Overground Resistance Exhbition at Fluc, Vienna.

Abstract

IN THE CUBATUR OF THE KABINETTS - the Kunstsalon shows: Wednesday, 6. April

(STOP 13.04.) //English version below// OVERGROUND RESISTANCE With works by the artists: Noel Douglas (UK), Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Hunkpa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe/US), Nicolas Lampert (US), Oliver Ressler (AT) and Seday (FR) Curated by Oliver Ressler 25 years of climate negotiations have not caused a reduction in global CO2 emissions within the framework of the United Nations. Extra-parliamentary and horizontally organized social movements therefore increase the pressure on governments to herald the end of the fossil-fuel economy and the switch to a carbon-neutral society. For example, the occupations of the lignite mining sites in Germany have centrally contributed to the fact that the Federal Government decided to phase out coal (even if it is far too late in 2038 as an exit date). Without years of pressure from indigenous activists, US President Joe Biden would probably never have revoked the permission for the Keystone XL Teersande oil pipeline. While historical resistance was mostly organized “underground” by partisans or non-parliamentary groups, climate activism, in contrast, “overground” takes place on a large scale – even if the limits of what is defined as legal are often crossed. The global bandwidth and the visibility of the movement show the frightening global extent of the threat and the unprecedented boundary of the collective determination to counteract it. Millions of people who want to prevent the complete planetary climate collapse and want to preserve the Earth as a living space for generations to come, will become active in the climate justice movement. This also applies to numerous artists. In recent years, it has increasingly been observed that artists no longer only make climate change the subject of their artistic works. The presentation in the fluc brings together artists who develop their works in dialogue with the climate justice movement and see themselves as part of these movements. The project is the result of the exhibition “Overground Resistance” shown in the free space of the Q21 exhibition space in 2021 and transfers some of the works into the public space. Thanks to Elisabeth Hajek, artistic director of frei raum Q21 exhibition space Fluc Art Program 2022 curated by Ursula Maria Probst. Produced by Martin Wagner, Francesca Romana Audretsch. Grafic Design: Alexandra Berlinger PROACTING DESCRIPTIONS: Noel Douglas, Burn Now..., 2021 This poster “Burn Now...” is part of a series of collages made by the artist of burning gas stations, to which he has juxtaposed with images of forest fires in Greece and Australia. It was created for the ’BanFossilAds campaign, which hacks over 200 billboards and bus stops by activists in the UK, Belgium and France. Ogilvy, MediaCom, VCCP and others were associated with their carbon-intensive customers such as Shell, BP, Jaguar Land Rover and British Airways through fake ads installed without permission. The action was part of a four-day Europe-wide protest action against fossil advertising and sponsorship under the motto "BanFossilAds at the conclusion of the UN Climate Summit COP 26 in Edinburgh. Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III, NoDAPL, 2016-2017 Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III “Ta Sunka Gi Hetchia-Chameleon Horse” using many artistic techniques, e.g. Drawing, graphics, design, painting, mixed media and Ledger Art. The posters and banners of the Bunkpapa Lakota, which belongs to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, gained great importance for the Dakota Access Pipeline protests from 2016 (NoDAPL). The protests were base riots of indigenous people against the approved construction of the Dakota Access pipeline of Energy Transfer Partners in the northern United States. The art of Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III is a sharp communication weapon for indigenous water guards; by uniting past, present and future stories and images, it also reflects an indigenous understanding of time. “There is no separation between the past and the present, so that an alternative future is determined by our understanding of the past. Our story is the future,” writes Lower Brule Sioux Tribe member and co-founder of Red Nation, Nick Estes*. Nick Estes, *Our History is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance, Verso books, 2019 Nicolas Lampert, Capital Pipeline, 2014/2022 “Capital Pipeline” shows the US Capitol Building and addresses the politics that finances climate chaos. The picture shows how politicians are bought and sold from the fossil fuel industry, making the climate crisis a political crisis. It also points out that fossil fuel industry in the United States and many other countries receives massive subsidies from the federal government, which fill the pockets