machine®“ i „Recovery Card®“ omogućavaju prosjacima da primaju uplate putem kreditne kartice. Ovaj projekat razotkriva uverenje koje propagiraju oni koji proizvode srodne produkte (i po kalifornijskoj „ideologiji”), da je potencijal demokratizacije neodvojiv od tehnologije. Svet prikazan kroz TTTP na njihovim posterima i lecima nije ništa pravedniji zahvaljujući upotrebi novih tehnologija, niti je dostupan svima – uprkos tvrdnjama provajdera telekomunikacionih aplikacija. Čak i ako koriste najnovije info-društvene alatke, prosjaci ostaju prosjaci, društveno marginalizovani ostaju društveno marginalizovani. Tehnologije naginju jačanju,više nego menjanju društvenih struktura. Kada je projekat 1996. godine prikazan u Hamburgu, dobili su (pravi) i-mejl od Apple-a, u kojem se iskazuje zainteresovanost te kompanije za (izmišljeni) spektar proizvoda TTTP-a.

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Wealth of Nations is a part of the Cinema City festival and consists of an exhibition and a conference. The term ‘Wealth of Nations’ is the title of the seminal book by the Scottish economist Adam Smith, in which he establishes and defends the basics of Liberal Economic Policy. Liberal Economics experienced its peak in the 1990s after the concept of Real Socialism had failed and the global free market had been established. This economy, however, has entered a period of deep crisis in the past few months and it might, for a shorter or longer period, affect the stability of societies all over the planet. The topic of ‘Wealth of Nations’ this year will delve into the influences that the Economic and Financial sectors have on society and consequently, on cultural production.

It is interesting to see that the field of Finance is really an exclusive field which is well known only to a selected group, which, like priests or shamans, functions within the global banking system. Periodical financial crises over the last two centuries (the current global crisis is apparently the thirteenth) arouse our curiosity about the mechanisms, the structure and the rules of the global system. On the one hand, the Internet is there to help with the easy dissemination of information and, on the other hand, it adds tidal waves of various conspiracy and control theories, which act as disinformation when studying the nature and the control of the spirit and the flow of money.

This is what Marx wrote about money in his notes ‘Power of Money’: ‘If I have no money for travel, I have no need — that is, no real and realisable need — to travel. If I have the vocation to study but no money for it, I have no vocation to study — that is, no effective, no true vocation. On the other hand, if I have really no vocation to study but have the will and the money for it, I have an effective vocation for it.’According to Marx, money, in its role of the external universal medium, transforms the real and essential power of man and nature into an abstract concept, and thus into imperfect and disturbing visions. In the same way, money transforms the real imperfections and visions, essential powers that are impotent in reality and exist only in a person’s imagination, into true essential power and capability. In view of the above, money causes a general deformity of the characteristics of the subject and makes its own attributes appear contradictory. Simmel’s Philosophy is a fundamental criticism of Marx’s political economy although both authors agree that money has various functions (measure of value, medium of exchange and medium of capital accumulation). To Marx, money is the embodiment of abstract labour, and its value is determined by the conditions of production.

Marx believed that capitalist production, with its relationship between money, labour and capital, is responsible for the contradictions of the modern, industrial society. To Simmel, on the other hand, monetary economy as such is the reason for social relationships being soulless. Simmel criticises the ‘economisation’ of money, and places money into the wider concept of human experience. To him money is only loosely connected to a material basis and is, instead, a social phenomenon, a form of human interaction. As Poggi claims, to Simmel money is the central structure and symbol in the historical formation of the modern society.

Finance is simply the monetary activity of managing money. Finance is the production of monetary funds. Viewed like that, money constitutes both the means and the aim of Finance, a means that is an aim in itself and an aim without the means. Simmel believes that the ideal point of money, the same as of Law, is to be the measure of other things without measuring itself.

In his book, State of exception, Agamben analyses states of emergency and claims that the means are always independent of the aim they achieve. The means do not stand in relation to the aim, positioned, instead, in relation to their own mediality. Thus Finance becomes a means without purpose and they financialize only their own financialization. The latest research claims that 97% of the total amount of dollars in circulation is virtual, they only exist as numerical information and only 3% of dollars circulating in the world is real paper money, real cash.

Money as capital and capital as money operates easily within the concepts of commodification, gets integrated into life itself and slowly grows into the wider context of material, into nature and energy (ecocapitalism, energy politics). Marazzi claims that the sectors of accumulation of capital, such as Health, Education and Culture, are the ones which today generate the most revenue and create the most jobs. It is due to the fact that these services, which used to be state owned, are currently undergoing transition into the private sector. On top of that there is Ecology with its privatization and financialisation of nature.

