Body Exercises

The exhibition of the Institute of Contemporary Art entitled Body Exercises presents the works of internationally known artists who, as of the 1960s, have been playing a key role in the expansion of artistic possibilities. While Yoko Ono asks visitors to capture their memories about their mothers in photographs, Robert Filliou’s poster invites viewers to a quick game. In Georg Winter’s stunt installation, visitors can try freefalling and, on Kristian Pettersen’s motorcycle fitted with a microphone, they can provide background music for the exhibition in accordance with their individual tastes and temperaments…

The exhibition explores art’s spaces of action and its possibilities for reception. Through their artwork – musical scores, instructions, and game fields – nearly 30 international artists urge visitors to use the exhibited objects, thereby reinterpreting the role of the exhibition space, which is otherwise traditionally characterised by quiet and transfigured contemplation. Visitors become partners and playmates to the artists and, as co-authors, users or experimental subjects, they can directly test their own intellectual skills and creative energies.

Balancing on the borderline that separates regulation from transgression, control from slipping through, and seriousness from joking, the exhibition brings to life the tradition of FLUXUS which combine fine art, performance art, dramatic art, poetry and music. It illustrates through “live” examples the concept of performativity, which, thanks to writings on art theory and to artistic and curatorial concepts, has been one of the most intriguing topics in recent years.