99 Spiele – versteckt im Londoner Stadtraum: “Inhabitants and visitors of London can currently find 99 tiny games in public space. The games are part of Showtime, a free outdoor arts festival that gives all Londoners the chance to enjoy “world class entertainment and culture on their doorstep”. People who look closely will find the games in all kinds of places, varying from bus stops to bandstands and from parks to shopping malls. A conversation game over here, a chasing game over there, a people-watching game up on that balcony… The little games are everywhere, really. The only thing you have to do is to find the round posters on the walls and floors in streets and parks that explain the rules of the easy-to-play games.” Mehr hier & hier.
“One Hundred Thousand Pieces Of Possibilities”: “On 28/09/07 we gave away our Anti Festival artist fee of €1000. From 10 am in the open lobby of the Kuopion Osuuspankki Bank (Coop Bank in Kuopio, Finland) people could take away as much as they needed or could carry. The money was offered 1 cent pieces.”
Das britische Kunst/Performance/Aktivismus-Kollektiv The Vacuum Cleaner hat eine neue Webseite – und diese bietet einen guten Überblick über die Aktionen der letzten Jahre: “the vacuum cleaner is an art and activism collective of one. the vacuum cleaner employ various creative legal and illegal tactics and forms, attempting to mock, brandalise and disrupt concentrations of power.”
Neue Arbeit von Banksy – und eine schöne Antwort auf den in London veruteilten Sprayer Tox: “Pervasive London tagger Tox was recently convicted of criminal damage and faces jail. In court, the prosecutor said: “He is no Banksy. He doesn’t have the artistic skills, so he has to get his tag up as much as possible.” Via/Via
Neue Adbustings von Eyesaw aus London – und ein kurzes Interview: “I aim to make the viewer question their surroundings and the world we live in and their role in society. By placing my work in prime advertising space the passer-by is almost fooled into believing my work is an advert selling more shit they don’t need. As my work offers no explanation as to what is being sold, the viewer is made to ask their own questions and draw their own conclusions. As a result I gain great satisfaction knowing I have removed a crap advert from circulation and replaced it with one of my works and just maybe open someone’s eyes to society’s downfalls.”
Zehn Jahre lang hat der britische Künstler Mike Ballard Jacken in Bars geklaut – und so rund 200 Kleidungsstücke angesammelt. Diese sollen nun zur Kunstmesse Frieze in London ausgestellt und, falls sich jemand meldet, auch an den rechtmäßigen Besitzer zurückgegeben werden. “Just after his move to London in the late 1990s, Ballard’s favourite 55DSL coat was stolen from a crowded pub – a loss he took quite hard. In retaliation, Ballard began stealing other coats he found unattended and over the past ten years he has amassed a collection of over 200. Each coat’s contents have been meticulously catalogued and stored (never stolen from). Having come to terms with his loss, Ballard is now relinquishing his collection and the coats will be returned to their rightful owners – but only if claimants can identify the date and place of loss or the contents of the pockets.” Via: Mail
In London hat die Polizei die Galerie Mauger Modern Art gestürmt, nachdem sie einen Hinweis bekam, in der Galerie gäbe es eine Bombe. Die Bombe hat sich dann als Kunstwerk von Paul McGowan entpuppt: “Eight officers swooped on Mauger Modern Art in Pimlico yesterday after receiving a 999 call from a member of the public who feared there was a device ready to explode just inside the door. The gallery’s owner, Richard Mauger, said: “When they arrived, the majority of the police burst out laughing apart from one officer who was very angry and suggested we were part of a hoax.” They were confronted with a £34,000 art installation — by contemporary artist Paul McGowan — which looked like sticks of old-fashioned dynamite, with a clock attached and wires protruding from the top.” (*) Übrigens hat auch der britische Künstler Kris Martin eine Bombe produziert, die angeblich in 100 Jahren explodiert. Via
Nice: Die Dirty Square Gallery besteht aus nur einem Holzrahmen an einer Londoner Häuserwand: “The Dirty Square Gallery specializes in promoting the work of artists who actively engage with critical theory.” Vgl. auch hier, via
Library: “After an inspiring interview we decided to really get out there and do something good for society at large. Spain seemed like a good place to start, considering the current unemployment rates. We ventured off to Malaga to start a public library and to hire one of the many unemployed people as a librarian. We quickly came to realize the actual problem in Spain wasn’t a lack of job possibilities, but weather conditions that made it impossible to work. Nobody wanted to work for us (including ourselves), and nobody cared about our library. It was simply too hot. We then set up the library in Copenhagen, Denmark, were the summer heat isn’t as unbearable. Quite the opposite as a matter of fact. Combining joblessness, beer and literature was mastered by Charles Bukowski, but in this case perfected by us.”
Picadilly Circus: “In our humble opinion, this is what modern public service is all about. We set up a free information service in one of the busiest areas of London, and tried to give people whatever they wanted. We even dressed up for the occasion.”
Hyde Park: “If you wish to use the deck chairs in Kensington Gardens, West London, for a relaxing time in beautiful circumstances, it will cost you 1.5 pounds for 2 hours. We provided free deck chairs with no time restrictions.”
Passive/Active: “In an attempt to give something to the public, we decided to hang up a mirror and trimmer outside a hairdresser, a deodorant outside a fitness centre and a bottle of water on our local jogging route. Observing the obvious non-use of these services, we decided to take a more active role as providers. Thus, we started offering free ice cream, reading for people in queues and offering hand lotion to those who looked like they had very dry hands. In spite of these efforts we came to realize that neither the passive nor active interferences changed anything for bypassers.”
“Urbane Untersuchungen” von Christian N. Halsted und Jakob Ohrt aka. The Doublethink Project aus London: “Doublethink’s intention is to gather different viewpoints of contemporary life within the realms of conceptual art, social science and alternative and investigational approaches to cultural abstractions. We will make 2-3 overall projects a year, focusing on a new subject each time around. Each undertaking is a collection of 8 pieces made by Doublethink, with one or two contributors or collaborators per project.” Via: Mail
