Parkett Vol. 81 - 2008 | Christian Jankowski, Cosima von Bonin, Ai Weiwei

Browse Selected Texts and more on the Collaboration Artists

Artist Insert

Editorial

Just how effectively the conceptual approach to art has forged new frontiers is aptly demonstrated by the work of Cosima von Bonin, Christian Jankowski, and Ai Weiwei. The cultivation of an all-embracing practice has expanded the field of art in unexpected ways. Christian Jankowski, for example, exploits popular call-in shows on TV to enlist the help of fortune tellers in creating a work of art. A different direction is taken by Ai Weiwei who collaborated conceptually with Herzog & de Meuron Architects on the emergence of the new Olympic Stadium in Beijing, while Cosima von Bonin explores inner-artistic zones as if they were utterly uncharted territory. Our cover, a detail from Cosima von Bonin’s exhibition “2 Positions at once,” provides a taste of the playful way in which this art contains world—though without ruling out the involvement of seemingly conventional pursuits, like stretching a canvas, casting a bronze sculpture, or making an object out of porcelain. These are all elements of the deliberate productions, staged situations, and changing confrontations in which the artists engage in the process of selfdefinition. When Jacques Herzog and Ai Weiwei sit in a room talking about the fascinating, experimental traits of their cooperative venture in China, we find them rethinking adventure, tradition, and the present day on a large scale. Ai Weiwei’s artistic career, now spanning three decades, dates back to seminal experiences in 1980s New York. From Philip Tinari we learn that Ai has given decisive impulses of innovative and moral impact to the art world since his return to China in 1993.

Cosima von Bonin’s close association with Cologne, a major European art center, is underscored by having two personal friends, Diedrich Diederichsen and Dirk von Lowtzow, write about her in this issue. Bennett Simpson draws attention to the connection and points out the potential pitfalls of context in interpreting von Bonin’s work.

China also plays a role in Christian Jankowski’s most recent work. As a nomad in the art world and a trickster (Harald Falckenberg), he not only discovered new production sites with typical speediness; he also commissioned work to be created there that generates unprecedented tension between everyday experience and the claim to eternity, as discussed in Jörg Heiser’s contribution. The design of Heimo Zobernig’s Insert is based on the three colors red, green, and blue, which conventionally define the television image. Here they have become phantoms of the virtual world and, as if that were not enough, they engage in a grotesque game with the naked artist, making use of the blue box method, by means of which fragments of reality can be arbitrarily eliminated or added.

Revealing and hiding world features implicitly and explicitly in the practice of Tino Seghal and Jules Spinatsch respectively. By refusing to permit his performative works to be photographed, documented, or communicated except in the form of written descriptions, Tino Seghal sets new standards—and not only through the work itself. At the other end of the spectrum we have the hyper visibility that lies at the heart of Jules Spinatsch’s agenda, as in his photographic works involving surveillance cameras.

Table of Content

Tino Sehgal. The Current Loop in the Endless Spiral of Iconoclasm by Reimut Reiche

Cosima von Bonin
In Fluffy Storms by Dirk von Lowtzow
Material and Poetry, Cosima von Bonin – the First Ten Years by Diedrich Diederichsen
A Dog’s Life by Bennett Simpson

Christian Jankowski
Thank You, God, Thank You for Making This Possible by Harald Falckenberg
From There to Eternity by Jörg Heiser
Jankowski’s Act by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz

Ai Weiwei
Some Simple Reflections on an Arist in a City, 2001 – 2007 by Philip Tinari
Concept and Fake by Ai Weiwei & Jacques Herzog
Made in China by Charles Merewether

Heimo Zobernig, Insert

Jules Spinatsch, Backstage with Reality by Martin Jeaggi

Documentary Operations, Cumulus from America by Nico Baumbach

Shot at Breast Height, Cumulus from Europe by Adam Szymczyk

Two Covers by Jennifer Higgie & Tim Griffin