Around the year 2000 I realised that ‘Conceptual art’ had become merely a kind of hollow rhetoric rather than an artistic statement. The word “conceptual” was misused to certify only that a practice was more elaborate or well thought. This was a wrong direction.
Stefan Römer believes the “art as investment” idea corrupts the autonomy of art and the artists.
Stefan Roemer, reenacting Ed Ruscha 1970, 2016.
How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work?
My works are known for their critical language of different media and their epistemological impulses. It brings together a variety of working methods out of my critical research on post-minimalism and global conceptualism, ranging from visual, spatial, musical, time-based and performative aspects in artistic making and writing. Out of a critical and deconstructive reading of these practices I try to foster a singular one which I call de-conceptual. My de-conceptual practice has a strong discoursive impulse: research, reading, thinking and writing, like in my film-essay Conceptual Paradise and the related ongoing archive http://conceptual-paradise.zkm.de.
Some people call any art “conceptual” when it has a reduced or minimal look. On the contrary, my suggestion is to differentiate between elaborated artistic drafts which I call conception and practices, which also refer to the discourse of Global Conceptualism. The outcome of this differentiation is that it allows division between practices which have a philosophical or epistemological interest – what I call conceptual – and other practices with only a minimalist, reduced or scientific look. Another decisive factor is if the practice includes writing. Historically the minimalists and conceptualists opposed with their theoretical writings the idealist definition of art by Clement Greenberg. These artists defined their artistic autonomy with their works and writings, which can be understood as a strategy of self-empowerment. Well, doing/ making is substantial in art, but producing without reflection or thought tends to be mere decoration. But decoration with reflection can be conceptual.
Under the contemporary conditions of commercialisation and corporatisation of the arts and the global reactionary backlash in culture and societies, it is important for artists to define their own field of practice by themselves. For this I consider writing and speech (lectures and interviews) a fundamentally important practice, regardless of the medium or material you use.
Stefan Roemer presenting his artist-theoretical book “Inter-esse“, 2014.
Tell us about your journey that led to the inception of Conceptual Paradise. How does it all come together?
Around the year 2000 I realised that “Conceptual art” had become merely a kind of hollow rhetoric rather than an artistic statement. The word “conceptual” was misused to certify only that a practice was more elaborate or well thought. This was a wrong direction because I associate conceptualism with (self-) analytical language, institutional critique and eventually the critique of the representation of art in relation to race, class, and gender. The visual appearance is only one aspect. So, the first approach to my film project Conceptual Paradise was a deeper and broader research in this field which I also was part of.
I had initiated and organised an artists’ collective called Freshmakers, FrischmacherInnen in German, since the early 1990s in Cologne, which was at that time a centre of the international art market. The aim of this group was to oppose racist and xenophobic activities of radical right-wing extremists in Germany with a whole range of artistic practices. See the short video Funky Expedition to understand this. It referred artistically to the writings of Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin, and led back to the avant-gardist movement of the Russian constructivists and productivists. Also, I consider the exhibition Global Conceptualism in the late 1990s as a very important project. It was one of the first efforts to research and exhibit together conceptual practices from around the globe.
Stefan Roemer, The Fake-Rag, painting and text-animation, 2019.
Tell us about your personal evolution vis-a-vis the work you do. What have you observed in the changing cultural landscape?
Actually, since I organised the genre-extending collective Freshmakers with a political impulse and a collective practice, I observed the so-called professionalisation of the artistic field. I see the recent “art as investment” idea as a misuse. It corrupts the autonomy of art and the artists. The artists must take care not to fuel this capitalist dream.
Let’s talk about your frameworks, references and process. What inspires you?
My art is inspired by poststructuralist philosophy. But to draw lessons from the use of language and to criticise the institution of art you need to have language and an institution. If the political context is unstable and education weak, we first have to demand for an appropriate state that will take care of social equality and solidarity. I demand for the basic orders of Enlightenment otherwise good art is not possible. But with the contemporary global backlash in human rights we face a lot of work. As Theodor W. Adorno wrote, after Auschwitz art has lost its self-evidence. Impossibility of art, according to Adorno, was because “nothing is given anymore, not its inner concept of the original, not its outer relation to its context or to society or the world, which defines its right to exist.” According to this view, which I share with the art historian, Tom Holert (“Art“, in: Rosi Braidotti and Maria Hlavajova, Post-Human Glossari, London, New York and New Delhi 2018, p.59-62), everything has to be motivated and established in art. Nothing is given or legitimated by the artist as a genius or an idealist system. Altogether, I consider this as the fundamental reason for conceptual art practice.
Stefan Roemer, Welcoming Culture-2015, photomontage, plate 4/4, 2015.
Do you handle the commercials of your art yourself or is it outsourced to agents?
I would absolutely like to have a manager who will organise and promote my art.
Let’s talk about your long-term vision. Would it be safe to say that Conceptual Paradise is the first step towards manifesting this vision?
Conceptual Paradise is an ongoing project and it has a long-term vision. In this sense, it is important to define art as a social, epistemological and medial process; this is what defines culture. In this process I enjoy working on different issues, with different materials, mediums and relations. But the goal is an archive of artists and good people who support an emancipatory progress. We are responsible for what’s going on in the world. Art is always relational to its societal context. Let’s take this as a serious challenge and use our creative resources to produce better conditions for all people and beings. We can use every exhibition, network or single piece for this project.
Stefan Roemer, Welcoming Culture-2015, photomontage, plate 1/4, 2015.
Which shows, performances and experiences have shaped your own creative process? Who are your maestros? Whose journey would you want to read about?
My parents told me that they had to pull me out of the first art exhibition they brought me to: it was a Salvador Dali show in the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden in 1971. So, at age 11 I was hooked to art. Later as a young adult I was impressed by Joseph Beuys and I started studying with similar intentions. Also, I was strongly hit by the auteurs of the Nouvelle Vague. Without avant-garde music, from minimal to krautrock to pop, I wouldn’t be the person I am. My work with the artists featured in Conceptual Paradise archive are a delight as well.
How does the audience interact and react to your work?
Last year I developed the sound project Deconceptual Voicings with Marc Matter. We sampled sounds of eight interviews from Conceptual Paradise into eight completely different sound pieces, which resulted in a music album. Check deconceptualvoicings.bandcamp.com/album/deconceptual-voicings.
Deconceptual Voicings consists of individual tracks composed from interviews with artists primarily recorded for Conceptual Paradise. We selected statements and transformed them into musical composition. Only speech and language material were used. Sound fragments, syllables and consonants were processed into rhythmic patterns, while slogans, statements and text passages were sampled into sprechgesang. We did a tour in different museums and clubs and had very nice interactions with the audience.
Stefan Roemer as “Stan Back“, Making Faces, 2008.
What are you working on now?
My work is divided between creating sounds, taking photographs and video, and writing. All my practice is based on research, which is why I need extra time to read which I appreciate very much. And I enjoy working with other artists in different approaches and contexts. It is always a delight to share time and company in a project with artists with different practices.
Right now I am working on the 3rd. part of my film-cicle „ReCoder”, which is a combination of an experimental film with sound. The female protagonist is Reco, she is many actresses and they will change the code of this world. I am confident about this.
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