THE EXPERIMENT 1

EXHIBITION PROGRAM 2001

SCHMID / SCHOLZ
curated by Dorit Margreiter
March 7 – April 22, 2001





Opening Speech by Dorit Margreiter

Schmid/Scholz address questions that result from the connection of "art" and "pop." There are several reasons why they have arrived at these questions. One of their starting points is not a theoretical one, as the theme might at first suggest, but rather an object. Two years ago, Schmid/Scholz started building a synthesizer. It was produced without any prior knowledge and in excessively detailed work and research - the information was taken almost exclusively from the Internet and user groups. The finished product, which was initially intended to serve no other purpose than to be a musical instrument for their own sessions, received great attention and approval in the fields of both art and pop. Schmid/Scholz write:
 




"Until now the analog modular synthesizer (the object) has been located in various contexts and has been read respectively differently, even though the object itself remained unchanged and the reinterpretation of conceptions depended on the respective habits of viewing and the spatial situation. The field of differing approaches and interpretations was surprisingly broad. For viewing the object, it is less important to us to think about its status as art or pop. Instead, we use the aesthetic and historical distinction of genres in conjunction with a multitude of different forms of presentation, in order to give the work the status of a `discursive object'."
 




In their work, Schmid/Scholz attempt to pose at different levels the question of the extent, to which conceptions and attributions of meaning are independent of time and context, thus needing to be repeatedly rethought. The presentation that has been developed for the Grafisches Kabinett includes a compilation of possible answers, although these are subject to permanent revision. What is shown is a multi-part video that not only questions people from the fields of art, pop and theory, but also integrates itself into this complex. While acknowledging that the theory complex "pop/art" has already been extensively treated, Schmid/Scholz start exactly at the point where the juxtaposition of the two fields of discourse seems to be taken for granted and lead the respondents, themselves and ultimately the viewers of the ensemble they have developed back to the beginning of the question. The intention of consciously placing the work within the exhibition field is reinforced by the "white cube" embedded in the Grafisches Kabinett. The "Recycling" rostrums, which are both pedestals and seats and astonishingly reminiscent of parts of Renée Green's exhibition "Between and Including", signalize randomness or formal indifference, yet they are aesthetically defined again by the choice of the exhibition title "artifacts shared the assumption that ev."



Schmid / Scholz, Secession 2001
 
 
The end of the process that actually began two years ago with the building of the synthesizer is not yet in sight at this point, but visitors can follow its course , or intervene in it, with the pinned stretch of pictures that will be changed as the project progresses.
 
BIOGRAPHIES
Michael Schmid, born 1979 in Upper Austria. Studies since 1999 at the Academy of Fine Arts with Renée Green.
Christoph Scholz, born 1974 in Kaiserslauten. Studies since 1999 at the Art University Linz with Erwin Reiter.
 
 
PUBLICATION

DAS EXPERIMENT 1 Schmid/Scholz 6 pages authors: Matthias Herrmann, Dorit Magreiter, Michael Schmid, Christoph Scholz, Barbara Steiner ___________________ available in the shop

TRINH T. MINH-HA    AXEL STOCKBURGER
 
 
 
We would like to thank the following companies for their support:
 
Erste Bank - Partner of the Secession
GlaxoSmithKline - Sponsor of the Secession
Bundeskanzleramt Kunst
Wien Kultur
Friends of the Secession

The exhibition series is supported by Wiener Städtische.



For further information and photographic material please contact:
 
Urte Schmitt-Ulms
Secession, Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession
Friedrichstraße 12, 1010 Vienna
Tel: +43-1-5875307-21, Fax: +43-1-5875307-34
presse@secession.at