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9783940388681 Capitalizing Capital.Pdf Andreas Backoefer CAPITALIZING CAPITAL Philanthropie – Museen – Performance 9 ISBN 978-3-940388-68-1 © epodium (München) Website: www.epodium.de E-Mail: mailto:[email protected] Alle Rechte vorbehalten/All rights reserved Covergestaltung: Drahtzieher Design & Kommunikation, Wien epodium ist eine eingetragene Marke ISBN 978-3-940388-68-1 Germany 2018 Reihe off epodium, Herausgeber: Andreas Backoefer Bibliografische Informationen Der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar. Andreas Backoefer CAPITALIZING CAPITAL Philanthropie - Museen - Performance Inhalt Vorwort 4 CAPITALIZING CAPITAL Philanthropie – Museen – Performance 6 Historic Visionaries Barnes – Guggenheim – Rebay 105 The Keeper (Kunst)Sammlung – Institution – Kapital 118 Vorwort Die drei in diesem Band versammelten Texte weisen zahlreiche Schnittmengen auf. Eine davon ist der Ort der ‚Handlung‘: thematisiert werden historische und zeitgenössische US-amerikanische Besonderheiten der Aneignung europäischer Kunst, der Kunstförderung sowie der Sammel- und Ausstellungspraxis. Des Weiteren bildet das Verhältnis von Kunst und Kapital einen roten Faden entlang der Essays. Die Tätigkeit des Sammelns als Kapitalsicherung und ästhetische Vision ist ebenfalls ein durchgehender Schwerpunkt - genauso wie die kritische Diskussion des Verhältnisses, das die verschiedenen Player (Künstler, Kuratoren, Galeristen, aber auch die Öffentlichkeit) im Feld der Kunst mit der Institution bzw. mit der institutionellen Praxis verbindet. Die drei Abhandlungen rücken diese Themen aus verschiedenen Perspektiven mit unterschiedlicher Tiefenschärfe in das Lese- und Blickfeld. Der zentrale Text CAPITALIZING CAPITAL untersucht die Eigenheiten der amerikanischen Kunst- Philanthropie - z.B. im Unterschied zu Europa oder zur sehr speziellen Situation in Russland der 2000er Jahre. Daran anschließend wird anhand von einigen Beispielen der Einfluss des Kapitals auf die Praxen und die sich dabei etablierenden Beziehungsgeflechte von Künstlern, Museen und Kunstinstituten aufgefächert. Es folgt der Versuch, die seit ca. zehn Jahren zu beobachtende Hin- wendung der Museen zum Format der Performance – und auch insbesondere zu Reenactments his- torischer Performances aus den 1960er und 1970er Jahren – mit der Art der Finanzierung sowie deren neueren Modifikationen in einen kausalen Zusammenhang anzuordnen. Die Restagings ha- ben sich - in einem Zustand zwischen nicht mehr tot, aber auch noch nicht richtig lebendig - als Zombies in die Institutionen implementiert. Mit ihrer hybriden Temporalität zwischen Vergangen- heit und Gegenwart erscheinen diese Performances ähnlich ‚grau‘ wie die historischen Fotodoku- mente, die als Quellen der Wiederaufführung herangezogen werden. Neben dem White Cube für die Präsentation von Gemälden und Skulpturen und der Black Box für die Videokunst, hat sich eine ‚Grey Box‘ etabliert, in der die Wiederbelebung historischer performativer Kunst imaginiert wird. 1 Historic Visionaries bietet eine auf das Wirken von Albert C. Barnes, Solomon R. Guggenheim und Hilla Rebay verdichtete horizontale Leseart 2 der amerikanischen Aneignung europäischer Kunst in der ersten Hälfte 20. Jahrhunderts. Das Sammeln, Arbeiten und Leben von und mit Gegenwarts- kunst als persönliche Vision mündet bei diesen Beispielen in einer Institutionalisierung, die von dieser Vision noch deutlich erkennbare Spuren aufweist – bis hin zur architektonischen Manifesta- tion. Ausgehend von der gleichnamigen Ausstellung im New Yorker New Museum im Jahr 2016 1 Vgl. Foster, Hal: Bad New Days: Art, Criticism, Emergency. Verso: London New York 2017, 127. 2 „Horizontal“ meint hier das Gegenteil einer institutionell initiierten „vertikalen“ Aneignung. 4 wird in The Keeper versucht, eine Matrix des Sammelns zu beschreiben. Was unterscheidet eine Privatsammlung von einer öffentlichen Sammlung und welche Veränderungsprozesse führen deren Objekte durch eine institutionelle Musealisierung dem Kapitalkreislauf zu? Andreas Backoefer 5 CAPITALIZING CAPITAL Philanthropie - Museen - Performance Philanthropie America transformed its immigrants, whatever their country of origin. As part of this transformation, the new Americans became notorious joiners of voluntary associations - churches, ethnic or- ganizations, lodges, and social clubs flourished here as nowhere else. Americans were also benevolent in their voluntary action. As a result of local philanthropy, schools, colleges, hospitals, muse- ums, and artists' and scientists' organizations flourished in the Unit- ed States. Alexis de Tocqueville, visiting from France in the Jack- sonian Era in the 1830s, famously called attention to Americans' unique commitment to voluntary associations. Daniel