THE NON INSTITUTION OF ART (AND OF ART AS AN INSTITUTION)
1997 – 1998
Berkeley – California
A virtual action that took place in a forum hosted by aurorablue.org. It emerged alongside Net-art, Digital Art, and other derivative forms.
Some argue that performance art requires specific conditions: the presence of a specific audience, a specific location, real-time execution, and audience participation.
However, this is not the case. This performance action unfolds at a given moment, in an indeterminate location, involving the presence-absence of an audience—an indeterminate mix of spectator, participant, and performer. There is no "real" physical presence of the subjects involved, save for the subjects' presence within their own unfolding experience—an experience to which only they can truly attest. The proposed actions take place within the realm of written text while simultaneously expanding into the realms of location, interval, and time; they occur at a specific moment where the empirical proof is provided solely by the spectator-participant-performers themselves.
The action began when I was invited to the forum, where I proceeded to present ideas regarding "the non-institution of art and art as an institution," as well as "the end of the museum." Text-based communication via the Internet entailed four to eight hours of daily interaction over the course of several months. During this process, various personas were created—imaginary performers or collaborators advocating for "the end of the museum," non-institutionalism, and so forth (such as Klaus Kieffer, María Loth, and Michelle van Nogem). Each possessed their own email address and contributed texts with varying degrees of regularity.
At a certain point, it was revealed that the performers or collaborators—those who had been participating in or championing the concepts of art's non-institutionalism and the end of the museum—were fictitious, having been created by the lead performer. This revelation led to disappointment, grievances, and the conclusion of the action within the virtual space.