of a handful of multinational corporations and accelerate the demise of the planet. The forecasts of science are clear. The same applies to the message of the climate justice movement: we now need a rapid switch to renewable energies. To achieve this, we need a system change Oliver Ressler, We are all learning about nature's circulatory systems by poisoning them, 2021 The existence of human, animal, plant and bacterial life is directly linked. The complexity of the connections between life on the planet is also evident when one of the actors fails. These connections seem to be broken right before our eyes. According to scientific calculations, 150-200 species in our collective habitat could currently be extended daily. Through the 6th Mass Extinction and the climate collapse, the pursuit of a radical social upheaval is not an option, but the only possibility of continuing life. Seday, painting on banks, 2015-2020 In fact, the movement has grown. At first, there were very few of us doing it. But recently, banks have become a preferred goal with every demo. We see ourselves as part of the current Black Block that attacks the symbolic. Since 2006, the demonstration trains have been followed by cleaning trains to clear the traces of the protest. At the same time, the mainstream media are writing the story around in real time: “There is no protest, you can sleep peacefully, everything is normal.” Our answer to this is to leave a trace. A symbolic trace of how to underline what is wrong. Once I heard a child ask his mother: “Why are the banks hiding behind these fortifications?” I understood that we had hit the right place. That is why I only pick up banks in my practice, and systematically. I prefer to spray than use the chisel, because the visual shock of color is closer to art rather than destruction. I believe more in transformation than in destruction. We are in a time of great transformation. Excerpt from an interview with Seday in the French magazine Nantes Révoltée, 3. February 2021 BIOGRAPHY: Noel Douglas is an artist, designer and activist who works with different media and various types of public space. A selection of his most recent exhibitions are Hope To Nope at the Design Museum, Disobedient Objects and A World To Win, Posters of Protest and Revolution at the V&A, which have been toured nationally and internationally in recent years, and Graphic Design Now In Production, which has toured the United States. Noel Douglas was a finalist at the 2010 International Poster Biennial at the Wilanà w museum in Warsaw and one of the artists of the Taipei Biennial 2008 in Taiwan. In 2009, together with Tony Credland, he curated the group exhibition Signs of Revolt at the Truman Brewery in London in November 2009, which provided an overview of politically engaged works of recent decades. Nicolas Lampert is an artist and author living in the USA who deals with topics of social justice and ecology in his work. He collaborates with the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a printing cooperative founded in 2007 by over forty artists. He also works with the Art Build Workers, who organize several-day art actions for trade unions and the movement for the rights of immigrants. He is the author of A People's Art History of the United States: 250 Years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements.

Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe-Hunkpapa Lakota) was influenced by family members who dedicated their lives to the production of indigenous art. Gilbert was inspired to create his graphic artworks with traditional themes. He is constantly expanding the media with which he works and integrates new art styles for a new generation. “I am constantly creating new works of art and taking new methods to create my art. I constantly change my art like a chameleon, with the power of a horse.” Gilbert continues to work to strengthen his company by optimising production and expanding its audience with an online presence that extends beyond the boundaries of his reserve. Oliver Ressler works as an artist and filmmaker on economics, democracy, migration, climate crisis, forms of civil disobedience and social alternatives. He has had over 90 solo exhibitions; this year, solo exhibitions in Neuer Berliner Kunstverein; State of Concept, Athens and Tallinn Art Hall are in preparation. His 39 films were shown in thousands of events of social movements, art institutions and film festivals. Ressler has participated in more than 400 group exhibitions, at the Museo Reina SofÃa, Madrid; Centre Pompidou, Paris and at the Biennales in Taipei (2008), Lyon (2009), Venice (2013), Quebec (2014), Kiev (2017) and Documenta 14, Kassel, 2017. Seday is a French-based artist who works in public space. Its preferred image carrier are the facades of banks. with the kind support of the City of Vienna/Ma7 and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sports /// English version OVERGROUND RESISTENCE