Yes, but is it performable?

In an exhibition on performance art, accompanied by live performances, Künstlerhaus explores the boundaries between active and passive: Are performers and viewers united or separated by the medium?

A performance is a highly ephemeral event. Someone does something while others are watching and that’s it. Is it, though? The exhibition “Yes, but is it performable?” invites international protagonists of the scene to Graz to investigate questions of the performative, confronting present-day formats with key positions from the history of the genre.

Every week a new performance, along with other artistic interventions, will expand and change the face of the exhibition. The first one will be taking place on the occasion of the exhibition opening on 24/09 at 16.00, while three more are following each Wednesday during the festival at 18.00. Sarah Mendelsohn and Fred Schmidt-Arenales, Karl Karner and Linda Samaraweerová, Nezaket Ekici and Marie Karlberg – their artistic interventions are set to leave their mark in the form of objects that will be on show until the end of the exhibition.

“Yes, but is it performable?” deals with the question of whether artist and artwork can be separated, highlighting the specific performative aspect with a view to its transient double effect of being both “artificial” and “real”. There will also be a publication accompanying the exhibition.