The current situation reflects the new classes and satisfactions, among which is the class of priests, brahmans, who know the secrets, the laws and the processes of the financial world. How long this has been going on without change is clear from the latest researhes into money in Antiquity. William H. Desmonde writes about money bearing divine insignia that was made in temples. Rene Guenon speaks of the symbolic elements of druidic doctrines on Celtic money. The social system has two options in this situation: either the goods and monetary system will fundamentally change or the subjects will have to start learning about the basics of Economy and Finance. Therefore it is essential to build understanding of this complex field of Finance through educating and motivating those who are not privy to financial science and its applications. The question is whether the financial system would collapse if a critical mass of subjects got to understand financial laws, if they understood the system which is based on self-reference and the resulting mystification.

Kristian Lukić

Reference:
Simmel, Georg, The Philosophy of Money (1900) / Ed. by D.Frisby.- L., N.Y.: Routledge. 1995
Deflem, Mathieu ,“The Sociology of the Sociology of Money: Simmel and the Contemporary Battle of the Classics.” (2003) Journal of Classical Sociology 3(1): 67-96
Guénon, René, The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (1945), Sophia Perennis, 2001
Marazzi, Christian Measure and Finance (2007) / presented at ‘Measure for measure: a workshop on value from below’, Goodenough College, London, 21st September 2007
Agamben, Giorgio, State of Exception, (2005), University Of Chicago Press
Marx, Karl, Power of Money, (1844) http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/power.htm

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Wealth of Nations

LISTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS:

Izložba / Exhibition:

1.    Daniel Andujar / Street access machine *1996.
2.     Derivart / Hipotecadoria *2007.
3.     Heath Bunting / Skint, the internet beggar *1996.
4.    Heath Bunting / In a possession of the post office credit card
5.     Hempmen / Zaboravi money *2006.
6.     IRWIN (M. Abramović, B. Brecelj) / Namepickers *1988.
7.     Islamsko bankarstvo
8.   Kate Rich / Feral trade *od 2003.
9.     K Foundation / Burn a million quid *1994.
10.    Likvidirane krune
11.    Luchezar Boyadjiev / GastARTbeiter *2000.
12.    Max Kaiser / Hollywood Stock Rxchange *od 1996.
13.   Metahaven / Sealand identity project – Grey cards *2003–2004.
14.    Michael Aschauer / 0EURO *2009
15.     Mladen Stilinović / Kineska posla *2009.
16.    Natalie Jeremijenko and The Bureau of Inverse Technologies / Despodency index
17.    OlaPehrson / NASDAQ vocal index *2003–2004.
18.     Shu Lea Cheang / Agliomania
19.     Slavko Bogdanović / Porez na promet *1970.
20.     Vladimir Todorović / Nildegree *2008
21.    Zajam za privredni preporod Srbije *1989.

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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “WEALTH OF NATIONS”
7 – 8 June, 11 am – 5 pm
SNP, Chamber Stage

Finances and monetary policy are mostly a matter of interest exclusively of a small circle of devotees. Even the social sciences, broadly speaking, avoided exploring the mutual relation between finances and other aspects of social activities. However, with the serious development of financial crisis some questions, which go behind the narrow sector of economy and finances, have been emerging.

Having experienced the Great Depression in the 30s of the 20th century, and its implications for the beginning of the Second World War, there are many of those who are worried about the further development of the present state of capitalism’s global crisis. The development of so called criticism of finances, is trying to explore other models of economies and relations which bypass the so called monetary ideology and praxis, as dominant form of economic conversion, within the context of symbolic trade.

Syntax “Wealth of Nations” (Adam Smith) is on one hand, an ironic theme for today’s state of liberal economy in crisis, and on the other hand, raises a serious question: what really constitutes value? Is it social interaction, beliefs and fears along with market indexes? To what extent is money nature or culture? Is money equivalent of goods, labour, or is it self-referential?

At the conference participants and speakers, including economists, sociologists, artists, activists, philosophers and culture theoreticians, will try to answer these questions and provoke a wider debate on finances, as the social praxis, and its wider implications in domain of rational and irrational.

