Crossing Media

The stage for art

"Crossing Media" is the name of the format that has now replaced the photo triennial first organised in Esslingen in 1989 and has been expanded into a festival centred around an exhibition with video presentations, performances, readings, discussions and concerts. The keyword crossover, i.e. the blurring and interpenetration of genres and disciplines, admittedly no longer describes such new things, but nevertheless applies as a procedure to much of what characterises contemporary art. This kind of crossover not only results in works of art that surprise our ways of seeing and other modes of experience, but also demonstrates once again that there can no longer be any uniform narratives in art. What all artworks and actions have in common, especially in this festival, is that they rely on a stage-like presentation or performance for their understanding and presentation. Even in the large entrance hall of the villa, visitors are surprised by an unstable construction by Banks Violette with a high-gloss black stage floor and ceiling, from which white neon tubes seem to fall out in a disorganised manner - it is entitled "Kill Yourself". Or in the room next to it, where a large empty sculpture plinth, illuminated exactly on the stand area, stands on a red carpet, "Public Sculpture" by Julien Berthier, around which one is transported into an ephemeral sound situation by the artist's symphonic hammer blows on bronze sculptures in the public space - one might almost say: surrounded by a sound sculpture. These examples stand for many other of the 17 artists on show, as collected in this comprehensive volume. Other participants in "Crossing Media. A Stage for Art": Nevin Aladag, Birgit Brenner, Daniele Buetti, Kurt Caviezel, Beate Engl, Rainer Ganahl, Johan Grimonprez, Paul Harrison/John Wood, Christine Hill, Eva Kotátková, Jung Lee, Alexandra Leykauf, Atelier van Lieshout, Andres Lutz & Anders Guggisberg and Philippe Ramette.

Exhibition:
Villa Merkel Esslingen, 19/7-6/10/2103