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7/4/2005

Re-Act

Nikolaj Kunsthal - Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen

In the exhibition project RE-ACT, 18 international artists present their critical view of local, national and global political conditions. The exhibition has been motivated by an interest in making visible varous alternatives to a world order which is characterised by an unequal distribution of power, resources and responsibility. This is a state of affairs which requires action, because passiveness and silence can be perceived as accept and consent.

But the exhibition wants more than simply to focus on politicised and high tension art. This is why RE-ACT directs its fire and attention on political attitudes and reactions precisely to political and societal conditions. Reactions and attitudes which can be found in public opinion, in art and in the media. The artworks in RE-ACT do thus not unambigiously have as their theme the world of reality, but also also addresses issues such as attitudes to life conditions, the view of human nature inherent in political systems, immigration and integration problematics, human rights, and the conception of welfare.

RE-ACT is therefore an exhibition which on one hand is a reaction to the changing global political conditions, and on the other hand a reaction to itself as an artistic handling of politics. The focus of the project is thus partly to make the public aware of a number of political and social tendencies which are gradually becoming more and more reactionary, and partly to direct attention to the potentials and threats of this development. All this with art as the common mouthpiece.

The exhibition of the 18 work concepts demonstrates how artists around the world position themselves reflexively to politics. These works consist, among other things, of sound and light installations, dvd-installations, video, photography, film, posters, drawings and Internet activities. To emphasise how society consitutes the foundation, the exhibition will furthermore include other rooms than those of the Art Center itself. In this way, the general public may spontaneously stumble on fragments of the exhibition in the Copenhagen townscape, on the Internet, in the Danish newspaper Information and in the magazine Lettre Internationale.

RE-ACT wants to confront and challenge its audience with unexpected questions, reflection and exchange on the prevalent socio-political situation, nationally as well as globally - hopefully without adding to the polarisation.

Participating artists: Ursula Biemann / Angela Sanders (CH), Dieter Buchhart / Petra Schröck (A/D), Julius Deutschbauer / Gerhard Spring (A), Marco Evaristti (DK), Jochen Gerz (D/F), Guerrilla Girls (USA), William Kentridge (ZA), Toni Kleinlercher / Gerald Nestler (JAP/A), Jakob Kolding (DK), Mongrel (GB), Oliver Ressler (A), Igor Sacharow-Ross (D/RUS), Larissa Sansour (PS), Milica Tomic (CS).

RE-ACT has been curated by Anna Karina Hofbauer and Dieter Buchhart .

Catalogue
In connection with the exhibition, a comprehensive catalogue in English will be published. Apart from artist and work presentations, it includes interviews with anthropologist and theorist Steffen Jöhncke, artist Erika Rothenberg, the artist duo Clegg and Guttmann, as well as the groups of artists Critical Art Ensemble and Superflex.

Lecture
On April 28, artist Jochen Gerz will present his lecture The Future Monument.

Opening on Friday April 8 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Performance by Deutschbauer/Spring: Terror in the Amusement Park.
Speeches by Executive Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights Mr Morten Kjærum, and the Austrian Amabassador Mr Erich Buttenhauser.

Image: Jochen Gerz

Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center
Nikolaj Plads 10
Copenhagen
p: + 45 3393 1626
Open daily 12- 17 pm
Adults kr. 20
Wedensdays free admission

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