DC I: The Fall of Athens
The start of the story: The first DC performance was held on February 16th 2009, before the backdrop of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
DC II: Hope or Hype
The second DC performance, titled "Hope or Hype", was held on May 21st 2009 – at a location other artists can only dream of: At Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate, on a level with the world-famous quadriga statue.
DC III: Funeral
The third performance in the "DC" series, bearing the title "Funeral", took place on June 10th 2009, unannounced and in full view of the public. This time, the setting was not a historical location, but the art world itself – represented by the Art Basel fair.
In the media:
MSNBC - Countdown with Keith Olbermann (USA)
This is Genius (UK)
EuroNews (EU)
Blick (Switzerland)
ITV News (UK)
Nederland I (Netherlands)
ABC (Australia)
Macleans (Canada)
Ekathimerini (Greecce)
CCTV international (China)
20 minutes (Switzerland)
Globo (Brazil)
Sina.com (China)
China.com (China)
Times Online (UK)
Xinhua News (China)
Čas (Slovakia)
Blesk (Czech Republic)
El Heraldo (Colombia)
Daum (Korea)
News.com.au (Australia)
The Wall Street Journal (USA)
TV Noviny (Slovakia)
ABC News (USA)
San Francisco Gate (USA)
Kristianstadsbladet (Sweden)
Metropol (Hungary)
Observador Global (Argentina)
Pluska (Slovakia)
Limburgs Dagblad (Netherlands)
Nettavisen (Norway)
Magyar Szó (Hungary)
Democratic Underground (USA)
Folksbladet (Sweden)
IOL Diàrio (Portugal)
Ticinonline (Switzerland)
TVI24 (Portugal)
Dagbladet (Norway)
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Background
The first ten years of the 21st century have come and gone. What they have brought is uncertainty and changes – the supposedly stable world view of the late 20th century has turned out to have been an optimistic illusion; the "end of history" that was the subject of some discussion after the end of the cold war has failed to take place. In the shape of global warming and the gradually shrinking biodiversity, the technological advances and consumer society of the 20th century are beginning to show their dark sides. The global world of finance has by and large proven itself to be incapable of responsible conduct; too often, social responsibility and questions of sustainability have been ignored in order to preserve the personal profit of a few of its functionaries, and too often, its elaborate constructs have turned out to be untenable fantasies, under the collapse of which the entirety of society ultimately suffers. The institutions of global politics, too, have done little so far to prove their ability to face these mounting problems with concrete action.
At the same time, an abundance of rapid technological improvements has taken place, causing new social developments. Today, we have new methods of communication, new means by which information is distributed, by which opinions are formed and by which masses are organised. We are witnessing the start of a completely new social dynamic, beyond social classes and national borders – and the multitude of new ideas that accompany it. Roughly a third of the world's population uses the internet today; only about one sixteenth did so at the beginning of the century. About 400 million people communicate through Facebook – a website that did not exist six years ago.
If one wished to make a preliminary conclusion about the time we live in, it would have to be this: The world is once more changing. Profound changes are beginning to take place; movement results.
The DC project
In every part of the world, these developments are combined with and clash against local issues and local history. Moving around these different places, what a traveller experiences seems almost like a snapshot of our time – a picture of the world once again standing at the crossroads. The goal of the DC project is to capture and document these impressions by artistic means – in the shape of a series of fusion performances, to be held all over the globe.
The journey began on February 16th 2009 in Athens, Greece. US president Barack Obama – at the time newly elected – was chosen as the main motif: The forward-thinking manner in which his election campaign was run and the unusual world-wide support for his candidacy are symptomatic for the spirit of our times, for the growing perception of a need for change. Fittingly, the final destination of the journey is Washington DC. Beyond that, however, the person and politician Barack Obama is only a secondary subject to these performances.
The locations of the performances are a significant aspect of the entire project, and a significant component of the resulting images. The first performance took place in front of the Acropolis in Athens; the second one at Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate and the third one before the background of the Art Basel 2009 art fair.
Further DC performances are in preparation.
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