If I am the artist
French Wall # 45
CR 559. Year 1974
- EN
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- FR
If I am the artist, who then are you?
Since the author is not supposed to have any more auctoritas than anyone else, Jochen Gerz introduced the principle of dialogue in his work and expressed this idea symbolically in The French Wall # 45 (1974), where he asked: "If I am the artist, who the are you?" Here the reversible relationship between producer and recipient plays a central role, and Gerz' work has continued to explore and challenge this relationship in many permutations and combinations. Gerz's mistrust of any form of representation is also apparent in his rejection of any symbols of authority, this has characterized his work since his visual poetry, and it clearly links the principle of participation to a wider concept of democracy.
Marion Hohlfeldt 2016
Categories
Keywords
French Wall
Text (handwriting, photographic opaque), cardboard, wooden frame, 33 x 24 x 7 cm, signed and dated: Jochen Gerz 1974
Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne.
Dépôt François et Ninon Robelin.
Exhibitions
Karlsruhe 1975 (Duisburg 1975/1976. Braunschweig 1976). Saint-Étienne 1995. Nürnberg 1996/1997 (Düsseldorf 1997. Saint-Étienne 1997), Saint-Étienne 2015
Bibliography
I: Karlsruhe 1975, Cover und p. 148. Saint-Étienne 1995, pp. 176, 273. Düsseldorf 1997, pp. 104-105
II: Mersmann 1976, p. 25
W: Hohlfeldt 2, 2016, p. 105