Opening lecture "Two and a Half Commitments"
At the Citizen Artist Incubator conference at Tabakfabrik Linz, Juli 2017
The lecture brings examples of different art projects operating simultaneously on two levels: the social field and the art field (=the "dual (or two) commitment(s)" of such art forms).
Most of the examples are long term endeavours like the LAPD - Los Angeles Poverty Department, Wochenklausur, Soho in Ottakring, COMPANY by Zobl Schneider.
Their setup was discussed as well as their financing strategies (=the "half commitment", because financing often cannot be solved completely and stays a problem).
The social capital of the art projects in question also brings up problems discussed in theory: e.g. the involvement of third groups or persons, who are not artists or migrants (catchword "antiracism"), the pheonmenon of gentrification ("bilbao-effect", also visible at "alternative/autonomous projects") and overall the question, who - in the end - profits from such artwork in public/social sphere with a strong connection to a specific area or field ("site specificity").
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Above: image of the presentation, the "Informal Research Lab" of Stephen Mathewson, Maura Jasper, Josh Thomson and others at the festival "Kick the Habit-Ventil Rassismus, Soho in Ottakring 2010.
Photo: Beatrix Zobl