What the frame achieves for the artwork is that it symbolises and bolsters the twofold function of its border — protection from outside and a united merging of the content within. It excludes settings and so also the viewer from the artwork, placing it at the right distance for it to be enjoyed as an aesthetic experience.” (Georg Simmel)
Does the frame really create the distance required to experience an artwork aesthetically — i.e. sensually? Or does it not tend to hamper its reception by excluding the viewer and keeping them at a distance? This is the question UNFRAMED would like to discuss. Works are shown that engage with, in the broadest sense, photographic surfaces. Instead, though, of being held at a distance as is usually the case, visitors here literally come into contact with the artworks — by means of a playful approach to their display. UNFRAMED engages with lifting the dichotomy between the artwork on the one side and the viewer on the other. The aim is to bring the artwork to the body, to break open the frame and to overcome the traditionally prescribed distance. The mechanisms of the market are similarly challenged in UNFRAMED: artworks here can be purchased in the “classical” manner (even at affordable prices), while an Art Swap also provides both visitors and artists with an opportunity to renegotiate their values.
Participating artists:
Iris Andraschek, Özlem Altin, Diana Artus, Georgia Creimer, Wu Dandan, Sophie Dvořák, Lara Erel, eSeL, Jonas Feferle, Karin Fisslthaler, Käthe Hager von Stobele, Peter Hauenschild, Johannes Heuer, Stephan Hilge, Bernhard Hosa, Ernst Koslitsch, Claudia Larcher, Hubert Lobnig, Sabine Maier, Michael Mastrototaro, Andreas Müller, Kate Nasmyth, Olena Newkryta, Käthe Schönle, Lindsay Seers, Jemima Stehli, Rini Tandon, Klaus Taschler, Klaus Pamminger, Roman Pfeffer, Abigail Reynolds, Arye Wachsmuth, Elisabeth Wildling