With contributions by Noel Douglas (UK), Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Hunkpa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe/US), Nicolas Lampert (US), Oliver Ressler (AT), Seday (FR) The past 25 years of UN climate negotiation have led to no reduction of global carbon emissions whatsoever. Meanwhile, extra-parliamentary and horizontally organized social movements have never relented in their pressure on states to end the fossil fuel economy outright and ensure swift transition to a carbon-in societyneutral. The movements - blockade of German lignite mines played crucial part in the decision of that country's government to phase out the use of coal (although the 2038 exit date announced is too late). Were it not for the years of implacable pressure from Indigenous American Water Protectors, US President Joe Biden would likely never have revoked Federal approval of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. Historically, resistance has often been organized “underground” by partisans or extra-parliamentary groups. Climate activism, by contrast, is coming “overground” on a massive scale, despite often crossing the boundaries of what is considered “legal”. The worldwide scope and visibility of the movement reflect the terrifying global scale of the threat and also the unprecedented social breadth and depth of collective determination to counter it. Millions of people determined to prevent total planetary climate collapse - to preserve the Earth as habitat for future generations - are joining the climate justice movement and collectively taking action. This is also true of many artists, more and more of whom have shown over the last few years that they no longer regard climate change merely as “subject matter” for their works. This presentation at Fluc brings together artists who produce their works in dialogue with the climate justice movements in which they consider themselves participants. The project emerges from the exhibition “Overground Resistance” at frei raum Q21 exhibition space in 2021 and transfers a few works into public space. Thanks to Elisabeth Hajek, artistic director of frei raum Q21 exhibition space Fluc Art Program 2022 curated by Ursula Maria Probst. Produced by Martin Wagner, Francesca Romana Audretsch. Grafic Design: Alexandra Berlinger PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS : Noel Douglas, Burn Now..., 2021 This poster, “Burn Now...” is part of a collaged series the artist has made of burning Petrol stations juxtaposed with images from Wildfires in Greece and Australia. It was made for the ’BanFossilAds campaign that saw over 200 billboards and bus stops hacked by activists in the UK, Belgium and France. Alongside the Fossil Fuel Companies, leading Ad Agencies were targeted over their role in the climate crisis, as spoof ads installed without permission linked Ogilvy, MediaCom, VCCP and others with their high carbon clients such as Shell, BP, Jaguar Land Rover and British Airways. The action was part of four days of Europe-wide grassroots actions to protest fossil advertising and sponsorships, under the banner ’BanFossilAds at the end of the UN Climate COP 26 summit in Edinburgh. Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III, NoDAPL, 2016-2017 Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III “Ta Sunka Gi Hetchia-Chameleon Horse” creates in many forms of art, including drawing, graphic design, paintings, mixed media and ledger art. Being a Hunkpapa Lakota enrolled in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, his posters and banners have become important in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016 (NoDAPL). The protests were grassroots uprisings of Native Americans in reaction to the approved construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States. Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III's art is a strong tool of communication for Indigenous Water Protectors; through bringing together stories and images of the past, present and the future art his reflects an indigenous of understanding time. “There is no separation between past and present, meaning that an alternative future is also determined by our understanding of our past. Our history is the future", writes the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe citizen and co-founder of the Red Nation, Nick Estes*. Nick Estes, *Our History is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance, Verso books, 2019 Nicolas Lampert, Capital Pipeline, 2014/2022 “Capital Pipeline” depicts the US Capitol Building and the policies that fund climate chaos. The image speaks about how politicians are bought and sold by the fossil fuel industry, making the climate crisis a political crisis. It also references how the fossil fuel industry in the United States and so many other countries receive massive subsidies from the federal government that lines the pockets of a handful of multinational corporations and