Pipe Dream in Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna


The exhibition Pipe Dream examines the ambiguous role of political potential in art practices.

Participating Artist: 
Aeron Bergman and Alejandra Salinas , Eva Engelbert, Fokus Grupa, Claire Fontaine, Maja Hodošček, Amalia Pica, Pilvi Takala

Curated by Irena Borić
(Kurator in Residence von Bundeskanzleramt Kunst I Kultur und KulturKontakt Austria)

KEX – Kunsthalle Exnergasse

Opening: 28. January 2015, 7:00 pm

Exhibition: 29. January – 14. March 2015

Rather than posing a question about socially engaged art practices, this exhibition unfolds modes of thinking differently about the political – ideas that investigate meaning and negotiate the political through modest gestures, intimate refusals, and fictional stories.
These intangible loopholes map out a new territory between existing paradigms, where a “new language” of resistance can come into being.
However, these ephemeral strategies – only recognisable to the curious observer – risk that the actual political potential goes unseen or is perceived as an empty signifier. Is it perhaps meant to stay a pipe dream or is there hope for this make-believe scenery to come true? But for the protagonist of this seemingly fictional construct it is quite real. Precisely these shady outlines of a different world, a different way of seeing things, might shift into yet unimagined directions – and art can facilitate such cutting-edge designs.