June 16, 2011

k o p f b a u b a s e l


"e-flux has been invited to develop a special project for the Kopfbau (head building) — the oldest building in the Messeplatz complex, slated for demolition later this year. In response to this invitation, artists Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle developed a constellation of projects situated somewhere between exhibitions of art and the concrete forms of sociality encountered in everyday life. 
Conceived as an independent universe with its own bar, hotel, shops, admissions, and so forth, this project operates in parallel, and as the inverse to the neighboring art fair: operating during alternative hours and in surprising and often paradoxical ways, and ranging in scope from the educational to playfully predatory and mercantile."



among its components is the agency of unrealized projects (AUP), an e-flux project in collaboration with the serpentine gallery, julieta aranda, hans ulrich obrist, julia peyton-jones and anton vidokle:

"Unlike unrealized architectural projects, which are frequently exhibited and circulated, unrealized artworks tend to remain unnoticed or little known. But perhaps there is another form of artistic agency in the partial expression, the incomplete idea, the projection of a mere intention? Agency of Unrealized Projects (AUP) seeks to document and display these works, in this way charting the terrain of a contingent future. 
Though the state of being unrealized implies the potential for realization, not all projects are intended to be carried out. In other instances, artists deliberately leave works incomplete, to record very interesting "failures" or experiments. Other planned projects involve consciously utopian, non-utilitarian, and conceptual spaces that were not made available for realization. Whether censored, forgotten, postponed, impossible, or rejected, unrealized projects form a unique testament to the speculative power of non-action.

if you happen to visit the AUP at art basel, you might find my proposal for INCEPTION: a theatrical installation based on christopher nolan's inception (a time-bending phenomenon described by a.o. scott), kierkegaard's figure of christ, boris groy's essay 'on the new', and emeryville's AMC baystreet theatre.

to be clear — even i can't be certain my proposal is there. if not, call it an unrealized unrealized unrealized project.