roots and traces: spurensicherung: albrecht/d. und die abartigen sprechen einen text von hans neuendorf / etwa 1973 / vostell, kaprow, paik, toche, hendricks, sarée and albrecht/d.

2016-01-08

albrecht/d. und die abartigen sprechen einen text von hans neuendorf / etwa 1973 / vostell, kaprow, paik, toche, hendricks, sarée and albrecht/d.

the german word abartig refers to entartet and to art of course refering to entartete kunst refering to auschwitz. the stuttgart post-fluxus artist albrecht/d. cited a quote hans neuendorf used in an article about german avantgarde art and especially about wolf vostell and turned it into art. hans neuendorf was a german (probadly hamburg) art dealer who in 1973 said some bizarre things about art and german artists. one of his sentences was read, recited or performed by kaprow, paik, vostell, hendricks, toche, sarée and albrecht/d. - the very raw reworkings were released on the tape/cassette "die abartigen" as reflection press # 25.

and this is what herr neuendorf said:

"zu diesem zweck hat sich eine abart von künstlern herausgebildet, die nur noch den medien dient. zum beispiel vostell. er gibt ständig pressekonferenzen, oder er gibt 'erklärungen' ab, aber eine künstlerische leistung liegt nicht vor." - "for this purpose (something like art as spectaculum and sensation... rvd) a de-generation of artists has formed itself to only serve the media. vostell as an example. he is always found in press-conferences or he is providing some declaration: but no artistic work is done (no artistic achievement is on hand)." (a very rough late-night translation)

die beteiligten abartigen künstler haben den text zumeist per telelefon performiert: die klangqualität ist durchaus entsprechend. most of the the kinky/abnormal artists involved were performing directly through their telephone and it sounds just like. paik is calling the operator to ask for vostell's telephone number in manhattan without success and so he continues listening to the radio. albrecht/d. as well added some sounds to his performance but the others did interestingly exactly what they were supposed to do. well.