Painting human conditions.
[FKc] Forum Kunst contemporary presents my work at Art Karlsruhe 2024. Reach out for tickets!
You can experience a VR tour via this link (courtesy of Tim van den Oudenhoven).
gallery twenty-six will present my work at WIKAM Frühjahrsmesse, happening at gorgeous Palais Ferstel in Vienna.
Reach out for tickets!
In “GRADATIONS OF TRAUMA“, his second solo exhibition at “gallery twenty-six” (opening on February 10th 2024, 6pm; running from February 12th to March 7th, 2024), Christian Bazant-Hegemark will show over twenty works from the years 2017 to 2022, venturing into border areas of everyday, and everyday trauma.
(text by Catrin M. Hassa)
A pixel (an artificial word made up of “picture” and “element”) is the smallest visible element of any digital image.
Over the last 35 years, everything has been done to erase it, to make it invisible, to make it disappear in the ocean of high definition. Nevertheless, the pixel aesthetic seems to exert an unbroken fascination: especially in contemporary art, somewhere between matter and tool, the pixel, “the flesh of the image” (Olivier Huard) is more powerful than ever. (Since, art-historically, both the square (Malevich, Cubism, …) and additive color mixing (Divisionism, …) have had incredible impact, it is not too far-fetched to assume that some of that artistic legacy might be conserved – or even restored to some extent – by the pixels, even though to some this conclusion might seem highly speculative.)
The artistic exploration of various computer graphics aesthetics (geometries, vector graphics, glitches – and pixelations) plays a key role in Bazant-Hegemark’s oeuvre. In his PhD thesis (2011-2015) focusing on “Painting and Digital Technologies”, he had already decided to embrace the old-school 80s aesthetics of pixel-based visualities, whereby he sought to expand them into HiBit territory, especially since he is still fascinated by both areas to this day, fluctuating between them.
Bazant-Hegemark chooses a working size (e.g. 100 x 66 pixels), which sets the stage for the visual abstraction / the pixel size as experienced in the final work. The works exist both virtually and physically; for the latter, they are printed like photographs (on handmade paper, but also on canvas).
For Bazant-Hegemark, this “bringing into the world” of his works is crucial, especially as the effect of the work can be experienced in a potentiated way (precisely because of the pixel size visible in the exhibited work, thus becoming physically tangible). “For me, the one proper benchmark is still physical reality – because for my generation, it so drastically influences a work’s emotionality.”
In a small number of the pictures, however, the artist transcended digitality by additionally painting freely in oil on the printed picture, also in order to “to investigate how traditional painting topics operate when referencing the contemporary media world and when they appropriate its formal codes.”
The selection of works exhibited in “GRADATIONS OF TRAUMA” thematically deals with the potential of trauma within political conflicts on the one hand, and with scenes from the private sphere on the other. The translation of horror into pixel aesthetics, especially in the choice of its technical and formal realization (because: where the medium is not the message, it at least determines it), inevitably implies the confrontation of the viewer with the conditions, (im)possibilities and risks of such visual reception. In a way, these works are themselves intermediate figures, making processes of reflection on perceptual patterns and filters, privileges, aestheticizations and ultimately attitudes unavoidable.
“I started pixelating world events in 2017. It is weird and uncomfortable to do this: who am I to depict things that are not my experience. It feels transgressive, which isn’t my intention. These are political, yet highly personal works. They show what I care about; there’s nothing that isn’t political, and nothing that isn’t personal. In addition, this enables me to have a voice in a world that feels to not offer most people such a thing; I stick to the original colors and composition, but still aim to add a relevant layer of self, with the goal to add meaning — of which I’m not sure whether that’s possible.“
Please join me at the opening on “Gradations of Trauma“, my second solo exhibition at Lucian Antoni’s gallery twenty-six.
This exhibition will display a selection of pixel-based works on canvas and paper (2017-2023), venturing into border areas of everyday, and everyday trauma.
After creating various drawings to establish the visual foundation of the Time is Personal series, I finally started work on paintings (oil on canvas) to continue this series.
This summer, once more, Jan Söhlke made a portrait of me: sitting in the studio, in front of a blank canvas. Colorful yet paused.