speeds up the demise of the planet. The science is clear. Same with the message from the climate justice movement: we need a rapid shift to renewable energy now. To achieve that we need a system change. Oliver Ressler, We are all learning about nature's circulatory systems by poisoning them, 2021 The existence of human, animal, plant and bacterial life is directly linked. The complexity of the connections constitutsing life on the planet suddenly becomes apparent when one of the components fails. These connections now seem to be breaking down right before our eyes. According to scientific calculations, as many as 150-200 species in our collective habitat could become extinct every day. In the face of the 6th Mass Extinction and planetary climate breakdown, radical social upheaval is not merely an option, it is the only way for life to continue. Seday, paintings on banks, 2015-2020 So yes, the movement has really taken hold. There were hardly any of us to start with, but since then the banks have become a top-priority target at every demo. We consider ourselves part of the black bloc wing that targets the symbolic. Marches since 2006 have been followed by a clean-up team that more or less exists to erase all trace of protest. Meanwhile big media outlets rewrite history in real time: “there was no protest, everything’s fine, sleep calmly in your beds”. Our answer is to leave a mark, a symbolic mark bearing witness to what was falsified. Once I heard a kid ask his mom “why are the banks hiding behind these walls?” That's when I knew we were onto something, and why my praxis targets banks exclusively and systematically. And I spray rather than chisel because the visual shock from the color is closer to art than simple destruction. I believe in transformation more than destruction. We're living through a time of huge transformation. Excerpt of an interview with Seday published in French in the magazine Nantes Révoltée, February 3, 2021 BIOGRAPHIES: Noel Douglas is an artist, designer and activist working across different media and in different types of public spaces. Some recent exhibitions have been Hope To Nope at the Design Museum, Disobedient Objects and A World To Win, Posters of Protest and Revolution at the V&A that have toured nationally and internationally over the last few years, Graphic Design Now In Production that has toured round the United States. Noel Douglas was a finalist in the 2010 International Poster Biennial at the Wilanà w Museum in Warsaw, one of the artists in the 2008 Taipei Biennial in Taiwan. In 2009 Noel Douglas curated with Tony Credland a group show Signs of Revolt at the Truman Brewery in London in November 2009 which surveyed the last decades best politically engaged work. Nicolas Lampert is a US-based artist and author whose work focuses on themes of social justice and ecology. Collectively, he works with the Justseeds Artists - Cooperative - a worker-owned printmaking cooperative of over forty artists that formed in 2007. He also works with the Art Build Workers - that organizes multi-day art builds for unions and the immigrant rights movement. He is the author of A People's Art History of the United States: 250 Years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements. Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe-Hunkpapa Lakota) was heavily Influenced by family members who s s way of life was making Native art, Gilbert is inspired to create his art centered around traditional Lakota themes. He continues to expand the media he works with, incorporating new styles of art for a new generation. “I am always creating and teaching myself new ways to create my one of a kind art. Ever changing my art like a Chameleon, with the strength of a Horse.” Gilbert continues to work to strengthen his business Chameleon Horse Art & Design by streamlining production as well as expanding his audience through an online presence, reaching beyond reservation boundaries.

Oliver Ressler produces installations, projects in public space, and films on economics, democracy, racism, climate breakdown, forms of resistance and social alternatives. He has completed thirty-nine films that have been screened in thousands of events of social movements, art institutions and film festivals. Ressler had comprehensive solo exhibit at Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; Seville; MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest; SALT Galata, Istanbul; Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo - CAAC, Seville and participated in the biennials in Taipei (2008), Lyon (2009), Gyumri (2012), Venice (2013), Athens (2013, 2015), Quebec, Jeju, Seday is an artist based in France who works in public space. His favorite picture carriers are the facades of banks. FB: : with the kind support of the City of Vienna/Ma7 and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport.

https://www.fluc.at/programm/2022/04/06_IN-DER-KUBATUR-DES-KABINETTS-der-Kunstsalon-zeigt.html