Annie Abrahams (NL) • Breda Beban (SRB) • Sergio Rojas Chaves (CR) • Anetta Mona Chisa (RO) & Lucia Tkacova (SK) •  Dora Garcia (ESP) • Vitya Glushchenko (UKR) • Javier González Pesce (CL) • Igor Grubic (HRV) • Satoshi Hashimoto (JP) • Adrien Missika (FR) • Cesare Pietroiusti (IT) • Neža Knez (SK) • Jiří Kovanda (CZ) • Donna Kukama (SA) • Alina Lupu (RO) •  Ewa Partum (PL) • Charlotte Seidel (DE) • David Sherry (UK) • Yann Vanderme (FR)
About •  Text by Laura Amann •  Contact •  Credits •  Instagram

Kunsthalle Wien, Reumannplatz, July 15–August 2, 2020

As part of KISS Thomas Geiger will realize a new edition of his Festival of Minimal Actions. In what could be considered a reawakening of performative works, Geiger creates situations that deal with the possibilities and impossibilities of physical interaction, affection, intimacy, and romance in public space during periods of pandemic. The festival – the main premise of which is a belief in the independence of performative works from their authors – brings together a concise selection of works by other artists that Geiger will reperform at Reumannplatz. Through the changed social, political, and temporal contexts between their original performance and this one, the works gain additional facets and shed some of their original aspects. Their reinterpretation also allows for the discovery of artworks that might have been conceived for a different audience and sdistribution mode, stretching the boundaries of accessibility, reproducibility, and authorship […]

15. July, 15–16h
Jiří Kovanda ^SLV
KISSING THROUGH GLASS
I invite people to kiss me through a pane of glass. (First performed in 2007.)

16. July, 9h
ADRIEN MISSIKA ^FR
CURA
I clean dirty plants in public space, preferably some hard to access plants that don’t even get rain water, like under urban freeways. I take a water bucket, a cloth, and a water sprinkler with me. I clean the plants with care, leaf by leaf. I adjust my gestures to fit each plant’s features. I clean the plants as long as I possibly can, as many as possibly in one day. When I’m exhausted, I go home. When exhausted I go home. (First performed in 2019.)

17. July, 14h
Ewa Partum ^PL
KINO TAUTOLOGICZNE
I stick a plaster crosswise over my mouth. (First performed in 1973)

18. July, 16h
Cesare Pietroiusti ^PR
Money Watching
I offer people to watch a banknote for a specific time without interruption. Afterwards, the money will become theirs. (First performed in Birmingham, 2007)

19. July, 15h
Charlotte Seidel ^PA
EURE CHARLOTTE
I kiss a statue. (The performance will take place at Denkmal der Republik. First performed with the statues of Goethe & Schiller in Weimar, 2007)

20. July, 7:30h
Igor Grubic ^HRV
BICYCLE AND FLAG (366 LIBERATION RITUALS)
I make a red flag out of the Austrian flag and drive around the city on a bicycle as a “phantom of freedom”. (First performed in Zagreb, 2008)

21. July, 10h
Donna Kukama ^CL
NOT YET (AND NOBODY KNOWS WHY NOT)
I put on lipstick until my entire face is red. (First performed in Nairobi, 2008)

22. July, 14h
Vitya Glushchenko ^UKR
PEOPLE PICKING UP 1€
I place 1 Euro coins on the ground and watch people picking it up. (First performed in Vienna, 2017)

23. July, 17h
Yann Vanderme ^FR
FAIRE SEMBLANT
I pretend to wait for a date with a boquet of flowers.

24. July, 10h
Dora Garcia ^ESP
The Black Veil
I cover my face completely with a black veil, for as long as possible, in public. The veil has to be short, just enough to cover the face completely. (First executed in 2002 )

25. July, 18h
Annie Abrahams ^NL
THE BIG KISS
I engage with another person in the act of “kissing” via internet. (First performed in 2008.)