June 7th, Sunday

11:00 – 13:00
MAN-DEATH-CREDIT

Slavko Bogdanovic
Stefan Heidenreich
Ralph Heidenreich

15:00 – 17:00
RESOURCES-WEALTH-PROPERTY

Konrad Becker
Matteo Pasquineli
Marko Rakic

June 8th, Monday

11:00 – 13:00
VALUE-ALGORITHM-MAGIC

Darko Pantelic
Felix Stalder

15:00 – 17:00
ART-INVESTMENT-INDEX

Luchezar Boyadziev
Mar Canet
Shu Lea Cheang

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WEALTH OF NATIONS – izložba i konferencija / exhibition and conference
(Bogatsvo naroda)

Programski direktori / Program directors:
Vladan Joler, Kristian Lukić

Kustosi / Curators: Vladan Joler, Kristian Lukić, Gordana Nikolić

Urednici konferencije / Conference editors: Kristian Lukić, Gordana Nikolić

Izvršni direktor / Executive director: Natali Beljanski

Produkcijski tim / Production team: Jana Katić, Igor Zarol

Koordinator / Coordinator : Ibis Ćerimagić

IT podrška / IT support: Predrag Tegeltija

Tehnička podrška / Technical support: Pajica Dejanović, Đorđe Popić

Stejdž menadžeri / Stage managers:
Anton Bereš, Ivan Dervišević, Kristina Kaćanski, Dušanka Stepanov

Produkcija / Production:
STATE OF EXIT & THE CREATURES, Novi Sad

Ko-produkcija / Co-production:
Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine, Novi Sad / Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad www.msuv.org

Institut za fleksibilne kulture i tehnologije-NAPON, Novi Sad / Institute for flexible culture and technologies-NAPON, Novi Sad www.napon.org

Umetnička asocijacija-INBOX, Novi Sad / Art Association-INBOX, Novi Sad www.inbox.rs

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Sau despre cum esti inundat, chiar la tine acasa, de toate adaosurile tehnologice de care nu stiai ca o sa ai nevoie.

De ce calculatorul, telefonul mobil, iPod-ul sau orice alta trusa foarte inteligenta isi doresc, din proprie initiativa, sa incarce si sa iti descarce pe cap noutati. Toate acele add-on-uri care iti populeaza lista de programe. Si la care daca te uiti cu atentie scrie: folosit foarte rar!

Daca intri pe net cu cele mai lucioase browsere, mult mai performante decit clasicele Netscape sau IE, ai sa vezi cum noul iti bate in geam.

Fie ca e vorba de teme grafice sau de noi abilitati de prelucrare a informatiei, Mozilla/Firefox iti ofera, la virful degetelor, o gramada de install-uri lipicioase. De fiecare data cind dai restart ai sa vezi ca de fapt nu e destul ce ai avut pina acum. Tot timpul iti lipseste cite ceva: fie o bara de status care sa te anunte cum stai cu download-urile, fie extensii care sa-ti permita sa trimiti linkuri in contul de del.icio.us fara sa parasesti fereastra browser-ului. Iar daca esti un metablogger respectabil ai nevoie neaparat de ScribeFire – un editor integrat care te lasa sa postezi de cite ori salivezi la vreun www gasit la intimplare.

Esti dezorganizat? Esti cu capul in nori de date? Pentru asta ai BlueOrganizer, care iti recomanda site-uri si servicii in functie de preferintele tale pe care le retine si le exploateaza. Fie ca e vorba de carti preferate, vinuri, destinatii de calatorie, organizatorul de serviciu trimite totul direct la Amazon sau wine.com astfel incit ei sa stie tot.

Hackerul activist catalan Daniel Andujar de la TTTP (Technologies To The People) a atras atentia asupra strategiilor promotionale tipice noilor media (care-ti promit ca viata ta va fi mult mai usoara si ordonata daca downloadezi ce-ti recomanda ei cu insistenta). A promovat un gadget fantasmagoric in acelasi stil corporatist bombastic. Este vorba despre eliminarea cersetoriei cu ajutorul unor carti de credit care pot fi folosite oriunde, inclusiv pe strada. Tu creezi un cont cersetorului, pe care el il acceseaza cu un Recovery Card� si cu o parola personalizata. Un instrument simplu de folosit, eficient, doar ca inexistent. Cei de la Mac au muscat momeala, au cazut in propriile capcane si i-au oferit un contract hackerului care-i lua peste picior. Acesta, evident, a refuzat.

