Utopian Pulse - Flares in the Darkroom

We understand Utopia as an always incomplete alternative, the invocation within the given world of something incompatible with, and hostile to, given conditions. It is a negation of the given and a recognition of something missing, but also a necessarily imperfect assertion of that which is notyet. The work will follow utopian projections that serve the purposes of secession from and resistance to our particular present. The negative or critical version of the utopian impulse is not just a matter of satire, or listing whats wrong with the world as though listing it could change it. Utopia, rather, is the assertion of the unrealized in and against the real. Utopian Pulse Flares in the Darkroom as an exhibition will be divided into salons. It seems urgent precisely when the potential imperfectly expressed in the salon is seen as neither a proto-public spherethat is, one stage in an orderly evolution towards universal convivial conversationnor pure courtly proprietorship, but rather as a partial breach of the prevailing order of class and gender, a disruption that cannot become the public norm because it prefigures total upheaval of what constitutes the public and is instead a place for the monstrous birth of new alliances. Utopian Pulse Flares in the Darkroom brings together international cultural producers who have substantial artistic and curatorial practices. Over an eight-week period, starting in September 2014, they will show and discuss works of other artists in the gallery of the Secession in Vienna every week. The contributions of the individual artist-curators will not be shown sequentially, but will productively interact with one another. The outcomes whatever their formwill constitute a collective challenge to the constituent roles of social actors within the field of art in more complex ways than simply as artists, curators, and viewers, in order to imagine new forms of exchange. The research exhibition at the Secession will be linked with various formats, among them large-scale banners on the façade of the Secession for the use of the artist-curators. The artist-curators of the salons are Ayreen Anastas / Rene Gabri*, Zanny Begg, Mariam Ghani, Miguel A. Lpez, Pedro G. Romero/Archivo F.X., Christoph Schäfer, Bert Theis and others. Utopia is secession without instructions. * These artists reject the term curator for their practice.

The artistic research project UTOPIAN PULSE - FLARES IN THE DARKROOM from Ines Doujak and Oliver Ressler in collaboration with a group of artist-curators explored the potential for realizing utopian moments in the here and now, within an experimental, collaborative and participatory exhibition setting. We understand "Utopia" as an always incomplete alternative, the invocation within the given world of something incompatible with, and hostile to, given conditions. It is a negation of the given and a recognition of "something missing," but also a necessarily imperfect assertion of that which is not - yet. The "negative" or "critical" version of the utopian "impulse" is not just a matter of satire, or listing what's wrong with the world as though listing it could change it. Utopia, rather, is the assertion of the unrealized in and against the real. The first public appearance of UTOPIAN PULSE - FLARES IN THE DARKROOM was SALON KLIMBIM, orchestrated by the artist-curator Fahim Amir and Ines Doujak on January 23, 2014 in correspondence with Oliver Ressler. Between February and September 2014 a series of 7 large-scale banners (9 x 3.4 meters) has been presented on the façade of the Secession. URGENT ALTERNATIVES: UTOPIAN MOMENTS relates to the uprisings, occupations and social movements that have emerged in recent years. All invited artists have in common that they are directly involved in the protests they focus on in their banner, or talk from a clear, unequivocal position of solidarity with them. Banners have been commissioned by Katarzyna Winiecka (Fluchthilfe & Du; February 2014), Halil Altindere from Istanbul (March 2014), Wealth of Negations from London (April 2014), Nobodycorp. Internationale Unlimited from Jakarta (May 2014), Etcétera from Buenos Aires (June 2014), Oreet Ashery from London (July 2014) and Daniela Ortiz from Barcelona (August 2014). UTOPIAN PULSE - FLARES IN THE DARKROOM as an exhibition was divided into seven salons. It brought together international cultural producers who have substantial artistic and curatorial practices. Over two months, starting on September 10, 2014, they showed and discussed works of other artists in the gallery of the Secession in Vienna every week. The contributions productively interacted with one another. The outcomes - whatever their form - constituted a collective challenge to the constituent roles of social actors within the field of art in more complex ways than simply as "artists," "curators," and "viewers", in order to imagine new forms of exchange. The involved artist-curators were: Christoph Schäfer (SALON PUBLIC HAPPINESS, 10-16 September 2014), Mariam Ghani (SALON-E-GIRDBAD, 17-23 September 2014), Bert Theis (SALON ORIZZONTI OCCUPATI, 24-30 September 2014), Zanny Begg (SALON FLUCHTHILFE, 01-07 October 2014), AND AND AND with Ben Morea (SALON DADADA, 08-14 October 2014), Pedro G. Romero/Mquina P.H. (CUARTOS DE UTOPA, 15-21 October 2014) and Miguel A. Lpez (SALN DE BELLEZA, 22 October-02 November 2014). The sequence of exhibitions was linked with large-scale banners on the façade of the Secession for the use of the artist-curators.