ST:A:R_11

ST/A/R
Buch IV - Extended Play Positions EP
Nr. 11/2006 31
BORN TO BE
A STAR
Bereits im Titel der
Ausstellung Born to be
a Star (2004) wurden
die Ambivalenzen zwischen
der Sehnsucht nach einem
authentischen Subjekt und
dem durch die Medienkultur
forcierten Imagetransfer
aufgegriffen. Der Konzeption
neuer Strategien in der
Auseinandersetzung mit dem
Star- und Individualitätskult
widmet sich die Publikation
Born to be a Star, welche als
weitere Aspekte des Projektes
die Ausstellungsreihe The
Sound of your Eyes (2006)
und Veranstaltungen von
MusikerInnen und PerformerInnen im temporären Projektraum
Star/o/mat in der K/Haus Passagegalerie einbezieht. Die
Publikation funktioniert als Analyse der im Kontext zum Projekt
Born to be a Star aufgeworfenen Themen rund um Starsysteme,
Antistarkult, Genderclash, Popfeminismus, elektronische Sounds,
performative Strategien und prekäre Produktionsbedingungen.
Neue Akzente gegenüber einer für das Identitätsmarketing
durchlässigen Medienrealität geraten in einer Gegenüberstellung
mit dem künstlerischen Authentitzitätsdiskurs ins Spiel.
Spannende Optionen in der Inszenierung und Konstruktion von
Gegenentwürfen zu den in der Pop- und Populärkultur gehypten
Role-Models und Stargenerierungen gelangen durch post- und
popfeministischen Kunstproduktionen zum Zug.
Jutta Koethers Überdenken der Potentiale der Punkperformance
löst komplexe Impulse der Verführung und Konfrontation aus.
Die performativen Strategien in der Selbstinszenierung der Diva
zwischen Femme Fatale und Femme Fragile skizziert Katarina
Matiasek in dem Text über ihre gemeinsam mit dem elektronischen
Soundkünstler Scanner produzierten Soundvideoinstallation
Diva. Auf die Symptome der Post-Star Ära bezieht sich Jutta
Koether in der Textmontage Shirly in der sie sich mit dem
Aspekt des Starwerdens und dessen Wandel befasst. Gabriele
Werner weist auf die möglichen Metaphern für Identitäts- und
Subjektkonstruktionen hin, die durch das Projekt Born to be a
Star angeboten werden. Die Frage: Wie subkulturell ist meine
Körperintelligenz?, stellt die Reality Researcherin Nina Stuhldreher.
Die zunehmende Bedeutung der Intuition im soziokulturellen Feld
wird von Nina Stuhldreher unter anderem zum Ausgangspunkt
ihrer performativen Kulturkritik. In Dieter Lesage Porträt der
Künstlerin, DJ und Magazinherausgeberin Ina Wudke mit dem
Titel Wudtke’s Way. Everything that Ina does wird akribisch das
Image der Künstlerin als Kulturinvestorin nachgezeichnet, welches
gleichzeitig die Ökonomien kreativer Prozesse widerspiegelt. Justin
Hoffmann verfolgt am Beispiel der postfeministischen Frauenband
Chicks on Speed wie es gelingen kann, in die Rolle von Musikstars
zu schlüpfen und dabei selbst Stars zu werden. Welche Rolle der
urbane Raum in der performativen Markierung einer individuellen
Zeitlichkeit spielen kann, gelangt im Text A Monument for the
Invisible von Cecilie Hogsbro Ostergaard zum Ausdruck.
Publicityträchtige Medienformate bilden ebenso Angriffspunkte
wie Bezüge zu einer Social(Art)History, welche die
Handlungsspielräume künstlerischer Produktivitäten aufzeigen.
Die Ambition erneut Normativitätszwänge zu entschärfen, stellt
sich durch eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Verwertungslogik des
Starsystems auf der performativen Ebene ein.
Mit Beiträgen von:
‘a room of one’s own’, Monica Bonvicini, Anna Ceeh, Chicks On Speed,
Helen Cho, Michelle Deignan, Chilo Eribenne, Christina Ertl/Tobias Hassels,
Female Obsession Spezial, Anita Fricek, Christine Gloggengiesser, Kim
Gordon, Elisabeth Grübl, Grübl & Grübl, Renée Green, Ursula Hübner,
Judith Huemer, Jutta Koether, Katarina Matiasek/ Scanner, Ursula Mayer,
Mike Mills, Begoña Muñoz, Muntean/ Rosenblum, Elisabeth Penker, Anu
Pennanen, Jennifer Reeder, Bernadette Reiter/Theresa Dirtl, Isabel Reiß,
G. Rizo, Nicolas Roeg/Donald Cammel, Constanze Schweiger, Ann-Sofi
Sidén, Studio 3+3, Nina Stuhldreher, Tracy+The Plastics, Rita Vitorelli,
Monika Vision, Justene Williams, Ina Wudtke/Birgit Wudtke, Ina Wudtke/
Inga Svala Thorsdottir. Nummer Zwei: Ein Beitrag von Cosima Rainer mit
Victor Alimpiev/Sergey Vishnevsky, Laura Cottingham/Leslie Singer, Meike
Schmidt-Gleim, Cosima von Bonin, Amelie von Wulffen Sadie Benning/
Kathleen Hanna und Wolf Koenig/ Roman Kroitor. Texte: Peter Bogner,
Justin Hoffmann, Cecilie Høgsbro Østergaard, Jutta Koether, Dieter Lesage,
Nina Stuhldreher, Katarina Matiasek, Christina Nemec, Elisabeth Penker,
Karin Pernegger, Ursula Maria Probst, Raimar Stange, Cosima Rainer, Isabel
Reiß, Gabriele Werner u.a.
