Documenta 12 Artists:

ALICE CREISCHER AND ANDREAS SIEKMANN

'Intervention Is Not A Closed Term' — 
Artist Practice Within the Public Space

Date: Friday, 21 September, 2007
Time: 18:00
Location: The Munch Studio at Ekely
Jarlsborgvn. 14 / Gråbrødreveien 10, Oslo
Transport from Wergelandsveien 17 at 17:30.

Please be so kind as to send your intent to attend to info@oca.no. It would be helpful to receive your final R.S.V.P. by 20 September. Informal reception to follow in the Munch Studio.

About the Artists' Talk

In the last decade, "intervention" has become a well known term in the art world. It is connected with a special artistic practice and space in which "interventions" happen mostly in the public space. But perhaps these characteristics are pushing the term with a particular political approach in some kind of well bordered cliché of political art. The presentation by Documenta 12 artists Alice Creischer and Andreas Siekmann attempts to interpret the term in another way and will also do so by presenting examples of some recent projects by Creischer and Siekmann, including the Opera production that opened at Documenta in Kassel in July 2007. The opera entitled At Once and Simultaneously — Musical Scenes for the Negation of Workforms a type of science fiction story depicting the world which has actually existed throughout history. Accompanied by the State Youth Orchestra of Hessen, the opera took place at the City-Point shopping centre in Kassel.

About the artists

Alice Creischer is the recipient of OCA's Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art (2006/2007). Rather than concentrating on the production of individual works, Alice Creischer centers on the process of inquiry to illuminate particular political histories of given contexts. Adopting prop-like devices and meticulously crafted and sewn objects, Creischer choreographs a space within a system of coordinates that deconstruct yet another set of given historical relations. Extending beyond artistic production, Creischer has also been prolific in her critical writings and curatorial projects. Creischer and Andreas Siekmann work both collaboratively and individually. In his works, Andreas Siekmann discusses the process of economisation and privatisation of public urban space. His drawings, models, videos, exhibition projects and works in public space criticise and ironically represent the dominating power relations and propose alternative and counter-approaches. Creischer and Siekmann curated the exhibition project Violence is at the Margin of All Things at the Generali Foundation in Vienna (2002), and Ex-Argentina — Steps for the Flight from Labour to Doing (2004) at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. They participate at Documenta 12 in Kassel with the opera Auf einmal und gleichzeitig. Eine Machbarkeitsstudie zur Negation von Arbeit. Andreas Siekmann also participates at Skulptur Projekte Münster 07, and Alice Creischer will participate in a solo exhibition at MACBA in Barcelona in January 2009.

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About the Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art

The Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art 2006 was awarded to Alice Creischer by H. M. Queen Sonja of Norway on 14 November 2006 at the University Aula. The Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art was initiated and developed in 2004/2005 by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway to enhance exchange in international contemporary art and highlight the importance and ongoing influence of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944). The award is the highest prize for international contemporary art given in Norway. Since its inception, the award has evolved into an important acknowledgment of artists whose practices engage critically with social and political issues and contexts. The award celebrates an exceptional attitude of Edvard Munch and his ability to translate what he sensed in society into his own artistic language. The award is intended to support the development of a new work and to cover living expenses during a six-month residency in Norway. The artist residency is situated within the Munch estate Ekely with an additional usage of the original Munch studio in Oslo, in addition to a grant of 350,000 NOK. Generous sponsorship for the 2006 edition of the award is made by Snøhetta AS.

Office for Contemporary Art Norway

The Office for Contemporary Art Norway is a private foundation and was founded by The Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs and The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Fall 2001. The main aim of the Office for Contemporary Art Norway is to develop collaborations in contemporary art between Norway and the international art scene. The Office for Contemporary Art Norway aims to become a profiled contributor to the discourses of contemporary art.