• America versus Europa

Elita industriei new media si a comunitatilor online se numeste acum “Digerati” si isi propune sa parceleze fiecare centimetru digital. In aceasta elita intra, de la oameni de stiinta din domeniul computerelor pina la editorialisti in domeniu si bloggeri faimosi sau lideri de opinie in domeniul tehnologiei care vedeau Internetul ca pe un element transformational in societate. Impotriva lor s-au ridicat cei de la Nettime, din Europa, care erau impotriva update-urilor automate si a micilor jucarii pe care computerul si le transfera automat de pe Internet.

• Detalii despre proiectul lui Daniel Andujar, accesati www.cotidianul.ro/select

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To our shareholders

Technologies To The People had another remarkable year in 2000. We made major advances in all our key businesses. The demand for great software that helps people work, communicate, and learn is stronger than ever. Our products are doing well because they deliver on these needs.

iStreet Access Machine (iSAM) is proving a great success. Customers appreciate its ability to work better, while its robustness means that iSAM is generating less than half the customer calls of its predecessor (SAM). Integrated with the latest Internet technology, iSAM helps our customers leverage the interactivity of the Internet with the intelligence of the PC. iSAM is making deeper inroads onto the streets, based on its productivity, reliability, and lower total cost of ownership. And iStreet, a compact version of the Street operating system designed for a wide range of intelligent devices, is finding its way into everything from interactive televisions to hand-held computers.

Our productivity applications continue to set the standard for features, functionality, and integration. iStreet 2001, which is scheduled to come out in the first half of 2000, will take each of these factors to a significantly higher level, offering a simpler, personalized interface that learns each user’s working style and adapts to it, plus many other productivity-enhancing features. Technologies To The People Linux Server and Open Source applications continue to make solid progress in the marketplace, and are now the clear enterprise solution of choice over the various Windows/UNIX-based platforms. Technologies To The People Linux Server will raise our platform’s scalability to even higher levels, while offering customers the lowest possible total cost of ownership. In many installations our enterprise solutions already deliver the level of performance achieved by mainframes, combined with the benefits of the low cost PC model. Our goal now is to take that model even deeper into the mission-critical computing market.

Our interactive media and services strategy continues to advance, focusing on online services, packaged software, and hardware. Our strategy is to break down the barriers between online and offline products and services, making it even simpler and more enjoyable for our customers to experience the power of the Internet. Another important effort for us is bringing the power of software and the Internet to the television with our Technologies To The People WebTV product. We plan to more than double the installed base of users during the next year based on the very positive word-of-mouth this product has generated.

Technologies To The People intends to invest heavily in all these businesses, in the firm belief that online services will eventually be a key element of our relationship with customers. But as I wrote last year, online is still at an early stage of development. However, we are learning fast and I am seeing increasing synergy between our online work and our software products.

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The power of innovation

Our product goals require breakthrough innovation. During fiscal 2001 Technologies To The People will invest more in research and development, broadly defined. Our research centers now employ experts in everything from graphics to decision theory and advanced linguistics.

Much of Technologies To The People’s research and development is focused on making our products easier to use, even as the underlying software grows more complex, so our customers don’t have to learn as many utilities and commands. Simplifying the user interface is our top priority. Natural language processing automatically detects which language you are typing in, and assigns the appropriate proofing tools and user interface. If you inadvertently delete some of the application’s files, it’s smart enough to repair the damage. Technologies To The People will also unify and simplify how PCs and networks store and handle information. At present, information is scattered about file systems, message stores, Web caches, directory services, and databases. This is complicated for developers and system managers, and confusing for customers. Sharing a calendar across the Internet, or personal information across Web sites, is very difficult. By unifying storage across all these media, Technologies To The People will help make information anytime, anywhere a reality. As consumers require all their information to be accessible from any Internet device and any location, the boundary between Web sites and software products will blur.

In time, computers will see, speak, read handwriting, listen, and learn. We will include these new input techniques into our products.
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Caring about customers

We are listening carefully and constantly to our customers and partners to really understand what they want from our products and services, both today and in the future. The feedback loop drives our priorities.

The coming year will test us on many fronts. We need to make our software simpler and easier to deploy as well as making it more powerful. Pressure from competitors and regulators is intensifying. PC sales growth is slowing and a lot of the growth is in the consumer segment where software sales are lower than in the business segment. The growing size and diversity of our product portfolio means that we have to execute across a broadening front.

As Technologies To The People approaches the 21st century it faces many challenges and risks, but the opportunities are greater than ever. With continued innovation and hard work, I am convinced that we will reap the rewards. I appreciate the unwavering support and trust of our shareholders in these exciting times.