Hrsg. Ursula Maria Probst, Peter Bogner/K-Haus, Wien. Schlebrügge Editor, 160
Seiten, ca. 130 Abb., Wien 2006, ISBN 3-900926-15-8, ISBN 978-85160-081-0.
On the occasion of the recent publication of BORN TO BE
A STAR catalogue Julie A. Ryan writes about and talks with
Ursula Maria Probst.
Katarina Matiasek/Scanner,
Diva, 2004
Begoña Muñoz, Let’s play Hippies,
2003
Constanze Schweiger, Die DJ und
wer dahinter steht, Electric Indigo,
2004
Elisabeth Grübl, UG, 2000
Female Obsession Spezial,
Curatorial Work, 2003-2006,
Videoperformance
Elisabeth Penker, The Untitled
Instrument, (Die Bildhauerin), 2004
Monica Bonvincini, Damaged, 2001
a birth-rite, as in born to be. Today seeking stardom is a serious pursuit
in and of itself, as serious as any lifetime goal. But to ‘Be Something’
regularly precedes wanting to ‘Do Something’. Elliot Mintz is the 60-
something year old PR guide and confidant for Paris Hilton, positions he
also held with the late John Lennon. When asked about the juxtaposition
of these two seemingly disparate personalities Mintz offered that “In his
eyes he (Lennon) once stood for the dreams and values of a generation.
And now he represents an heiress (Hilton) who, well, stands for the
dreams and values of a generation.” (Kyle Pope; New York Times, August
27, 2006)
Probst has a candid way of describing her work as a connector of
music performances, art exhibitions and writing. Her choice to work
independently and to fill some gaps she sees in the Vienna art and music
scenes adds vitality and diversification.
Julie A. Ryan: How would you describe the current Vienna music scene?
Ursula Maria Probst: There are a lot of female bands like Pantskirt, First
Fatal Kiss, SV Damenkraft, “z.B.: …”, Silicone Pumpgun, Chick Wings or
Agenda Lobkov in Vienna now. It’s really a very good feeling recognizing
that they become more and more professional and international. Two
weeks ago there was a big festival organized by Fiber at the Fluc.
JAR: What is your relationship to that scene?
UMP: I’m not really involved in the scene because I’m always a kind
of outsider, but I organized a lot of performances at the K/Haus
Passagegalerie and I write sometimes critiques about music in Spike or in
Fiber.
JAR: You are an independent curator by choice. Why do you prefer this
freelance way of working?
UMP: The freelance way of working is also a kind of obsession. For the
last three years I worked the whole time on different projects. I was at the
same time organizer etc. for different events at the K/Haus Passagegalerie,
curator for a project in public space and I have written art criticism and
texts for exhibition catalogues. But, I prefer to be independent and I enjoy
the great luxury to do what I want to do.
JAR: Did you study art history… Or?
UMP: Yes, I studied art history and wrote my masters thesis was on
Louise Bourgeois. This was also the reason why I started to work as an art
critic.
JAR: What do you mean that you started to work as art critic because of
your study of art history?
UMP: In 1998 there was an exhibition in Vienna in which Louise
Bourgeois participated, so I decided to write a review. This was the first
time, and so I continued because I thought it was and it is important to
write more articles about women artists.
JAR: Did you ever meet Louise Bougeois?
UMP: I was in New York at her studio in 1993 and I met her several times.
JAR: In New York this autumn 23% of solo shows are by women (Jerry
Saltz; The Village Voice, October 2, 2006) compared to 19% women in
2005. How do you feel about women being exhibited in Vienna?
UMP: That was the main reason why I started to work as an art critic and
curator. I wanted to support women the best way I know how. I noticed
that also in big exhibitions in Vienna there is a lack of women. The artists
“a room of one’s own” produced interesting works in this context. The
other model is the artist as cultural worker like Ina Wudtke.
JAR: How do you think about organizing events in the art/music context?
UMP: I was surprised that people who visit music events are not
really interested in art at the moment. For some events I organized
performances or videos from artists, punk concerts and DJ’s on one
evening and it was really interesting to notice how the DJ’s struggled with
the artists for space. But there exists a kind of power that is produced this
way and also a cultural dynamic. On the other side, people are fascinated
by places in an art context.
JAR: What projects are you currently working on?
UMP: I’m working on the exhibition project The Sound of your Eyes with
Ursula Hübner, Elisabeth Penker, Anita Fricek, Edith Payer, Ursula Mayer
and Female Obsession Spezial at the K/Haus Passagegalerie. I am also
preparing a workshop about journalism in Kiev, preparing an art concept
for Fluc and writing on different texts
for artists and magazines.
Curated in 2004 by Ursula Maria Probst
at K/Haus Wien, BORN TO BE A STAR
captured a certain zeitgeist of what is
now an absolutely saturated media fame
frenzy. The exhibition played to various
degrees of fame and the infamous
from the rock star and the princess to
the earnest and the posers. The theme
explored the thinness of stardom and
Ursula Maria Probst
the egalitarian implication for fame as
Chicks On Speed, Blop, 2004
Jennifer Reeder, The Plasic Rainbow,
2003
Jutta Koether, Shirly, 2002