Check out more of Jan’s sensitive portraits on his website or his Instagram — and check out further photo portraits he did of me.
gallery twenty-six will show my work at Fair for Art Vienna:
I gave a lecture about “The Relationship of Chaos and Order in the Creative Process” for the scholarship holders (Stipendiat*innen) of the ProScientia Sommerakademie, which happened at Schloss Puchberg on September 6th, 2023.
Here’s the link to their program.
My work is part of the “Private Mythologies” group show at gallery twenty-six, together with works by Alice Ella, Beáta Hechtová, and Kryštof Strejc:
“Representations of animals have always held a special place in secular iconography and its sacred counterpart, analogous to the cultural-historical relevance of the relationship between humans and animals; they have been charged with enormous, often ambivalent, symbolic meaning and, perhaps for this very reason, continue to mesmerise us today.”
As Kunst und Klischee, Kevo and me did an interview with German actor and artist Lars Eidinger (for more details about Kunst und Klischee, click here).
The video quickly generated over 15k views on YouTube alone. Let’s see how it will fare over time!
Katrin Liesenfeld-Jordan and Dirk Liesenfeld have been managing the Art Lodge for over a decade. It’s a four star hotel, an exhibition space, a sculpture garden — and so much more.
I’ve been their resident once more this year, and wanted to share some photos from the time there. It was beautiful and inspiring: from hail storms to rainbows, from laughter to philosphical discussions about art, life, transit and local produce. <3
Super happy to show you our newest video release: Kunst und Klischee x David Scheid.
I’m a guest speaker at Günther Oberhollenzer‘s lecture series “Cultural Administration in Fine Arts” at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.
I’ll talk about my multi-disciplinary artistic and creative practice, and the various projects I’ve been involved in the last decade — from co-organizing an independent art space, to founding the On Doubt YouTube channel, co-managing the Kunst und Klischee podcast or establishing the Conscious Artist Membership. And more — on June 12th 2023 🙂
It will be fun!
My work is currently exhibited at Forum Kunst Contemporary (situated at beautiful Stift Millstatt, which is right at Lake Millstatt <3), in an untitled group exhibition alongside Deborah Sengl’s solo show “Trouble in Paradise”.
The works are exhibited until June 24th; opening times Wednesday-Saturday, 3-6pm.
Drop by!
I’ll be assisting Alexandra Feichtner in her multi-week lecture/workshop format at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, which is hosted by the photography team, but open to all students.
The focus is on offering strategies for graduates; to discuss the realities of the time after art university in a complete, actionable way; from deepening your artistic practice to business aspects (galleries, networking, pricing..) and various topics of personal development.
PS: Thanks to each of you who participated, it was a great day!
I published a new work series, “Time is Personal”, which accumulates pencil drawings made between 2021-2023.
The drawings were created under a specific atmosphere or mindset; they are a reflection of the individual vulnerabilities of people in my immediate surroundings.
Click here to see the entire series; the page also offers texts and further information.
Thanks to gallery twenty-six and [FKc] Forum Kunst Contemporary for having exhibited some of these works already.
Two of my manual pixelations, printed onto canvas, will be exhibited at HOLON.art‘s “Digitalog: Digital und Analog im Dialog” exhibition. It’s the first time these sort of works will be exhibited; I’ve created a lot of pixel-based digital works over the last couple years, and started bringing them into the analog world. But they haven’t yet been shown outside of my studio. Thanks to Bianca Kiso for trusting these works <3
The exhibition also shows works of Ignas van Rijckevorsel, Chris Murzek, Bianca Kiso and Denisa Osacenco. Plus: the opening evening also marks the space’s second birthday — let’s meet there to discuss art and life 🙂
Some photos from the opening..
A selection of my drawings and paintings will be exhibited in the drawing room (“Kabinett”) of Galerie Schloss Parz, alongside an exhibition of Alois Riedl and Franz Josef Altenburg — details here.
Some photos from the opening, made by BRS/Haslberger:
I will curate one of the three main exhibitions at Künstlerhaus Wien, in 2024 — together with Esther Mlenek.
