PLATFORM3 - Räume für zeitgenössische Kunst - 2009

an art and cultural institution in Munich in 2010.
In addition, there is the relevance of cultural
and artistic work to be considered against the
backdrop of an economically unstable present.
The aura of crisis has caused a necessity for
art and culture institutions to tackle themes
they have been historically reluctant to face:
Work and industry, productivity, marketing, and
even measurable success have to now be
applied. Touted as the symbolic capital of the
elite by Bourdieu or the product of a Western
materialistic culture by Adorno, the relation
between art and economy is now thought over
anew: cultural institutions allow for rendering
infrastructurally-disadvantaged areas more
appealing. Contact with social reality has
brought art down from its pedestal and a look
at the historical avant-garde shows clearly
that art and culture play a key role, particularly
in times of crisis. Artistic production reacts
rapidly and uncompromisingly to social change
and cultural discourse becomes an important
carrier for emotions and vision. More importantly,
utopias exist once more allowing one to
experience an economically stressful present
through intellectually relaxed viewpoints.
It is exactly the resilience of twentiethcentury
art that makes it sensible to offer it
sufficient space. Nothing is therefore more
apt than making the crisis’ pivotal element a
theme for an artistic and cultural project: Labour.
Work and Labour is the theme of 2010;
Platform3 thus gives itself an encompassing
leading motive that allows it to bind future
projects conceptually and sharpen the coherent
profile of the young institution.
In fact, “Labour” encompasses such a rich
semantic field that it reflects many of the
aspects of Platform3 itself: From artistic production
processes in the studios to managerial
cultural work and the new definition of the
key roles in the management process, from
curator to PR, in the artistic production chain.
The transparence of each individual responsibility
within a cultural project and the
pairing of these with the relevant operatives
is just as much a function of Platform3’s thematic
work-model as the social and economic
components of producing cultural value.
These methods are tested and analysed
through process-based projects that not only
reflect their own genesis but also exist and
change independent of context. Living formats
are thus created that enclose both the public
and the involved players in different moments
in many ways.
As true “Work-in-progress” – similar to
Platform3 itself – these exhibitions of artistic
and cultural moments of creation distance
themselves from retrospective witnessing of
fully developed, hermetical objects. The possibility
for spontaneous creation means being
able to leave the traditional chronology of
production-representation-reception, and at
any moment create artistic and cultural spaces
that stimulate the active role of an audience.
Insights and Outlooks A workshop will kick
things off in February 2010, paradoxically
based on the theme of the opposite of labour;
the pause as recreational moment.
Platform3’s anniversary exhibition tests
the model of “collaborative curating”. Planned
for April are temporary, creative laboratory
situations that leave their usual production
contexts and cultural locations to experiment
with those of Platform3. To allow for further
fruitful exchange, artist collectives from the
borders of Europe have been invited. Under
the umbrella of “Creative Work” there will
be a discursive project in May 2010 that aims
to further examine the questions already
raised through the themes of “The Future
of Work” and “Future Working Practices in the
Cultural Industry”. Throughout the year the
guest studio will be available to individual
artists and artistic collectives for contextrelated
cultural production. At monthly intervals
encounters will be initiated with central figures
from the international art world, inviting both
curators and artist collectives. All through
2010 Platform3 will be occupied with prototypes
for networking, exchange and cooperation.
Translated from German into English by Anton Poggio.
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