utopia and monument - styrian autumn

http://www.castyourart.com/en (english version)
http://www.castyourart.com (german version)

Public space is both a battlefield and stage for those visions and ideas in which a society puts its faith. At a distance, it also discloses that which is blindly supported in this society. One can survey it as if it were a kind of societal relief, or a contemporary witness of history, as it reveals both conscious and unconscious orders and structures.

In those times when the common faith in ideas is particularly strong, signs of this faith are placed into public space in the form of monuments which make beliefs concrete to us, alert us of the destructive power of faith, and signal the successful displacement of other beliefs.

Under the title Utopia and Monument, Sabine Breitwieser has developed a two-part program for the Steirischer Herbst festival, in which she applies art to a discourse on public space. Examples of the unspoken being openly expressed on the street understood here as a social platform for self-exhibition are sought out. At the same time, the scope of art for public statements is tested, as well as its competitive power within the struggle over limited public space.

Fourteen international artists were invited to participate. Until October 18th, they explore the question of the validity of art between privatization and the public sphere. Part Two of Utopia and Monument will follow next year. (wh/jn)

Category:

Film & Animation

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• utopia and monument
• styrian autumn
• steirischer
• herbst