With TOGETHER – as the corona pandemic and war in Europe daily underline the fragility of our carefree and peaceful coexistence – Kunst Meran is focusing on a phenomenon of central importance to contemporary society.
In works by the artists Adrian Piper, Anna Maria Maiolino, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Bart Heynen, Brave New Alps and MAGARI, Christian Niccoli, Daniel Spoerri, Francis Alÿs, Franz Erhard Walther, Hannes Egger, Isabell Kamp, Jivan Frenster, Karin Schmuck, Marina Abramović and Ulay, melanie bonajo, Norma Jeane, Officinadïdue, Rirkrit Tiravanija, SPIT!, Tania Bruguera and Yoko Ono, this group exhibition traces the idea of community in its different forms.
On the one hand, such works as “When Faith Moves Mountains” (Francis Alÿs, 2002) show that we can go beyond our individual selves and achieve significant aims as a group: while, on the other, works like “We The Enemy” (SPIT!, 2017) address the tendency of groups to suppress diversity and individuality.
During the exhibition the audience is invited to leave its comfort zone and take an active role, experiencing community in a direct way. These interactive formats of the exhibition, some of them participatory, are divided into three categories:
Interact – stands for collective actions to be realised on site, such as the creation of a collective garden on the terrace of the “Kunsthaus” or the re-enactment of the Eat Art Banquet, “10 Suppenrezepte [Ten Soup Recipes]” by Daniel Spoerri, staged in the 1980s at the Castel Fontana/Brunnenburg in Meran.
Interplay – stands for works in which visitors can playfully get in touch with one another, whether by playing table tennis (Rirkrit Tiravanija, “Tomorrow is the Question”, 2015) or by using one of the “activation objects” from Franz Erhard Walther’s “Ersten Werksatz [First Set of Works]” (1963–1969).
Interfere – stands for art that appeals to visitors’ political and social commitment, to their empathy and sense of responsibility. The artists’ collective Officinadïdue for example offers seed bombs made of poplar seeds, a symbolic gesture to show that everyone can combat global warming by sowing plants capable of absorbing large amounts of CO2.
The group exhibition ends with a poetic community artwork. The WISH TREE (1996 – ongoing) by Yoko Ono invites us all to formulate our wishes for the future. These, along with millions of other wish cards collected from around the world, are gathered in the memorial built in honour of John Lennon in Reykjavík, Iceland. The monument bears a name that unfortunately never seems to lose its relevance: “Imagine Peace Tower”.
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