“Substanz” will be a show about artists whose focus isn’t “limited” by the boundaries of their artistic practice, but who let their passion run their lives, even way outside of the studio.
Thanks to Günther Oberhollenzer (Wikipedia) for asking and trusting me in the first palce. Thanks to Esther for supporting the vision wholeheartedly. Thanks to the Künstlerhaus board for believing in this (context: the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung is an artist’s society originally founded in the 1840’s, and is currently led artistically by Günther Oberhollenzer).
Exhibition duration: October 19th, 2024 – February 9th, 2025
Curator: Christian Bazant-Hegemark
Co-Curator: Esther Mlenek
“Die Ausstellung SUBSTANZ handelt von Menschen, die ihre Themen nicht nur in ihrer Kunst verarbeiten, sondern diesbezüglich auch in gesellschaftliches Handeln gehen. Sie bilden beispielsweise Communities, Netzwerke und Räume, gehen einem erweiterten Kunstvermittlungsbegriff nach und loten die Möglichkeiten der Schnittstellen zwischen – und jenseits von – Kunst und Aktivismus aus. Den Ausstellenden gemein ist, dass sie unsere Gesellschaft über die eigene künstlerische Praxis hinaus beeinflussen. Denn Kunst und Gesellschaft sind eng und zirkulär verbunden: Kunst entsteht aus der Auseinandersetzung mit einer Welt, die durch Kunst beeinflusst wird.“
Kunst und Klischee (Spotify, Apple, YouTube) is the German-language podcast that art director Katharina C. Herzog and artist/curator Christian Bazant-Hegemark are creating since 2020. On the podcast, we talk with artists and creatives about their life: from socialization through education, about the hidden joys and challenges of their field.
Since 2021, we’ve also been producing these intimate conversations in front of audiences. For spring 2023, we’re happy to announce the following dates and guests, which will both happen at Superbude Wien.
[FKc] Forum Kunst Contemporary will exhibit new paintings of mine at this year’s Art Karlsruhe, happening from May 4-7th.
Reach out if you need tickets to the fair!
I was interviewed by Niko Alm for the Materie-Podcast; it was a conversation about art: how to define it, legal ramifications of funding systems; a discussion about potential privileges of and misunderstandings about art, artists and artistic practices, about quotas and the challenge of art history.
The podcast is in German.
This April 2023, my work gets shown in public places throughout Vienna, alongside the work of artists Stella Bach, Bettina Beranek, Sissa Micheli, Thomas Riess and Stylianos Schicho.
You get to see the pieces in various LCD displays that are usually used for advertisement purposes. There are tours through the city, to let you explore all displays.
All details on the project’s website, plus an audio guide about my work on this page.
Thanks to Infinity Media’s Nico Schluga, as well as Künstlerhaus’ Knut Neumayer and Günther Oberhollenzer for conceptualizing and organizing this project!
I recorded this video, three weeks after the Conscious Artist Membership started.
By the time of writing there are over 20 participants; artists from the US, Canada, Russia, India, Germany and Austria. We meet every other week, and discuss any topic that feels relevant and requires deep dives.
My work gets exhibited once more at Forum Kunst Contemporary, in group show called “Illusion – Delusion“, curated by Andrea K. Schlehwein. The exhibition includes works by Vadim Fishkin, Georg Planer, Annamaria Kowalsky, Tim van den Oudenhoven, Josef Winkler and me.
Opening hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 3pm – 6pm
I’ll be at the opening — join me there! <3
All exhibition views below (c) Tim van den Oudenhoven
After years of solo and group deep dives with artist from all over the world, I decided to offer an affordable membership program that enables everyone to join in:
The Conscious Artist Membership offers access to monthly group calls, a private FB group enabling direct communication between peers, and — can now be subscribed to by anyone, independently of their age, background, and whether they studied art. This is an open platform for those who want to discuss artmaking and the art life holistically <3
Details here — spread the word!
Our Kunst und Klischee Podcast released its first video production, a conversation with Manuel Rubey. In addition, the next live event, with the band Cari Cari, is scheduled for January 18th, 2023 — at the same venue, Superbude.
