THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA ART CONTEMPORARY T HE COLLECTION BOOK y �� THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA ART CONTEMPORARY ��THE T H E COLLECTIONCOllECtIoN BOOK y BOOK VERLAG DER BUCHHANDLUNG WALTHER KÖNIG, KÖLN 4 5 CONTENTS 6 Acknowledgments by FRANCESCA VON HABSBURG 01 02 03 04 t t t t 10 WAYS BEYOND 72 DIE OR PERFORM 280 T H E A L E P H 354 PRESERVATION OBJECTS by ANDREAS SCHLAEGEL P O T E N T I A L AND REANIMATION FRANCESCA VON HABSBURG by ELKE KRASNY THROUGH in conversation with 88 MONICA BONVICINI CONTEMPORARY ART HANS ULRICH OBRIST 92 CANDICE BREITZ 288 PARADOXES OF AND ARCHITECTURE 97 JANET CARDIFF COLLECTING 22 AI WEIWEI 107 MAURIZIO CATTELAN FRANCESCA VON HABSBURG 361 MONUMENTAL 28 DOUG AITKEN 110 CHEN QUILIN in conversation with by MARK WIGLEY 34 DARREN ALMOND 116 ANETTA MONA CHISA & PETER PAKESCH 40 KUTLUĞ ATAMAN LUCIA TKÁČOVÁ 366 JULIAN ROSEFELDT 52 FIONA BANNER 120 CYBERMOHOLLA HUB 292 RIVANE NEUENSCHWANDER 376 THOMAS RUFF 56 JOHN BOCK 125 EMANUEL DANESCH & 298 JUN NGUYEN-HATSUSHIBA 378 RITU SARIN & DAVID RYCH 302 CARSTEN NICOLAI TENZING SONAM 129 DON’T TRUST ANYONE 308 OLAF NICOLAI 383 HANS SCHABUS OVER THIRTY 314 PAUL PFEIFFER 390 CHRISTOPH SCHLINGENSIEF 138 OLAFUR ELIASSON 320 WALID RAAD / 398 GREGOR SCHNEIDER 152 ELMGREEN & DRAGSET THE ATLAS GROUP 406 ALLAN SEKULA 160 MARIO GARCÍA TORRES 330 RAQS MEDIA COLLECTIVE 414 NEDKO SOLAKOV 164 ISA GENZKEN 336 JASON RHOADES 419 MONIKA SOSNOWSKA 168 DOUGLAS GORDON 340 PIPILOTTI RIST 422 THOMAS STRUTH 172 FLORIAN HECKER 344 MATTHEW RITCHIE 426 DO HO SUH 176 CARSTEN HÖLLER 430 CATHERINE SULLIVAN 181 TERESA HUBBARD / 436 DIANA THATER ALEXANDER BIRCHLER 442 KLAUS WEBER 190 MARINE HUGONNIER 446 CERITH WYN EVANS 196 SANJA IVEKOVIĆ 456 HEIMO ZOBERNIG 204 BRAD KAHLHAMER 212 AMAR KANWAR 220 MIKE KELLEY 463 Appendix 228 RAGNAR KJARTANSSON 234 JIM LAMBIE 238 LOS CARPINTEROS 246 JÁN MANČUŠKA 252 PAUL MCCARTHY 260 JONATHAN MEESE 266 ERNESTO NETO 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Eva Ebersberger, who has carried the heavy burden our Celtic leader in the field of correctness and accu- of all our numerous publications, some of which have racy; Barbara Simma, our administrator and project “The value of a whole must not be assumed to be the diate and vibrant, and it has been a particular joy to won prizes for their innovative qualities. For this, I manager; Elisabeth Mareschal, who keeps everyone same as the sum of the values of its parts.” dedicate as much time and energy to the performative would like to add thanks to Walther König Verlag, our and everything under meticulous control; and Angela [George Edward Moore, Principia Ethica] works as we have. most enthusiastic publishers and supporters. Eva has Hirsch, who manages the office with a great sense of Two and a half millennia ago, the great Thales also worked wonders with most of our performance- humor. These ladies are the yang to our yin and vice have been privileged to be part of a process that taught his students an odd lesson, remembered even related works, demonstrating a truly multitalented versa—a solid rock of common sense and reliability. has reaffirmed these words in a most remarkable today: that their understanding of landscaping was dedication to some of our most visible activities. But I would hate to give you the impression that we Iway. Over the last few years Thyssen-Bornemisza Art and would remain limited until they realized that not As most galleries, artists, museums, and begging are a matriarchal society (I understand that the ama- Contemporary has evolved into a compact institution, only the cultivation of plants but also everything else and borrowing institutions have discovered, our back- zon.com domain name is already taken), so I confess keeping its dynamics primarily through its core team that affects our perception of the landscape logically room girls are really our front-line girls. Nothing ever to hiring a few men, the most impressive of whom is and the talented individuals who contribute to the belongs to the art of shaping what was back then pretty happens without their seal of approval, and as many our exhibitions architect, Philipp Krummel. His atten- projects that we commission and produce in-house. much humankind’s environment. It is not difficult to have learned, winning this may require a feat of perse- tion to detail and his understanding of what our col- The team’s clearly defined sense of purpose raises con- see similarities to the liberating redefinition of art that verance. Barbara Horvath with Andrea Hofinger and lection is and can be are extraordinary. Together with fidence and trust within the organization, two precious took place thousands of years later. And yet freedom Verena Platzgummer, in charge of collection man- Stefan Breuer, Walter Kräutler, and Markus Taxacher, ingredients