M. Fox 3 Voraussetzung: Professionalisierung des Kunstbetriebs Kulturelle Philanthropie │Bürgertum │Internaonalisierung │Kapitalsicherung Kulturelle Philanthropie (Cultural Philanthropy) und speziell die Unterstützung von Museen und Künstlern unterscheidet sich vor allem in seinem Gegenstand von anderen philanthropischen Betä- tigungsfeldern wie z.B. Schulen, Universitäten, Krankenhäuser und Bibliotheken. Ein professionel- ler Umgang mit Kunst - vor allem als Auftraggeber - war bis ins 19. Jahrhundert hinein allein dem Adel (und der Kirche) vorbehalten. Erst mit dem Aufkommen des Bürgertums und der Industriali- sierung verlor die Feudalgesellschaft dieses Privileg. Im Zuge dieses Strukturwandels kam es zu einer Professionalisierung des Kunstbetriebs wie wir ihn noch heute kennen: Kunst wurde zu einer Ware, aber einer Ware deren tatsächlicher und ideeller Wert sich bei weitem nicht mit dem reinen Warencharakter erklären lässt. Das aufsteigende Bürgertum hatte jetzt zwei Möglichkeiten sich am Kunstbetrieb zu beteiligen: einerseits philanthropisch als Unterstützer eines Museums und anderer- 3 Fox, Daniel M.: „Revisiting the politics of art museums.“ In: Society . Jan/Feb 95, vol. 32 Issue 2, 42-47 (http://search.ebscohost.com.ebscohost.emedia1.bsb- muenchen.de/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9501282020&site=ehost-live, 6.3.2018). 6 seits als Sammler von Kunstwerken. Bis in die Gegenwart hinein betätigen sich zahlreiche Kunst- sammler auch als Sponsoren und sind demnach in einer Doppelfunktion - direkt wie indirekt - am Kunstmarkt beteiligt. Das führte seit dem 19. Jahrhundert zu einem Netzwerk, das Johannes Gram- lich folgendermaßen analysiert: Die Künstler produzierten nun vorwiegend für einen anonymen Markt, herausgelöst aus klerikalen oder feudalen Funktionszusammenhängen und der Abhängigkeit unmittelba- rer Auftraggeber. […] intensivierte sich insbesondere seit der zweiten Hälfte des Jahr- hunderts die Entwicklung eines engmaschigen, transatlantischen Netzes konkurrieren- der und kooperierender Kunsthandlungen, in das Kunstpublizisten und -wissenschaftler, Museumsbeamte und Sammler, mithin die gesamte Kunstwelt integriert waren. Über diese Verflechtungen wurden Informationen, Waren und Dienstleistungen in hohem Tempo transportiert und ausgetauscht, Macht und Einfluss vergeben und zugeschrieben, konstituierten sich ästhetische Qualität und monetärer Wert. Das vermeintlich einfache Marktprinzip von Angebot und Nachfrage war somit ein vielfach bedingtes. 4 Bereits zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts war es allen Beteiligten klar, dass Kunstwerke ein probates Mittel zur Kapitalsicherung darstellten - besonders in den Zeiten ökonomischer Krisen. So äußerten die Kunsthändler Duveen Brothers während der Weltwirtschaftskrise 1931: „that it was better to hold pictures than stocks, as anyhow they were worth something, whereas stocks might go to noth- ing.“ 5 Der wirtschaftsbürgerliche Sammler bzw. Museumsunterstützter versuchte aber diese Motiv- lage zu vertuschen. Nach außen gezeigt wurde der Genuss der Ästhetik des Kunstwerks; indes ver- schleiert wurde das monetäre Interesse. Kommerz und Kunst wurden als Gegenwelten propagiert. Aus diesem Grund erfolgte für lange Zeit die Zuschreibung von irrationalem Handeln für diejeni- gen, die sich am Kunstmarkt beteiligten. 6 Kunst zu kaufen, zu sammeln oder zu unterstützen brach- te aber drei wesentlich Vorteile mit sich: Repräsentation, Distinktion und Imagegewinn. Da inzwi- schen der Besitz von Kunstgegenständen ein probates Mittel zur Kapitalsicherung war, ermöglichte der sich etablierende Kunstmarkt Tauschgeschäfte, bei denen der finanzielle Einsatz nicht verloren ging, sondern „er blieb in den Kunstwerken gespeichert.“ 7 4 Gramlich, Johannes: Die Thyssens als Kunstsammler. Investition und symbolisches Kapital (1900-1970) (= Thyssen im 20. Jahrhundert, hg, v. H.G. Hockerts, G. Schulz u. M. Szöllösi-Janze). Schöningh: Paderborn 2015, 51. 5 Zitiert bei Gramlich, 55. 6 Vgl. Gramlich, 55. 7 Ebd. 7 Geschichte der kulturellen Philanthropie Massenphnomen Philanthropie Naonal Gallery of Art │ Ro ert Weeks de Forest │ Erziehungsprogramme In den USA war die Trennung von Kunst und Kommerz nie in dem Maß ausgeprägt wie in Europa. Vermutlich ist dies auch die Ursache dafür, dass die kulturelle Philanthropie dort eine so weite Ver- breitung fand. Deshalb wird der folgende kurze historische Abriss vor allem die USA in den Mittel- punkt rücken. Den unternehmerischen Aspekt von allgemeiner Philanthropie amerikanischer Prä- gung beschreibt Oliver Zunz folgendermaßen: „American philanthropy would be a capitalist venture in social betterment, not an act of kindness as understood in Christianity.“ 8 Doch neben
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