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way can it surprise one and provide information about itself. Only in this way can the
self-created paradoxy of illusion and disappointment develop. And only in this way
can it contain that very blind spot, its very own unity as developed paradoxy, which
makes the work of art become incomprehensible when the observer looks at it." 9 In
order for the world to understand art, first of all, art has to understand the world.
From this intertwining, an old problem emerges in a completely new light: How
should art change society, or rather, is art really capable of changing society if it
always already represents social formations? Is there an outside from which one
could operate artistically — or doesn’t all art take place exclusively in the heart
of society? Precisely this question — the conscious handling of the immanent
inter-twinings of artistic and social praxis as well as the desire for the resolution
of this almost "eternal" separation of art and life — led to an immense growth
during the late 1990s in participatory art (right up to services and management art).
Yet again, the change from site-specific to socio-specific was unable to spare the
"all-over" of projects from being institutionalised. Commenting on the self-appointed
services exhibition "ONTOM TWC " in Leipzig, Dorothea von Hantelmann summarised
the movement as follows: "The question of social relevance has given way to the
claim to social integration. Social contexts are used to turn the exhibition into a
social space. Communication is not only being initiated — a central postulate of
recent years —, but it is also being aestheticised as event. The context becomes the
generating tool for the (re-)conquest of art as a space of event and experience." 10
What’s being offered at the recently opened Palais de Tokyo demonstrates that this
approach is not only communicable, but also marketable in a museum. The entire
ambience of this institution is tailored to events — right up until midnight.
The works of Jens Haaning, too, have been displayed and discussed in connection
with participation. Haaning approaches a border that seems insurmountable in
view of the totality of links and models of difference: Are his interventions, projects,
installations and objects still socially acceptable, or are they not?
Already the Weapon Production project initiated by Haaning in 1995 was "anything
but art, " to use Ad Reinhardt's words. Young people from Copenhagen’s Hundige
quarter were producing different kinds of weapons in a workshop furnished by
Haaning at Portalen Kunsthalle. The weapons they produced were the same
models that are used by gangs fighting in the streets. The arsenal ranged from
slingshots and tube bombs to cable batons. In another work, Haaning distributed
some hundred invitation cards to foreigners living in Copenhagen for the private
viewing of a group show in which he was participating. In 1996, the artist initiated
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