Alice Creischer, Andreas Siekmann. Occupying Space/Wasting Time
Publication to the exhibition Occupying Space. Sammlung Generali Foundation at the Haus der Kunst Munich, from March through May 2005.
Ed. by Sabine Breitwieser for the Generali Foundation.
Occupying Space/Wasting Time: “This is not intended as a guide through the exhibition explaining the exhibits on show. It is more an excursion, a walk, a surplus of meaning and thoughts that one can put into an exhibition of this kind. Using selected examples we wish to take a closer look at the concepts of time, work and its exploitation in the relevant historical context of each of the works. Through this, a course will crystallise leading us via different routes through the exhibition where the visitor can pause at pictures and objects as if at vantage points. The fate of vantage points is that people often overlook them entirely. More often people merely use them to discover those things of personal interest to them in a town or landscape. And this is also what happens to the points along this walk — which we sometimes associate with utterly arbitrary stories. We reflect on the concept of time and the social role of time in the 1970s and 1990s as illustrated in the artworks in this collection. If the motto of the exhibition is “Occupying Space” we would like to describe our excursion as wasting time.
We can scarcely ask you to accompany us on this time wasting exercise with all the twists and turns it entails, i.e. to read this booklet from start to finish and to adhere to its routes. This is a booklet for you to use as you wish. Though perhaps you would like to join us for part of the way. To tell the truth, we do need your participation. Otherwise, how should we formulate our thoughts without being able to first address them to an imaginary interlocutor and then more specifically to you?” (Alice Creischer, Andreas Siekmann)