We are confronted with a decision between (1) radical rationalization of artistic practice, which would mean fair payment and the revolutionary destruction of the autonomy-of-the-economy, and (2) radical retreat into a serious artistic practice, which would mean the exit from the logic of reward and the individualized false promise of an outside to the autonomy-of-the-economy. Or, put differently, unconditional love must be either paid for, or free for all. Both approaches exist and are equally attractive. As a consequence of the impossibility of the fulfillment of their respective claims: simply, the ability of (1) 'political action' or (2) a 'serious practice,' the application of either of these two ideals leads to the withdrawal from the field of visual arts and its institutions. Legitimately we mutate into hated enemies, as we continue to work in this field.

Program – 23 begins with the screening of one video file over the course of three evenings at a theater, here replaced with an arbitrary location. It is composed of an over-length feature film that is repeatedly interrupted for the screening of a reoccurring long shot, adaptations of written text, and audio-visual contributions based on moments of mediation. The program refers to a time when a central narrative would have caused surprise and separating walls were not imagined, let alone their subsequent collapse. The lights remain switched on and the bar open. Any conditions that might invite the audience into a self-enclosed fictional world separate from the evenings’ circumstances are avoided.

Our professional milieu is a comfortable home and breeding ground for the possessive individual. At this point, solidarity among artists—members of a naturally corrupt family—seems downright inappropriate. Their identification with and claim for a special status makes it impossible to distinguish moments of solidarity from moments of corruption. We can only hope that the walls of this family home will collapse; (1) will have left the collapsing house in advance, only to be run over by a car on the streets, (2) survives traumatized and subsequently suffers an endless death from slowly inserting a sword into their own wombs, (3) is covered by rubble and dies instantly, without realizing what just happened.

Leslie Bauer, Richard Eß, Maximilian Klawitter