Drop by, it’s free of charge!
I was invited once more to talk about art and life, at “Kunst und Schnittlauch“, an awesome weekly get-together at Kunsthandel Giese und Schweiger (Vienna).
If you can, do check it out in person: K&S happens every friday, free of charge, at 3pm: you get free drinks and food, and at 4pm the hosts (usually Alexander Giese and Christof Habres) talk about the week’s art events. It’s a great format, and it’s awesome people.
Kunstverein “DerMeteor” is organizing this group exhibition at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute, at Haus Wittgenstein (Vienna). The show is curated by Josef Pauschenwein and includes works of Michael Csokay, Datim Dimiter Dimov, Ivan Dobromir, Josef Pauschenwein, Stefan Petrunov — and yours truly.
Opening on January 8th, 2023 (6:30pm), ending on February 15th, 2023.
From the curatorial statement:
“ZEIT und ZUSCHAUER
DIE ZEIT … sie gilt uns gemeinsam mit dem Raum als Bedingung für die Möglichkeit unserer Erfahrungen. Sie selbst ist ohne Qualität, daher kann man sie auch nicht fassen. Es sind lineare, von der Vergangenheit zur Zukunft hin ablaufende Geschehnisse, die wir wahrnehmen. Bewegung ist das eigentliche Erkennungsmerkmal der Zeit. Die Zeit zum Thema zu machen heißt, sie dreifach zu befragen: nach dem, was war – weit über unsere Erinnerungen hinaus; nachdem, was wir planend erhoffen oder spekulativ erwarten dürfen; nach dem, was Natur und Geschichte aus uns gemacht haben und was uns zur Aufgabe wird im Jetzt.
DER ZUSCHAUER … er ist der, der den Abstand sucht zur Dynamik aktueller Ereignisse. Er hält sich heraus und schätzt den Platz mit dem besten Überblick in vorderster Reihe. Oder er duckt sich weg in einen dunklen Winkel, von wo aus er unbemerkt und verstohlen seine voyeuristische Leidenschaft pflegt. Es gibt aber auch die, die sich abwenden – in Bestürzung, Verzweiflung, aus Ekel oder einfach als Flucht. Jede Reaktion des Zuschauers, selbst noch die Teilnahmslosigkeit, hat Wirkung im Fluss der Ereignisse.
DIE KÜNSTLER … sie wissen um ihre Doppelrolle als Zuschauer und Akteure. Der scharfe Blick, die konzentrierte Aufmerksamkeit, die ästhetische Wahrnehmung – sie sind Ausgangspunkte künstlerischer Praxis. Diese erst befähigen sie, zu Gestaltern der Erfahrungen der Zeit zu werden. Im Focus steht zuerst die Gegenwart. Zum einen, weil sich in ihr die Linien von Vergangenheit und Zukunft kreuzen, zum andern, weil sich aktuelle Ereignisse besonders aufdrängen. Die Werkgestaltung ist dann die Suche der je eigenen Position zu Fragen der Zeit. Die Werke selbst werden Teil des zeitlichen Geschehens, … wenn, ja wenn es die Zuschauer gibt, die sie wahrnehmen, die sich mit ihnen intellektuell auseinandersetzen und/oder emotional bewegen lassen.
Kurator J. Pauschenwein“
I was visited by Athanasios Baxopoulos (kindly introduced by Natalie Sandner), who made a set of beautiful digital and analog portrait photos of yours truly. Here’s a selection of them — all images (c) A. Baxopoulos.
Thank you Athanasios for your visit, and for capturing these moments..
Kunst und Klischee, the podcast that Kevo and I started in 2020, struck a deal with Missing Link Media. This means that we are now part of the finest podcasting network that this country has to offer. Wow!
We started this podcast in the first lockdown, with the idea to discuss the actual lives and challenges of creatives, similar to my On Doubt YouTube channel — but with an exclusive focus on LOCAL creatives, German language, and the urge to constantly mixi emerging with established professionals.
We expanded this to include live podcasting a year later, something that wouldn’t have been possible without Philipp of Audiamo+ constantly having our backs. And now here we are, mingling our way into your hearts <3
PS: Thanks to Stefan Lassnig for trusting us, and to Philipp Pankraz for highlighting Missing Link in the first place.