26. July, 10h
Neža Knez ^SK
SEARCHING FOR A MEANING
I make simple waving gesture from inside space to the outdoor world. (First performed in Zagreb, 2020)

27. July, 16h
SATOSHI HASHIMOTO ^JP
PLEASE EXCHANGE YOUR SHOES WITH ME
I offer people to exchange shoes with me. (First performed in Tokyo, 2006)

28. July, 12h
Sergio Rojas Chaves ^CR
HANDS THAT FEED
I carve copies of my hand out of loaves of bread and place them in public squares. I want to hand-feed the city birds without scaring them. (First performed in San José, 2014)

29. July, 13h
ALINA LUPU ^RO
MINIMUM WAGE DRESS CODE
I order take-out via food app. I ask the courier how much s/he gets paid per hour. I pay her/her this amount. I ask her/him to take a break and to share the food with me. (First performed in Amsterdma, 2017)

30. July, 10h
David Sherry ^UK
JUST POPPED OUT BACK IN TWO HOURS
I am leaving my body for two hours. (First performed in Glasgow, 2008 / Courtesy The Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow)

31. July, 10h
Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkacova ^RO/SK
MEMORY WITHOUT HISTORY
I take a climbing flower and plant it next to a public monument. As the plant will overgrow the sculpture, it will become a memorial to a woman who lived in someone’s shadow. (First performed in 2009)

1. August, 19h
Javier González Pesce ^CL
MUSICALIZACIÓN
I walk carrying a stereo that plays the soundtrack of a romantic movie, while I am looking for a couple in love. When coming across the couple, I approach them and create a romantic scene for them, as it would happen in the movies. (First performed in Valais, 2016)

2. August, 16h
Breda Beban ^SRB
ARTE VIVO (AFTER ALBERTO GRECO)
I label a kissing couple as art and as the most perfect readymade. (First performed in Buenos Aires, 2008 )

THE FESTIVAL OF MINIMAL ACTIONS

Thomas Geiger’s practice makes use of performance, sculpture, and language in manifold combinations. Creating stage-like situations and playfully mediating between inanimate objects, deceased personalities, and historically charged places, he often suspends classical delineations of public, private, and institutional space. His works also deliberate on distribution strategies outside of the traditional art market and economic systems.

As part of KISS, Thomas Geiger will realize a new edition of his Festival of Minimal Actions (previously staged in Brussels, 2014; Paris, 2015 and San José, 2018). In what could be considered a reawakening of performative works, Geiger creates situations that deal with the possibilities and impossibilities of physical interaction, affection, intimacy, and romance in public space during periods of pandemic.

Is a kiss through glass still a kiss? Or through a digital network, for that matter? And if you can’t leave your apartment, can you at least leave your body? Is a genuine interpersonal exchange possible if you are paid for it? Who are we forgetting to thank? Will a statue kiss me back? And what if life were a romantic movie?

The festival – the main premise of which is a belief in the independence of performative works from their authors – brings together a concise selection of works by other artists that Geiger will reperform at Reumannplatz. Through the changed social, political, and temporal contexts between their original performance and this one, the works gain additional facets and shed some of their original aspects. Their reinterpretation also allows for the discovery of artworks that might have been conceived for a different audience and distribution mode, stretching the boundaries of accessibility, reproducibility, and authorship. In light of these particularly limiting times – be it in regard to gatherings or traveling – such a strategy gains yet another complexifying dimension.

Through the Festival of Minimal Actions, Geiger allows Viennese audiences to see performances from multiple geographies, from various points in history, and by a variety of authors which they can take part in without the need to travel, cross borders, or get tested for a virus.

— Laura Amann, 2020

CREDITS

Concept: Thomas Geiger
Realisation: Kunsthalle Wien as part of KISS
Curated by: Laura Amann, Anne Faucheret, Aziza Harmel, WHW
Design: Astrid Seme, Studio

© 2020 Thomas Geiger, the artists and authors.
Thanks to all the artists contributing in the festival and sharing their concepts.