In 1968, German artist Charlotte Posenske, having become increasingly indifferent about whether her work was identified as art, stopped working as an artist.  Distressed by her belief that art couldn’t have sufficient political impact on social inequalities, she gave up art making to become a sociologist.  She refused to exhibit her work, or visit exhibitions by other artists, until her death in 1985.¹²

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The Austrian art group Gelitin are similarly indifferent about whether their work is identified as art, but the philosophy from which that indifference stems is opposite from Posenske’s: they relish the idea the art doesn’t have to do anything, and believe that expressly political art goes against the uselessness that should characterize it.  As with many artists and art lovers, art is understood doubly here as a free zone for experimentation, and an anarchic counter to capitalism’s expectations of efficiency and function.  Of course, this stance is inherently political in its own way, as art is still operating within capitalism, but you are asked to elide that fact and focus on the direct experience.

Gelitin’s 2007 piece The Dig Cunt was a “durational work as a celebration of the millennium of the female and the anti-phallus”. Beginning every morning for seven days they ritualistically dug a hole on the beach at Coney Island; each evening the hole was filled in. ³

Gelitin has a durational blindfolded sculpture piece going on at Greene Nafatli.  Here’s the press release: http://www.greenenaftaligallery.com/exhibition.php?id=3585&jumpTo=pressRelease

1. http://www.betweenbridges.net/Posenenske.html [↩]
2. http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/charlotte_posenenske/ [↩]
3. http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2007/performance/gelitin.html [↩]