Part 1: The Centre of Attention's Swansong in Vienna

The Center of Attention's Schwanengesang/Swansong (2004) presented on Karlsplatz, Vienna, 17 to 19 October 2008 by Brut Wien.

Set outdoors on Karlsplatz, Schwanengesang (Swansong) offers the public in Vienna an opportunity to rehearse one's own funeral. First the participant selects a song for the ceremony; they then lay on a plinth, performing death, while the song is webstreamed.

Formally, the work reverses the viewer/public art dynamic. It posits life as art and captures individual portraits, allowing a statement to be generated and examined by the public itself.

Created in 2004, Schwanengesang (Swansong) has been widely exhibited internationally including Mousonturm Frankfurt, Mercer Union Toronto, the Venice Biennale, Schauspielhaus Zürich and Istanbul Modern.


Part of Kingdom of Darkness: Geister, Tote, Wiedergänger at Brut Künstlerhaus, with Aschwanden & Zimmermann & Filip, Bruce LaBruce, the Centre of Attention, Tobias Dörr, Ted Gaier/Peter Ott, Jürgen Hofbauer, Die Rabtaldirndl, Angela & Daniel Richter u.a.
curated by Thomas Frank
With thanks to Pia Wenzel and Sara Iovino

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Tags:

• contemporary
• art
• installation
• Vienna
• Wien
• Brut
• Kuenstlerhaus