Spielzeiteröffnung 2018/19: State of the Arts

The term “State of the art” indicates that something is top notch and up to date. Kampnagel adds an “s” to the phrase and uses the STATE OF THE ARTS to develop a counter-model to the nation state. With this thought experiment, Kampnagel becomes a heterotopic space, deconstructing the idea of national borders, national cultures and identities while also rethinking citizenship in ways that empirically put newly founded societies to the test. For the season’s opening Kampnagel presents international and locally based artists whose artistic practices reject nationally conceived concepts of culture. Whether using modern technology (as in Royce Ng’s project) or a tour de force through recent art history (as in Marlene Monteiro Freitas’ project) –STATE OF THE ARTS calls for imagination, inspiration, and hybridity instead of exclusion, control, and identity politics. Yet this doe not mean that we have to do away with established icons – as both Tianzhuo Chen and Paul Preciado have long received a cult status!