"THE EXPERIMENT 1: Michael Schmid/Christoph Scholz"
2001-03-07 until 2001-04-20
Vienna Secession, Association of Visual Artists
Vienna, , AT

Schmid/Scholz are involved in questions from the connection art and pop. They pick up from the term cross-over, which has been rather overused in recent years, and process it further. Their point of departure for this is not of a theoretical nature, but rather an object: two years ago, Schmid/Scholz started building a synthesizer. It was produced without any prior knowledge and in excessively detailed work and research – the information was taken almost exclusively from the Internet and user groups.

The hand-poured controller or the surface of the synthesizer made of polyvinyl resin are ironic in the manic exaggeration of the aesthetic of the self-made. Initially planned specifically as a musical instrument for their own sessions, the finished product received great attention and approval in the fields of both art and pop.

Suddenly everyone liked us, noted Schmid/Scholz and took this being liked as the basis of their investigations. Within the theory complex pop/art, Schmid/Scholz' starting point is exactly where it seems to be taken for granted that the two fields of discourse overlap. They lead the respondents, themselves and, in the exhibition, the visitors back to the beginning of the question:

- Is a constructive collaboration between the two fields art and pop (especially pop music) even possible?

- Where and for whom has the interaction between the two fields worked well and why?

- Pop music, especially the dancefloor and club scene, is often regarded as a democratic form of culture. Reasons for this are the very simple and cheap production conditions of electronic music and a policy of representation that is moving away from the idea of authorship based on the concept of the individual, towards an idea of (let's call it) the experience of the collective. Does this form of democratization offer possibilities for art, tooNULL

The presentation developed for the Graphic Cabinet is an assembly of possible answers. Consciously placed in an exhibition context and not in a club, for instance, it contains a multipart video and a course of images, that is simultaneously a diary, formation of a myth, and a documentation, and which is subject to constant revision.

THE EXPERIMENT (Graphic Cabinet)

Continuing the concept of the exhibition series Junge Szene (Young Scene), which has been conducted since the 80's, The Experiment will present international artists, who have previously not had an opportunity or too little opportunity to present their positions to a wider audience.

Eight projects are planned, independent of the schedule of other exhibitions in the house, in which several artists will work together with alternating curators. Leitmotifs for the exhibition series are questions of how scenes emerge as working contexts and the specific ideas of young, experimental art. The Experiment is intended to pose artistic methods for discussion, which do not aim only to produce a finished work, but also include processual work.

The concept for the exhibition series The Experiment is by Dorit Margreiter. In addition to Dorit Margreiter, the exhibitions will be curated by Carola Dertnig, Ulrike Kremeier, Hemma Schmutz, Rike Frank, Christine Bruckbauer and Barbara Clausen.

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