This research is based on my previous work in
1994/95 about a contemporary model of the Akademie and, from 1996
onwards, about the ‘Corporate Rokoko’ i.e. how the global changes
in economy start shaping the public sphere and the art differently
- all things which make our life at the beginning of the 21st
century so exciting.
As for my research, I want to
introduce ‘The Akademi and The Corporate Public’ and ‘Art
Production in a Dramatised Field’ as the titles for one project
which has several parts. All of them have one point of departure
in common, which is the present shift in the idea of a public
sphere and its consequences for the significance of art in our
time. ¨
‘The Akademi and The Corporate Public’
is the investigation into the status
questionis of a public in change. It is the mapping of a new
phenomenon, which is a shift in the idea of the public sphere
induced by a corporate world economy, that results in a
different function of art and a different role of the artist in
this society.
‘Art Production in a Dramatised Field’
is the necessary second
part. It is research as an attempt of artistic transformation,
to dramatise the investigated problem as part of a counter
strategy. The idea is to induce the idea of a dramatised field
as an exemplification which renders visible aspects in the field
of the fine arts and its dependency on a corporate public that
would otherwise remain unnoticed.
Dialogues, relations, differences.
Each of
these two constituents, investigation and research, consist of two
parts again. In order to approach relations and differences in my
research I prefer a ‘methodology’ in dialogue form.
The
investigation into
‘The Akademi and The Corporate
Public’
- is firstly aimed ¨ to create an overview of an international debate
by collecting writings of artists.
- Secondly it is ¨ to apply this knowledge onto the
Norwegian situation by starting a dialogue with different
publics, corporate or otherwise.
The ‘Art Production in a Dramatised Field’ means
to develop the investigated matter into two different experimental
set-ups.
- One of them, the ¨ ‘White
Cube’ is a space to be installed in a former storage of
the Kunsthogskolen in order to introduce the awareness of a
dramatised field into the production and the display of the
art object, into the community that creates a debate around
it and expands it into the scenery of Bergen.
- The second experimental set-up is planned to happen in the
gallery ¨ ‘American Fine Arts’ in New York.
Whereas the set-up in Bergen is rather simply
defined through a relatively empty field, in New York the world is
not merely a stage, but the stage is also full of worlds. Further,
the gallery ‘American Fine Arts’ could be seen as a theatre
already, because it has reflected upon its position in this
environment before and has dramatised and strategised its
appearances and audiences in various ways.
In order to
reflect upon these strategies centred around the 'art work
of the future', and investigate its aesthetic, its corporate
public and its social function, I have to set up an experimental
model.
To research into the very heart of capitalism’s lair,
we must be able to see its relativisms and uncertainties as a game
in order to be able to begin our work. I have to turn the
situation into an artificial set-up in order to be able at least
to see it. That is to say, I will set-up a ‘real’
theatre in the gallery.
The stage enters as an analogy
drawn not only in order to see late capitalism as a game but also,
and very importantly, in order to found the attempt to stage a new
game with different rules. In this new game, we have to see
ourselves not only as viewers, or as powerless participants in
some kind of pre-ordained reality scenario, but also as part of
the game itself. The chance is that perhaps then we can begin to
act out our own participation.
With the (artificial)
device of a stage in place, we can see ourselves as artists
appearing in a dramatised environment where we can try and alter
the script and the props, and then see if this helps us to shape a
different audience. With a different audience in place, perhaps we
can effect an exit from the aforementioned 'game' and thenceforth
continue our work as artists outside of its strictures.
Theatrical strategies in the fine arts are not in
themselves new. There are various collaborations and cross-border
activities throughout the history of fine art and theatre which
lead to the new genre ‘performance’. But it is important that,
through this research project, the introduction of ‘theatre’ into
the fine arts context can lead to a new possibility for reflection
upon the fine arts context itself.
So theatre becomes the
main device in this research; it becomes almost synonymous with
the artistic research because it enables us to throw a reserved
and critical view onto our objective. On top of this, it can even
assist us to catch sight of the action of this view being thrown.
As with all the arts we will not deny an entertaining effect, but
use it.