Today it is seen differently
Young Pioneers event takes a look at visual trends
The Young Pioneers event takes a look at visual trendsBy Bruno Amstutz Our viewing habits have changed decisively under the influence of new media. The boundaries between art objects and consumer goods, between elite high culture and mass entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred.
In this gray area, creative minds are looking for a new way of dealing with visual perception, brands and images. Three young pioneers will be presented by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute together with the trend agency Pepper on June 7.
Open borders promote the connection of different influences to a new whole. With the lounges Substrate, Granulate and Stratos, Philipp Meier seeks a border crossing between gallery, installation, bar, nightclub and concert stage.
At Substrat, until recently located in the Rohstofflager on the Escher Wyss site, electro tinkerers performed their sound experiments, video artists projected their creations and DJs dug unknown discs out of the record crate - all on the same evening. Granules operates on a similar concept, Stratos is a club within a club. "Cinema is too linear for me, and at concerts I often feel underwhelmed," Meier says, explaining his search for new forms of nightlife. "I don't want to patronize people, but use visual and acoustic stimuli to create an environment where everyone can create their own images." He sees himself as a curator who provides a platform for artists, DJs and musicians where they can unfold without restrictive guidelines.
The diversity of Meiers Events is also appreciated by the public: The lounges attract guests from all directions - from art lovers to party people to music freaks.
Black Box and White Box - the art comes from the pedestal
"Philipp Meier plays the black box of the nightclub, I play the white box of the museum," explains Rein Wolfs, curator of the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art. He and Meier know each other from co-productions at both the Substrat and the Migros Museum.
Wolfs also sees the blurring of classic demarcations: "Art has come off its pedestal. It dissolves the tension between high and low, between high and mass culture." While art pretends to be playful, advertising, for example, is taking itself more and more seriously. "In the future, art could also go into areas that advertising has already entered," Wolfs says. For example, the esoteric track on which the advertising of the mobile network operator Orange is riding.
But ideas about art are always also concepts of reality or perception. Or as the curator puts it: "Art is to a certain extent also lifestyle."
Where old art forms lose their position, new ones can establish themselves in the slipstream of new media. Conny E. Voester, as artistic director of VIPER, offers a platform for this. The international fes-tival for video, film and new media is considered Switzerland's most important media art festival. "The VIPER pursues a cross-border concept," explains Voester, "we are flexible and can respond to current developments."
Net art is invented first
In her opinion, a specific net art is currently only being invented. But as an art form, it sets itself apart from mass culture with the classic definition: art should critically question and irritate, it can create utopian spaces, and it eludes easy consumption.
At the VIPER, technicians, experts from the art market and interested young people meet. It is above all these young people who are developing new viewing habits through their playful use of the Internet and video games.
In this gray area, creative minds are looking for a new way of dealing with visual perception, brands and images. Three young pioneers will be presented by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute together with the trend agency Pepper on June 7.
Open borders promote the connection of different influences to a new whole. With the lounges Substrate, Granulate and Stratos, Philipp Meier seeks a border crossing between gallery, installation, bar, nightclub and concert stage.
At Substrat, until recently located in the Rohstofflager on the Escher Wyss site, electro tinkerers performed their sound experiments, video artists projected their creations and DJs dug unknown discs out of the record crate - all on the same evening. Granules operates on a similar concept, Stratos is a club within a club. "Cinema is too linear for me, and at concerts I often feel underwhelmed," Meier says, explaining his search for new forms of nightlife. "I don't want to patronize people, but use visual and acoustic stimuli to create an environment where everyone can create their own images." He sees himself as a curator who provides a platform for artists, DJs and musicians where they can unfold without restrictive guidelines.
The diversity of Meiers Events is also appreciated by the public: The lounges attract guests from all directions - from art lovers to party people to music freaks.
Black Box and White Box - the art comes from the pedestal
"Philipp Meier plays the black box of the nightclub, I play the white box of the museum," explains Rein Wolfs, curator of the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art. He and Meier know each other from co-productions at both the Substrat and the Migros Museum.
Wolfs also sees the blurring of classic demarcations: "Art has come off its pedestal. It dissolves the tension between high and low, between high and mass culture." While art pretends to be playful, advertising, for example, is taking itself more and more seriously. "In the future, art could also go into areas that advertising has already entered," Wolfs says. For example, the esoteric track on which the advertising of the mobile network operator Orange is riding.
But ideas about art are always also concepts of reality or perception. Or as the curator puts it: "Art is to a certain extent also lifestyle."
Where old art forms lose their position, new ones can establish themselves in the slipstream of new media. Conny E. Voester, as artistic director of VIPER, offers a platform for this. The international fes-tival for video, film and new media is considered Switzerland's most important media art festival. "The VIPER pursues a cross-border concept," explains Voester, "we are flexible and can respond to current developments."
Net art is invented first
In her opinion, a specific net art is currently only being invented. But as an art form, it sets itself apart from mass culture with the classic definition: art should critically question and irritate, it can create utopian spaces, and it eludes easy consumption.
At the VIPER, technicians, experts from the art market and interested young people meet. It is above all these young people who are developing new viewing habits through their playful use of the Internet and video games.
