"The Legend of the Artist", Dialogue Intervention 2
International Summer Academy for Visual Arts Salzburg, 2001
Over four weeks we conducted conversations and interviews at the Summer Academy with artists, students, professors and audience about their understandings of the image and role of the artist. The aim of the project was to provoke public reflection on images of the artist and the motivations of those who go into this professional field, or at least have a good look at it. The discussions were recorded on video. The main purpose of employing a camera, aside from that of documentation, was the creation of a “staged” and therefore “public” situation. During the appearances we wore red and blue work overalls or other garments in the same red and blue in order to strengthen the performance character of the intervention. Parallel to this experts held discussions about the image of the artist, the relationship of teachers and pupils, gender-difference and economic realities. We hung up a “wall(news)paper”, updated daily with a statement by a well-known artist or theoretician on the topic of the “essence of the artist”. These sentences often functioned as a link for conversations and discussions during the breaks of the students. An interactive installation in all rooms of the Gallery 5020 concluded this project. The Dialogue Intervention is a combination of art project and workshop.