DEINE KUNST (2) “The Art(ist) is Present / Der Tod des Autors wird nicht zugelassen”

From May 18th until October 6th, 2019, the Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg will present the second version of the exhibition cycle Deine Kunst by Michael Müller.The exhibition has two equivalent titles: for one, The Art(ist) is Present, and for another, The Death of the Author is not Permitted. Deine Kunst—the title of the series—shows the Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg’s collection, curated by Michael Müller, in several consecutive versions. … Or rather: it shows the Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg’s collection in the form of an extraordinary “solo exhibition”, a polyphonic installation by Michael Müller.
Just like the opening version of the cycle, presented from the beginning of February until the beginning of April, the second exhibition also remains oddly empty. Small titles hang on the walls of the castle’s west wing, containing information on the individual works. Name, title, year, measurements, materials, etc. are soberly listed and in many cases supplemented by a number assigned to the work in the accompanying audio guide. The audio guide stands at the center of the strongly reduced presentation. Why? Because the works it is supposed to accompany are missing. The works are not shown.

Despite the titles (and apart from a few exceptions), there are thus no works to be found in the second version of the cycle. Rather, the short, often unusual descriptions of the works are presented in the audio guide, which puts the collection inventory “into words” and gives it over to the power of the imagination. The exhibition emerges in the heads of individual visitors, transmitted by “paratexts” and “accessories”, which here move from the margins to the center of attention. Is the description of the works—an ekphrasis—enough to create a meaningful aesthetic experience?—The person who cannot see anything (one might say) must hear. A wonderful experiment.
Substantially, the exposition revolves around three intertwined motifs: above all, the motif of authorship and the self-portrait, but also, marginally of the signature. Authorship in particular is examined critically through appropriations, reinterpretations, and reframing and is fractured in diverse ways by means of the double role of the artist-curator Michael Müller. Is the collection co-opted here? Does the context of the exhibition become the work of art? Does the visitors’ power of imagination take the place of the works that cannot be seen? Do we all get the same exhibition? Does the exhibition revolve only around you? Let us remember the title. It is “your art”. … Or is it not?

The discussion includes works by, among others, Art & Language, Francis Bacon, Franz Beckmann, Angela Bulloch, Walter Dahn, Alberto Giacometti, Asger Jorn, Ilya Kabakov, KOAK, Vlado Martek, Ludwig Meidner, Blinky Palermo, A. R. Penck, Arnulf Rainer, Daniel Spoerri, Elaine Sturtevant and Timm Ulrichs.