BRUS DAY INTEREMEZZO – Günter Brus Wiener Spaziergang, 1965
On July 6, 1965, Günter Brus, painted over in white, a black engraving from top to bottom, walked for a short distance through downtown Vienna. Today, the City of Vienna likes to use the photos of Günter Brus’s walk in the backdrop of the Hofburg as a document of the liberal climate, open-mindedness, modernity and freedom of art in the city of waltzes. Not a word about the fact that Brus was arrested and severely punished by the police a few minutes after these photos were taken.
Artists of all genres take to the streets, squares and parks and enliven public space. It is about that public space which, one might think, belongs to all people and not to the administration. Art wants to reclaim the public space. Brus Day“ should remind us of this right at least once a year.
In fact, this long overdue initiative has been discussed and prepared for some time in the framework of the „Institute without direct attributes“, regardless of its topicality. The trigger for this was the 80th birthday of the visual artist and writer Günter Brus, who was first hunted and punished in Austria and is today appreciated and celebrated by the same people as one of the most important living artists in Austria. So it seems logical that the first „Day of Art in Public Space“ falls precisely in the period of total prohibitions and punishments and the de facto total ban on the public practice and reception of art. And at the same time, since this is why the entire art industry is now taking to the streets and the media, through this sudden frequency, also again clumsy.
At an exhibition opening in the Galerie Junge Generation in Vienna on July 6, 1965, Günter Brus left the private sphere for the first time with the action „Wiener Spaziergang“ and penetrated public space as a living painting:
„The day before this exhibition opening with action and discussion, I decided to avoid the compromise character of this undertaking to a certain extent, in order to give my artistic intentions more clarity. One could say that the hermaphroditic activity of this gallery drove me from the rat cellars to the street. I decided to take a walk as a quasi living picture through the city centre of Vienna, past several historically significant buildings. Starting point of my walk was the Heldenplatz. Through the Burgtor, past the Spanish Riding School and the Dorotheum, my route should lead to the Stephansplatz. I did not give myself any information about what was to happen there, rightly suspecting that soon the watchful eye of a guardian of public order would see the living painting and arrest it. This happened at the corner of Bräunerstraße and Stallburggasse. A policeman led me to the amusement of the passers-by into a nearby guardroom. They took my details and sent a taxi.“
Günter Brus, 1989
Musicians should intervene audibly! Authors, wherever, read from their texts and offer their books! Dancers, actors, artists will perform in public places. Visual artists will set up their easels, exhibit, paint, draw, portray and model. Photographers may document the day when art reclaimed its space. Etc. All this in public. Without a plea for mercy, without harassment by authorities, without registration, spontaneously!
Some artists have already announced where and when they will be performing on July 6, 2020, so that colleagues from the media or photographers can „make their own picture“ in the true sense of the word:
10.00 – 20.00 hrs: THE PERINET CELLAR AS WHITE COLOUR: Under the guidance of our maestro Frantischek Sramek there will be the opportunity to be made up in the specified time frame – dressed or undressed – in the same way as Günther Brus was made up for his „Vienna City Walk“ 55 years ago. The participants are asked to swarm out into the city individually or in groups. Target points: public or semi-public spaces of their choice. The aim is to document the resonance of urban society. This can also be done in the form of video interviews after the end of the actions. (Perinetkeller, Vienna 20, Perinetg. 1)
Not before 14.00 o’clock, but then soon, Andrea Nagl will perform around the heroes place „Kugelkopf ext. 7: KOMIK 13“. There will be only two heads and her husband will be photographed (possibly „perfomatively“).
15.00: The visual artist Martina Reinhart sits in the park at the cafe ‚Heuer am Karlsplatz‘ in Treitelstraße in front of an easel with a picture and reads from her book ‚Geburt der Bilder‘!
16.00: The theatre & radio play group „RUBIN“ will read and play with some dramaturgically read scenes from the current production „The old house – Wiener Fensterdialoge“ in the fourth district on Mozartplatz!
17.00: SlowForward & SlowAbility will slowly follow Brus‘ Vienna city walk, from Heldenplatz to his arrest at the corner of Bräunerstraße/Stallburggasse. They invite you to join them, white make-up will be on site. Meeting place: Heldenplatz on July 6th at 17:00!
18:00 : Daniel Böswirth will start his action at Stephansplatz on July 6. In his survived Covid 19 illness, the idea of doing something about isolation, banishment and illness arose during the quarantine period. Title „monothematic speech dance: corona“!
From 20.00 artists and journalists are invited to the Perinetkeller to exchange their experiences!
The legendary Perinetkeller was the first studio of the group of Vienna Actionists (Brus, Mühl, Nitsch and Schwarzkogler) and is a meeting place for art and discussion for the INSTITUT WITHOUT DIRECT PROPERTIES.
Please announce the initiative „Brus Day – Day of Art in Public Space“ in your media and thus help art and artists! Thank you very much!
Tue, 1 September 2020: „WITHOUT GRACE“
Positions of female artists around the perimeter of the Perinetkeller on the main themes of the surviving spring – from A for fear to Z for forced isolation or the reasonableness of surveillance and control. The brew of music video and live music, visual art and performance as well as texts from art and politics invite you to participate: Daniel Böswirth, Klaus Bonazza, Heino Fischer, Andrea Hiller, Thomas Paul, Sugar Plum, Walther Soyka, laut fragen, Robert Sommer, Zsuzsi Vecsei, Stevie Vukic.
Start: 19:30. Donations welcome.
The Perinetkeller is the former studio of the Wiener Aktionisten and has been run by the Institut ohne direkte Eigenschaften (IODE) without subsidies since June 2016. Donations are welcome. No obligation to consume. Drinks against donations. We urgently advise you to bring a personal glass – otherwise the plastic cup is in danger. Toilet at the place (approx. 100 m).
IODE . Perinet basement . Perinetgasse 1, 1200 Vienna .