Marcus Schober (director of Wiener Bildungsakademie) visited and interviewed me — we talked about all sorts of topics: how to capture moments, how to depict the everyday realities of trauma survivors; how to build bridges between communities, and how to trust your gut — enjoy this conversation.
Thanks to Elisabeth Kaiser and her team for organizing and realizing this! <3
My works are part of this major group exhibition, celebrating the ten year anniversary of Museum Angerlehner — curated by Günther Oberhollenzer:
“Das privat geführte Museum Angerlehner gehört zu den wichtigen Orten für zeitgenössische Kunst in Österreich. Die Sammlungsschau zum zehnjährigen Bestehen des Museums ermöglicht einen vertiefenden wie überraschenden Einblick in die vielfältigen Bestände österreichischer wie auch internationaler Kunst. Rund 200 Werke von 125 Künstler:innen sind in der großen Ausstellungshalle sowie den Galerie- und Grafikräumen zu sehen.”
“Der Kunstleidenschaft des Privatsammlers Heinz Josef Angerlehner, seinem Gespür, seinen persönlichen Vorlieben und Interessen wird in der Schau bewusst Rechnung getragen. Die von Kurator Günther Oberhollenzer gestaltete Ausstellung streicht die Besonderheiten der Sammlung Angerlehner heraus und ermöglicht interessante wie ungewöhnliche Dialoge zwischen den Kunstwerken – oft auch über eingeübte kunsthistorische Einordnungen hinweg. Individuelle Sichtweisen und persönliche Vorlieben werden selbstbewusst vorgestellt. Thematische Klammern widmen sich relevanten Aspekten der Malerei wie Menschenbild und Naturlandschaft, Farbrausch und Abstraktion. Zu sehen sind aber auch fotografische Wirklichkeiten, zeichnerische Bildwelten und skulpturale Positionen. Die Werkauswahl vermittelt in ihrer assoziativen Zusammenstellung viel vom einmaligen Charakter der Sammlung und lässt die Besucher:innen in wunderbare künstlerische Welten eintauchen.“
Here’s a video where Günther Oberhollenzer and Yours Truly talk a bit about the show 🙂
Claudia Aigner wrote about my exhibition “Muted Rainbow” at gallery twenty-six, for Wiener Zeitung (online and print).
Full article here.
My work is currently exhibited as part of the group show “HERBST 2022” at Forum Kunst Contemporary in Stift Millstatt. It’s a beautiful space in amazing, scenic surroundings — do drop by!
I’ll be hosting a 4-session drawing workshop at the “Klasse für Alle” at the University of Applied Arts (Vienna), scheduled between October 2022 and January 2023.
Participation is open to everyone, the course costs €80; more here.
The goal ist to integrate drawing as strategy to document processes of reflection, introspection and opinion-making. What does it mean to draw? How do you draw an experience, a feeling, a memory? An opinion, hope or otherness?
How do you then draw specific plants, landscapes or people? How would you draw the change of things, or the passing of time? How do you draw when you can’t draw? How to you draw together?
The workshop supports experimentation, with a clear focus on the process — and results being optional.
“Klasse für Alle is a new program of continuing education, created by the University of applied Arts Vienna to opening up their institutes and departments towards all those who are interested in discussing, reflecting upon, and redesigning of our society. The urgency of current existential dangers requires collective action and dialogue. We invite people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds, from all professional fields, with or without previous education, and with a diverse range of skills and interests, to work with us on building a present and future worth living. […]“
The Kunst und Klischee podcast by Kevo and me is back with another live event: we’re recording at Badeschiff Wien, in front of an audience, which can include you.
Our guest is musician and composer Lukas Kranzelbinder. Drop by for an evening full of delights: once the recording is over, it’s possible to mingle with the crowd, and dance to Philipp‘s music..
Monday, October 3rd, 7pm
My work gets exhibited within a solo exhibition at the Alfred Adler Center International in Vienna, which is part of the “Österreichischer Verein für Individualpsychologie”. The show happens within the framework of this year’s “Lange Nacht der Museen” — a night where a whole lot of museums stay open for the public, to be visited with a single ticket.