that generate the collective courage to take to evolve brings new complexities, demands new tool agement and registrarial responsibilities, are simply he maximizes every aspect of the collection as well as the risks that we do. Invariably it is the leap of faith sets and concepts. Never has art had so much new unique and have won us much favor with the artists working on all the pavilion projects, which represent that both the artists and the foundation must take in potential, but its expansion over numerous fields of with whom we work. If they were in another business, major challenges, possible and imaginable. To this unison that makes the journey of the creative process expression has led to ventures that involve interfacing they would be referred to as defenders of the faith! long list I would also like to add Markus Schlüter, who so worthwhile. We have had the honor to undertake it with many areas of knowledge considered remote and I want it also to be known that there are ladders manages our exhibition space in Vienna, supported with some of the most brilliant traveling companions alien not so long ago. In a dizzying tangle of human to climb within our mini-organization, and no one by David Weidinger. Our PR lady, Christina Werner, that the world of contemporary art has today. This needs and interests that makes our world today, this has done so better than Alexandra Hennig, who has has done a particularly good job at keeping the focus would never have been possible without an exceptional interaction has become a necessity. displayed numerous talents—from making the best on the real issues. level of mutual trust, and we take pride in the fact Together, as a team, we at Thyssen-Bornemisza coffee in the office to running the biggest exhibition I am particularly grateful to the Vienna Insurance that, as a rule, these encounters leave behind not only Art Contemporary have been involved in a number of project that we have ever undertaken, with the Mori Group and Mr. Fink for supporting the Thyssen- distinguished works of art but also lasting and special projects that employ a cross-disciplinary or interdis- Art Museum in Japan. She passed all the dubious tests Bornemisza Art Contemporary exhibition program relationships. ciplinary approach, which the foundation has taken of organizing various events (including several of my since 2004. Without their faith in our activities, some Curiously, G. E. Moore demonstrated the above increasingly seriously over the last few years. The notorious birthday parties) with her capability, her of our projects would have not been possible. I want assertion (in 903) through the example of “conscious- variety of experts engaged in our projects probably patience, and most importantly her diplomacy. to thank all the other people who have come and gone ness of beauty,” the intrinsic value of which exceeds matches the brain trust of some government. Since the Daniela has been supported over the years by a over the years, because there has never been one who that of both the consciousness itself and the actual very beginning the foundation has been committed to few uniquely gifted young ladies. Gabrielle Cram and did not add value and contribute from the heart to object. A century later one might speak of emergent international collaborations, and sustainable projects Gudrun Ankele, in particular, have immersed them- one aspect or another of the foundation. We are a qualities of the experience of art. If they truly exist, that involve contemporary art are certainly an avenue selves in research and pumped much-needed spirit, team, and we have built something unique together. and if we have helped bring them about, I’m even that we shall continue to explore, confident that our energy, and wisdom into our experiments. This book is a celebration of what we have achieved. prouder of how far Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contem- expertise, as well as the collection itself, can energize Now before you confuse us with a stem-cell research And you—our audience, our critics, and our support- porary has come. Today it is much more than a service communities in an extremely positive way. I truly hope lab, please let me introduce the administrators who ers—you are as important as the art and the artists that to the collection: our pavilion projects have become that this book achieves what we have hoped it would— hold a lot of these experiments together by creating at we celebrate in this book and all that we believe in, increasingly ambitious, and another direction that the to bring the reader in the most transparent way closer least one stable environment (not quite laboratory-style because we do it for you as much as we do it for our- foundation has taken is its commitment to numerous to the experiences that we have exposed ourselves to.