At Technologies To The People, we all share a passion to succeed in this exciting new industry. Indeed, we are creating this industrydrafting the blueprint, building the infrastructure, inventing the future. And we are all pulling together, in sync, to power Technologies To The People forward. On behalf of everyone at Technologies To The People, I thank you for your confidence and support. We look forward to reporting on our progress in the quarters and years ahead.

Sincerely, William S. Luce II

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HAMBURG
Jens Rönnau
un-frieden. sabotage von wirklichkeiten

Kunstverein und Kunsthaus in Hamburg, 30.11.1996 – 19.1.1997

540 Künstler aus 31 Ländern der Welt waren 1996 dem Aufruf gefolgt, Konzepte zum Thema “un-frieden. sabotage von wirklichkeiten” einzureichen. Per weltweitem Internet hatten die Ausstellungskuratorinnen Ute Vorkoeper und Inke Arns für eine Beteiligung an diesem Projekt geworben, das im Rahmen der Hamburger Woche der Bildenden Kunst 1996 präsentiert wurde. Nur 34 Projekte davon wählte die Jury für jene Schau in den Räumen von Kunstverein und Kunsthaus Hamburg. Allerdings waren fast alle anderen eingereichten Konzepte den Ausstellungsbesuchern ebenfalls zugänglich: 26 in einem speziellen Konzeptraum, die übrigen in einem Archiv – “ein Ort für Entdeckungen und Vernetzungen”, so die Ausstellungsmacherinnen.

Es war Konzept der Ausstellung, für das Ute Vorkoeper verantwortlich zeichnet, “unterschiedliche, möglichst auch unbekannte künstlerisch-politische Positionen der 90er Jahre zusammenzutragen” unter dem Motto der “un-friedlichen” Wirklichkeiten, die unseren Alltag bestimmen: kritische Hinterfragung, Auseinandersetzung, auch Lösungsvorschläge für Denkansätze. Dabei besteht der erkenntnistheoretische Grundsatz, daß Krieg und Frieden sich nicht als Antipoden gegenüberstehen, weil es “die eine Wahrheit” nicht gibt und weil man eingestimmt hat “in den Abgesang auf jedwede Utopie”. “Wir stehen diesseits der Utopien und jenseits der Apokalypsen” (U.Vorkoeper).

In sechs Themen-”Zonen” war die Ausstellung unterteilt: Kontrolle (Unsicherheit), Nachrichtendienste (Desinformation), Alltag (Befremdendes), Grenzpolitiken (Gratwanderungen), Staatsmaschinen (Ordnungen) und Science Fiction & Ökonomie (Zukunftsverwaltung). Die Grenzen dieser Zonen blieben allerdings fließend und können bestenfalls als Hilfsversuche einer Klassifizierung jener Ausstellungsvielfalt gelten, die übrigens nicht nur auf einen Ort beschränkt war. Auch an anderen Orten der Hansestadt gab es Projekte und Performances, etwa durch Mobilar-Austausch von öffentlichen Cafés durch die österreichische Gruppe “tonnage inc”.

Zum Programm zählten wider Willen auch hundert Hamburger Unternehmen, bei denen es elektronische Sicherheitskontrollen gibt. Mittels per Post versandter Magnetstreifen wurden dort die Alarmsysteme ausgelöst – ein Mail-Art-Projekt des Engländers Heath Bunting, der auf seine Weise kreativen Unfrieden stiften wollte, indem er Ordnungen auf den Kopf stellte. Sicherheitssysteme werden durch Verunsicherung ad absurdum geführt.

Hierzu zählt auch die Infragestellung des nationalen Territorialstaates durch die slowenische Künstlergruppe Irwin/NSK, die unter dem Motto “Neue Slowenische Kunst” kollektive Avantgarde-Kunst propagiert und Pässe ausgibt für den “NSK Staat in der Zeit”, der sich in und mit der Zeit bewegt, und nicht in geographischen Grenzen. Sein Motor ist ein symbolisch-physikalischer Kollektivkörper, der keinem Territorium, sondern Geist und Ideen den Status eines Staates verleiht. Mit den bei Irwin zu bestellenden Pässen sollen Menschen ohne gültige Reisepapiere während des Jugoslawien-Krieges schon internationale Grenzen passiert haben.