This exhibition continues my focus on trauma recovery, on “the time after” traumatic events happened. I am very thankful to have been asked to collaborate and to be able to exhibit there: the institute’s focus on trauma recovery includes their project “Die Boje“, a crisis intervention center for children and teenagers.
On the opening evening (October 1st, 8pm) there’ll be a conversation between Alexa Weber, Ilonka Schwarzenfeld (two psychotherapists and psychoanalysts) and me.
“Muted Rainbow” is my upcoming solo exhibition at gallery twenty-six/Vienna. It shows paintings and drawings that blend everyday moments with dream states, dissociations, and various emotive and sub-emotive conditions.
The title blends two topics: In nature, rainbows refer to “phenomena caused by refractions of the sun’s light by rain or water droplets“; in everyday life, the word is used for a wide range of related, typically colorful things. Rainbows stand for hopes and promises, diversity and peace. Muted colors on the other hand are those with low saturation; they are created by adding black, white, or complementary colors to whichever base pigment is used. Muted colors are dull, desatured, a tad bit grey.
In the context of the exhibition, the term refers to the undiscovered, as well as the un- or underdeveloped: without contact to the world, it’s difficult to experience oneself as joyful or alive; one rather remains hidden, insecure and needy. These situations frequently lead to strategies of control, in order to establish safety when interacting with the world. Yet control also deadens the lively and joyful, instead of simply strengthening them; the urge for balance between these opposing desires (for control as well as liveliness) thus marks the life of many people. An alternative to control would be trust, which in turn requires courage.
How would a life be like that operates in courage and liveliness, that’s self- and world-confident? A life beyond the Muted Rainbow?
Please consider the following dates:
At gallery twenty-six, Schwertgasse 4, 1010 Wien/Vienna
I’ll be moderating a round table for Vienna Contemporary, with guests Agnes Husslein-Arco (Heidi Horten Collection) and Heike Meier-Rieper (EVN Collection), about the Ethics of Collecting Art; schedule for September 9th, 4:30-6pm at Biergart’l im Stadtpark.
From the press release: “Two panel discussions aim to question the value – axiology – and responsibility in terms of diverse modes of collecting. This value is understood in an economical, ethical, and moral sense. Diverse experts from the most prominent institutions in the public, corporate and private sectors have been invited.
With representatives of various public institutions and private collections. More information at www.viennacontemporary.at. Moderated by Christian Bazant-Hegemark.“
You can watch the recorded livestream on Instagram.
I’m super excited and happy to spend part of this summer as a resident at Katrin and Dirk Liesenfeld‘s amazing Art Lodge. Will you join me there?
More soon 🙂
My work is part of Galerie Heimo Bachlechner‘s “Sommerausstellung”, which opens on August 1st, 2022, and runs until September 10th, 2022.
Reach out if you want to meet there!
I’m part of a roundtable on speculations about the future, moderated by journalist and cultural worker Tina Perisutti. The guests are Elisabeth von Samsonow, Nora Jacobs and Stefan Tiefengraber — and yours truly <3
The event happens on Friday, July 22nd at 7pm, at Grünspan – Platform für Kunst und Kultur im Drautal. Drop by!
PS: You can watch the video through this link — the video owner disabled playback on external websites, so there’s no way to embed it here: https://youtu.be/b82D7-X2PJQ
My work gets shown at this year’s Art Karlsruhe, at the booth of [FKC] Forum Kunst Contemporary.
My work is part of a group show on artificial intelligence, at Vijion Art Gallery in Bolzano/South Tyrol.
From the press release:
Die Gruppenausstellung zum Thema „2° creation-artificial intelligence“, möchte die Künstliche Intelligenz-Automatisierung im Diskurs bringen, die unsere Welt verändert wie einst der elektrische Storm.
