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picture of cultural import. At the same time, Haaning insists on art's commodity
character by putting art works on the market as a product of economy. 11
Ideological criticism is, however, best captured in the expression Haaning added to
the imitation of a Rolex watch used as a readymade: "A Rolex copy has more cultural
impact, which normally means a higher cultural value, than a real Rolex." This
parody of the de luxe article reflects what Marx called the "fetish character" normally
attached to art; and yet the context of this statement again refers to the different
perception of cultural production, which is mostly ignored in the real value. As copies,
these watches are an economic factor in poorer countries, who undercut the mostly
gigantic exchange value of the original to compete in the global economic struggle.
The "cultural impact" which concentrates in the production of fake Rolex watches
is thus in fact enormous. It documents that the border between First and Third
World may be recognised, but it is simultaneously undermined on the level of
products. In re-evaluating these products, Haaning is interested in exposing the
supposedly free exchange of cultural experiences as a temporary measure that is
simply to cushion real conflicts (import duties, economically protected zones).
Society's entanglement is purely economic in nature: The common denominator
does not exist because, but as long as, money flows across the border. In a similar
intervention, Haaning last year exchanged light bulbs between the room of a gallery
in Brisbane (Australia) and a clothing factory residing in the same place. Both were
places of work; both companies produced goods that represent culture in a specific
context. However, the artistic intervention underscored that this relation is not
based on the abstraction of goods, but on their realisation. Haaning accepts the
existence of different social contexts that do not relate to one another by themselves,
but through cultural processes. They are what keep his art alive — from situation
to situation, at the edge of social appropriations.
Translated from German by Claudia Kotte, Berlin.
1 For the definition of this distinction, see also John Seabrook's No Brow: The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing
of Culture (London: Methuen Publishing, 2000).
2 Hou Hanru, "Zu einer neuen Lokalität," in Heinz Peter Schwerfel (ed.): Schwerfel, Kunst nach Ground Zero,
(Cologne: Du Mont Verlag, 2002), p. 197.
3 Hans Ulrich Obrist, Laboratorium, exhibition catalogue (Antwerp/Belgium), 2001.
4 Ad Reinhardt, Schriften und Gespräche (Munich: Verlag Silke Schreiber, 1984), p. 136–140.
5 See also Claudia Büttner, Art Goes Public. Von der Gruppenausstellung im Freien zum Projekt im
nicht-institutionellen Raum (Munich: Verlag Silke Schreiber, 1997), p. 199f.
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