Die Grenzen des einstigen “Eisernen Vorhangs” überschritten während des Kalten Kriegs in den 60er Jahren ferngesteuerte Minifahrzeuge des US-Geheimdienstes. In einer Schau zeigt der Berliner Peder Iblher banale, fiktive Fotos aus den Weiten der damaligen UdSSR, die von jenen Spionierfahrzeugen stammen sollen und die trotz Millionenaufwand kaum nennenswerte Erkenntnisse vom “Feindstaat” gebracht haben sollen.

Eine Demokratisierung der Technik fordert der Spanier Daniel G. Andujar mit seinem Projekt “Technologies To The People”. Er will mittellosen Personen den Zugang zu neuen Technologien ermöglichen, um der drohenden Schere zwischen informierten und nichtinformierten Mitgliedern der Gesellschaft entgegenzuwirken. Dazu dienen Werbekampagnen wie für “Personal Folkcomputer” oder die “Internet Street Access Machine”, die auch mit Kreditkarten für jeden nutzbar sein soll.

Persönlicher geht es im Selbstversuch Birgit Brenners zu, die sich um eine Rückführung der statistischen Durchschnittsmenge ihrer in einem Jahr geweinten Tränen bemüht. Seine persönliche Ordnung in der Welt der Begriffe will Marcus Bastel (Amsterdam) finden. Er überhäuft einen Konferenztisch mit willkürlichen Begriffen, kontrastiert Worte per Monitor mit aufgezeichneten Selbstgesprächen.

Auf die glatte Schönheit unserer Autowelt hat es der Japaner Daisuke Nakayama mit seinem “Car of desire” abgesehen: Ein schnittiges Fahrzeug als edelpolierte Holzskulptur steht frei im Raum. Man sollte sich dem indes lieber nicht allzusehr nähern, denn es ist von rasierklingenscharfem Schneidestahl überzogen.

Wohlige Schönheit bis zum Überdruß hingegen zeigt der Niederländer Gary Carsley, der mit seinem “Amt für öffentliche Arbeit” mittels unzähliger Rosenarrangements unseren triest-schrecklichen Alltag ironisch “verschönt”. Dabei kommt die Rose auch als ein Moment der Erotik zum Einsatz, begleitet von Texten oder mehrdeutigen Sprüchen wie “HOME SWEET HOME OH?”.

Schön erscheint auch “Wandering Position” – ein quadratisches, endlos ineinander verschlungenes Linienmuster auf dem Boden der Ausstellungshalle. 24 Stunden lang zeichnete Yukinori Yanagi (Japan) den Weg einer Ameise in einem durch Eisenbarrieren eingegrenzten Feld mit roter Kreide nach – eine letztlich schöne und zugleich bedrückende sowie nachdenklich stimmende Installation.

Als bedrückend mag man denn auch eher den Gesamtkontext der Ausstellung empfinden, selbst wenn die künstlerischen Konzeptionen oft kuriose Auswege aufzeigen, wie Andreas Peschkas “Stempelset für Attentäter”, der jedem Attentäter gestattet, per Stempel einen Fingerabdruck des Künstlers am Tatort zu hinterlassen. Entsprechende Bestellzettel für den Stempel sind nebst Anschrift beim Künstler einzureichen. Gewalt, Geheimdienste, Ressourcen, Medien und Macht werden in den gezeigten Konzepten und Installationen vielfältig thematisiert und hinterfragt. Man konnte die Ausstellung mit einem lachenden und einem weinenden Auge zugleich verlassen.

Katalog, 128 Seiten, s/w-Abb., deutsch/englisch, 30 DM

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by Iris Dressler,
«Technologies To The People» In 1996, Daniel García Andújar founded the concern «Technologies To The People,» which brought the «Street Access Machine» on the market the same year: a combination system made up of reading device, special credit card, and public online access, which allows the homeless and other fringe groups to enter the world of plastic money and E-commerce. The trademark-protected «Street Access Machine,» whose design announced the i-Mac Generation in 1996, is perfectly marketed with a corporate identity and comprehensive advertising campaign—flyers, posters, and merchandising materials. Nothing is missing except the corresponding product. Andújar is not concerned with virtual capital for all, but more so with naming the structures of exclusion so gladly denied during the course of the omnipresent cyber-euphoria.[...]
What at first appears to be a measure for ensuring online access to all those not connected to the Internet, ultimately reveals itself to be the crass exposing of an apparatus of power less interested in communicating access to technologies as an option, but rather as a pressure—since the almost inescapable message is really saying: You may not be alone or remain unconnected! From the perspective of its call for social integrity, and strengthening the presence of minorities in the Internet, the «Street Access Machine» pinpoints the wealth of cynicism at large.

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