Künstliche Intelligenz ist die nächste Stufe der Automatisierung. Sie erleichtert die Buchhaltung, rechnet im Auftrag des Menschen oder verarbeiten Texte und übernimmt Fähigkeiten und Kompetenzen, die den Menschen übertreffen. Doch mit Künstlicher Intelligenz treffen jetzt Maschinen komplexe Entscheidungen, die bisher nur Menschen treffen konnten. Wenn Datengrundlagen und Entscheidungsrahmen stimmen, entscheidet KI-Systeme besser, schneller und billiger.
The show happens between July 9th to August 6th 2022, and includes the works of Mirijam Heiler, Valeria Stuflesser, Lena Geiser, Josefa Schundau/Kira Krüger, Marlies Baumgartner, AliPaloma, Simon Perathoner, Harald Plattner, Manuel van der Veen, Maximilian Willeit/Manuel Resch, Peter Senoner, Hannes Egger, Tino-Roberto Bors and yours truly.
I’ve been invited to talk about art and life on Sarah Iris Mang‘s “Crealogen” podcast. You can listen to the conversation on all platforms:
I was asked to hold a lecture about the “Challenges of Creating a Portrait” within the elective week organized by Darrel Toulon. Darrel founded and conceptualized “docu-dance-theatre — a model for participatory performance art, trauma transformation and societal change“. It’s a platform to engage with childhood rape victims.
Darrel Toulon: “I realized that although there are a lot of books, films, features and other publications directly focused on the women who suffered, there was almost nothing concerning the children born to these women, and who survived infancy. The literature which I found was coloured predominantly by feminism, and humanitarianism concerns for the violated women – the existence of babies conceived through rape given little or no attention – violating in turn their rights as human beings“
The workshop week at Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität Linz included international speakers like Ajna Jusić (Bosnia), Amra Delić (Bosnia), Mercy Nabiyre (Uganda/UK) and others.
I participated with a lecture about the dynamics involved in creating the film portrait of Linda Sharrock and Mario Rechtern (2019); how to connect to strangers, trust your intuition, and how to navigate the challenges of inherent portrait transgressions. The lecture happened on June 2nd, 2022
I was asked to talk about art and life, with Emily Tolman. The conversation has been published on Spotify and YouTube.
From the show notes: “Meet Christian Bazant-Hegemark, a painter, game developer, lecturer and more. On this episode of TIP, we talk about some of the flaws of art school. What it teaches us and how that differs from what we actually need to be taught in order to navigate the art world. We talk about schedules, being your own manager, networking and much more. Stick till the end to get some TIPs for artists!“
An excerpt from around 29:00: “I’m not sure whether I can think of a ‘biggest’ frustration (about the art market) right away — but I think maybe one challenge is that .. people start making art for very idealistic or maybe also egoistic reasons. It’s about expressing yourself, learning a complex language or craft; I don’t think that many people start making art because they want to make money.
So then you develop your competencies and you get better at what you do — and it often feels very linear: you get better you get better. And you also understand more about art history, because you also dive into it, you want to understand the system that you are in; and then you understand that what you do cannot so easily be a linear story, because others pursue entirely different stories or aesthetics or contexts.
And so already this shows each of us who make art, that this can be a very complex and long journey. And none of this is related to economic aspects. It’s really just this very beautiful, or maybe very overwhelming, approach to living a life.
And then, all of a sudden, this doesn’t work. Because of course you need some means to live a life, economically. I don’t know why the ideal very often is to make art full time, because that would mean.. already from the word, it sounds like a full time job; but of course in a full time employment situation you automatically get money — the only thing you need to do is to show up, and not mess things up. And with art, you can show up, and make amazing work, and you don’t get a single Euro or Dollar or anything. What does this mean?“
Check out .lab on Instagram
“Kunst und Schnittlauch” is a weekly happening at Kunsthandel Giese und Schweiger (Vienna). Apart from bread with chive, you get various cocktails plus a live conversation about the week’s art happenings — usually between Alexander Giese and Christof Habres.
Now on May 27th, I’ll take Christof’s seat, and talk with Alexander about NFTs, his upcoming public conversation with Johann König at the ORF Radiokulturhaus, etc.
Join us between 3-8pm — it’s free, with food and drinks! Our conversation happens at 4pm, and is streamed via Instagram live here.
