Q 01.-08.06.2008 / Hammerstrasse 133, Basel

Opening reception: June 1st 2008, 7pm
June 2nd - 8th by appointment only - contact@showroom.st
In collaboration with Hannes Loichinger.

Oh, a show curated by Annette Amberg
Opening reception: June 1st 2008, 9pm
June 2nd - 8th, 2008 2 - 3pm
www.oh-a-show.net

Showroom 10 Q also has a satellite exhibition at www.sundaysnewyork.com curated in collaboration with Jeffrey Tranchell. Online from May 25


Dear Sir and Madame,

We’re enclosing this note to invite you dearly for the Opening recep- tion of ‘Showroom 10: Q’ Sunday June 1st at 7pm. The exhibition, which we trust will provide you with a lot of pleasure features works from Edgars Gluhovs (Zuerich), Kaspar Müller (Basel), Tom Humphreys (Lon- don), David Renggli (Zuerich), Nolan Simon (New York), Michael E. Smith (New York). We’re addressing this to you personally, as a reader and intended visitor, for we aim to make an exhibition that warrants indi- vidual attention rather than merely something to maunder through. The fine arts is of course a timeless source of enjoyment — especially when you experience it in private, addressed for your specific atten- tion. We believe the classic simplicity of a thoughtfully crafted let- ter is not only a tradition well worth preserving, but also one ripe for a 21st-century renaissance. This particular little missive is printed on the paper format known as ‘Letter’ — the standard size for paper in North America and one that we find especially handsome for communication by post. It also happens to fit perfectly within the context of our exhibition. We would be most delighted if this letter might inspire you to write us back; we would love to hear from you. In the meantime, we wish you a wonderful summer.

Yours faithfully,
Egija Inzule, Tobias Kaspar & Hannes Loichinger

P.S. We would like to thank Annette Amberg, Christina Linden and Maja Wismer for their exquisite inserts as crowns of the exhibition.


Christina Linden/Text for Showroom 10: Q

an (my)(your)(our) ideal(?) exhibition: an announcement FOR INCLUSION, ACTIVATION, EXPLOITATION

The visitors who arrive to find everything neatly laid out to fit their expectations do not grow, do not engage, and never realize their own role in making an experience, in forming a scene, in writing history and discourse. If we participate in this exhibition then it becomes largely about us, Irit Rogoff says, says also that we have to dress for the exhibition. [1] What are you wearing? You activate this; you inhabit this space; you decide if that is the right outfit. We share this space. We are sharing it together. Ulf Wuggenig quotes a 90s text on art economics: ›Normally artists and other insiders define what is to be considered art, while laypeople are expected to recognize this definition. (…) In contrast, economists are of the opinion that the individuals themselves should decide what they want to consider »art«. (…) The question »What is art?« can be answered by appealing to the wishes of the audience.‹ [2] Let's not try to appeal to the wishes of the audience. Rather let's ask the individuals themselves to decide what they want to consider. As consumers we're used to making choices based on what the industry thinks should appeal to us. We are not really asked to decide or consider; they lay it out for us to think as little as possible. They tell us we are overwhelmed, that we should take the easiest of the options laid out before us. This exhibition is a place to prompt to decide and consider. As expectations change so eventually will decisions, considerations, and maybe even wishes. How about we expect the audience to decide what they want to consider. Wuggenig on The New Spirit of Capitalism: ›if control tasks are transferred from the management level to the customers, this results in flatter hierarchies and cost reductions.‹ [3] Performing ›decide and consider‹ can be the artwork. We can call it Relational Stalinism: [4] demand that the audience become the work. Give them a situation and no objects, no pictures, no projections or sounds to distract them from their duties of deciding and considering. This makes our job easier because we don't have to come up with anything but that situation. It is even better if someone else gives us the situation, then all we have to do is assign these duties. Assigning participation removes not only the impetus to decide what is to be considered art but also to decide what art to show.

1 I wrote this down when she was talking. During the talk she said there will be a book soon called: Looking away: Participating Singularities, Ontological Communities.
2 Ulf Wuggenig. ›Burying the Death of the Author‹ [03_2004], 1. Available online at: http://www.republic.net. My apologies for excerpting here without doing any justice to his argument, which is an interesting one.
3 ibid., 2. Wuggenig is discussing Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism, (London: Verso, 2005).
4 I didn’t come up with this. I borrowed from New York-based artist Michael Portnoy.

Artists