What's missing in this picture?

Okay, I will have to vent a little in this post, hoping for some catharsis.

Having gone through the recent chain of 20th anniversary events in respect to Germany, I often feel like I have been looking at two of these search pictures one can often find in the puzzle section of papers or magazines: They appear to be identical, but one picture is missing a couple things original to the first image. The problem: What's missing in the picture? It might be a hat, a bird, or a flower. However, when it comes to historical events, we are often presented with the faulty image as the original. It's often an image reduced to what is historically, politically and culturally convenient. Claiming the original as the complete and more true picture is often ignored or characterized as the fabrication of a wild imagination.

20 years after the first and last truly democratic Volkskammer election in the GDR (March 19th, 1990) that brought to a disheartening end a few months of revitalized utopian hopes in that eastern part of the country, big survey (art) exhibitions about those past events and their fall-out have proven to be equally disappointing. Most curatorial strategies and also the individual works included may have considered and talked about East Germans, but were not by East Germans - it's the old issue of the other--in this case the other German--as being silent and silenced (see also the book Representing East Germany since Unification by Paul Cooke, 2005). The people who were THERE and most affected, then and now, are curiously missing in today's debates about THERE, or shall we say OVER THERE.

It is frustrating for someone--yes, like me--who has been trying in his/her work, over the years, to come to terms with East Germany/the GDR, its form of socialism and the events that started in the fall of 1989. Of course, I don't represent East Germans, far from it, but at least my work is a voice--or picture--that's more representative than the western-dominated chorus that we have been served in these recent exhibitions, a phenomena we already know all too well from the cinematic genre, with films like "Good-bye Lenin" (Wolfgang Becker, 2003) or "The Lives of Others" (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006). And to clarify: I argue for a genuine plurality of voices, meaning the full inclusion of East German ones, and not, as some might want to interpret my remarks, as the exclusion of the Western contributions.

New triptych for "Critical Distance"

This yet to be titled triptych (working title: Diplomacy) is a reflection on post-Cold-War politics and history debates in Germany and beyond (macro and micro). Although, this triptych, too, is conceived as a "free-standing" image, it should be ideally read/viewed within the context of the "Critical Distance" series. I welcome any feedback and criticism.

[Update March 27, 2010] I think I will call this triptych Contested. In a nut shell, it contemplates how political and economical differences were perceived and contested during the Cold War (and even now), as well as how these differences were negotiated and pictured after the collapse of the so-called Communist bloc. Until 1989, Heimat was a place under constant threat; but only after the danger was dissolved, East Germany ceased to exist.

Exquisite Corpse at the Armory Show

I contributed three photo collages to these exquisite corpses with images all culled from a single issue of Der Spiegel (issue: "Wir Krisenkinder"). One of my collages can be seen in the upper row, second from the left, the "feet" section.

Exquisite Corpse Exhibit at the Armory Show

Leading Artists Recreate Surrealist Parlor Game to Benefit
ARMITAGE GONE! DANCE

Exquisite Corpse Drawings on View at the ARMORY SHOW
March 3-7, 2010

New York, NY --- More than 183 internationally recognized visual artists, architects, designers and photographers are participating in collaborative drawings to create seventy-five to one hundred works as part of Armitage Gone! Dance’s Exquisite Corpse project. A selection of thirty drawings will be exhibited in rotation at the Armory Show, March 3 – 7, 2010 at Exhibit Booth # 1508, Pier 94, 12th Avenue and 55th Street, NYC .


Using the 1920's surrealist parlor game "cadavre exquise," a drawing that combines words and/or images by multiple artists on one sheet of paper, the project celebrates the theme of chance encounters, surprise and radical juxtaposition. Each artist adds to the composition, in sequence, without seeing the contribution of the previous person. The chance juxtaposition of images and styles results in a work that is both unexpected and amusing. Each drawing is a combination of the work of three or four artists; one for the head and shoulders, one or two for the torso, and one for the legs and feet. The works are all a universal size of 16x30 inches.

The project’s proceeds will benefit Armitage Gone! Dance, an internationally acclaimed contemporary dance company under the direction of renowned choreographer Karole Armitage. For three decades as a choreographer and director, Karole Armitage has actively pushed the boundaries of classicism to create a contemporary idiom blending new dance, music and art. Her dances are full of wit, humor and sophistication and possess a fierce and sensuous beauty. Like some of the best contemporary art, Armitage’s concept of beauty involves making connections between unlikely things. Karole Armitage has deep roots in the artistic community and has been dedicated to fusing dance with the visual arts. Her collaborations with artists such as Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, David Salle, Philip Taaffe, Vera Lutter and many others, began early in her career and continue actively to this day. Included among the 183 artists already committed to the Exquisite Corpse project are: Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Donald Baechler, John Baldessari, Ross Bleckner, Louise Bourgeois, Cecily Brown, Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Will Cotton, Carroll Dunham, Eric Fischl, Robert Gober, Alex Katz, Karen Kilimnik, Richard Meier, Malcolm Morley, Tom Otterness, Tony Oursler, Chloe Piene, Enoc Perez, Richard Phillips, David Salle, Dana Schutz, Andres Serrano, Joel Shapiro, Rosemarie Trockel, Robert Wilson and Terry Winters. The Exquisite Corpse project is a way for a wide range of artists to express their support for Armitage’s work and also a way for her to acknowledge artists who have played such a large role in her career.

The project also highlights the “performative” aspect of art making by demonstrating that drawing, performance art, and dance all have in common spontaneity and an unpredictable nature. The evanescent quality of dance is mirrored in the surprising juxtapositions of the Exquisite Corpse. Works in the project have been created either at a number of artists’ drawing parties or passed from artist to artist. In all instances, the artist is unable to view the work that his or her fellow artists have created. The project is curated by David Salle and Project Manager Tanja Grunert of Gasser-Grunert.

Armory Show hours are: 12-8PM March 4,5,6, and 12-7PM on March 7.