Exhibition by the Office of Cognitive Urbanism
LAST MINUTE
02.09.2006 - 15.10.2006
Curated by Ilina Koralova
Artists: Andreas Spiegl, Christian Teckert, Karoline Streeruwitz, Sabine Bitter, Helmut Weber, Kamen Stoyanov
When people in the German-speaking world talk about Last minute they usually do so in connection with a form of travelling in which the destination is less important than the longing to be somewhere, above all somewhere else, as quickly as possible. The last-minute perspective leaves the destination open. How the future will look "where the journey will end" remains unclear. The only thing that is clear is the notion of a present that demands to be left. In this sense Last minute stands for an economy of escaping of fleeing escape.
The only important thing about a last-minute destination is that it marks a distance from the here and now. Its location depends on the moment in front of the sales counter. The reason for deciding where to flee is sometimes simply a photograph of a beach, a bargain price or the weather forecast.
In terms of the bargain we could also talk about an economy of absence, based on the idea that being present tends to be perceived as unbearable.
The last-minute journey, the escape from the present, is also connected to uncertainty about temporal and physical borders. Where does the last minute end, and where exactly does our absence begin? When the line is drawn and the last minute begins are left up to the subject and remain optional. If we want to, we can go to the airport right now; if not, then perhaps tomorrow or next week, but perhaps never. The commencement of absence is as unclear as the destination. This vague boundary between here and there even sheds a new light on the border. It becomes variable; not only its temporal appearance is unclear, so too are its spatial coordinates.
This exhibition is concerned with escape and the desperate urge to "be away" as a phenomenon of our contemporary everyday life. The Office of Cognitive Urbanism has invited Sabine Bitter, Helmut Weber and Kamen Stoyanov to present their artistic contributions on the theme of Last minute and crossing boundaries at the GfZK. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a publication.
Video Last Minute
Texts:
Being critical. Still. by Barbara Steiner
Catalogue: againstwithin
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