Exile on Mainstream
Mark von Schlegell
Video
The video is available in English.
Mark von Schlegell has always dealt with system and the systemic in both his theoretical and fictional practices. Of particular interest are his reflections on surviving past the hollowing out and flattening of the literary mainstream in works, like Realometer (2005) and Dreaming the Mainstream (2010). Against this wider cultural backdrop, Schlegell’s fictional-critical method considers a futuristic, textual activism no longer outside, but now upon, the capitalist surface. This bubbling fantasia must leave the barriers of propriety, plagiarism, genre, scholarship, art and criticism far behind. In his lecture von Schlegell reflects on the possibilities of such quasi-literary reality interference, with reference to certain pieces in the exhibition, such as the works of Lee Scratch Perry.
Artists
Participating artists
Mark von Schlegell
is the author of more than eleven published books of fiction and criticism, and numerous stories, scripts, essays, and experimental short form writings. His first novel Venusia (Semiotext(e), 2005) was honor’s listed for the Otherwise Prize in Science Fiction. He holds a Ph. D. in English and American literature from New York University. He has taught literature and art at NYU, City College, New York, Los Angeles City College, CalArts, the San Francisco Art Institute, and Staedelschule, Frankfurt. He has been a founding member of the hybrid writing/art/performance group Pure Fiction since 2011.
More contributions
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Video
As part of the exhibition A. I. O., Hans-Christian Dany approaches Oswald Wiener’s work from a contemporary perspective. Taking Die Verbesserung von Mitteleuropa, ein roman (The Improvement of Central Europe, a novel) as his starting point, he connects Wiener’s reflections on dandyism, paranoia, and artificial intelligence with today’s experiences with generative AI, and explores the unique resonances that Wiener’s speculative thinking continues to evoke in the present.
Exhibition Tour
A.rtificial I.ntrospection O.
Video
A.rtificial I.ntrospection O. explores the conditions of thinking, perception, and consciousness at the intersection of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and self-observation, bringing Oswald Wiener’s ideas into dialogue with artistic positions from different generations.
Michael Krebber talks to Sandro Droschl
Video
As part of the exhibition A.rtificial I.ntrospection O., Michael Krebber speaks with Sandro Droschl about his artistic practice and his engagement with the writings and conceptual models of Oswald Wiener.
Nicola Cipani, Thomas Eder
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Video
As part of the accompanying program for the exhibition A. I. O., the two renowned Oswald Wiener experts Nicola Cipani and Thomas Eder will discuss Die Verbesserung von Mitteleuropa (1969).
A.rtificial I.ntrospection O.
Exhibition Tour
Slide show
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Dr. Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer
Susanne Wenger’s painting between Africa and Europe
Video
In her lecture, art historian and curator Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer examines Susanne Wenger’s work as a transcultural Gesamtkunstwerk that bridges European modernism and Yorùbá ritual practice, creating a new sacred aesthetic that merges art, ritual, and cultural boundaries.
Kathy Rae Huffman
FROM CYBERFEMINISM
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Video
Kathy Rae Huffman’s lecture traces the evolution of cyberfeminism since the 1990s: it connected women in the digital sphere, challenged existing power structures, and presented examples — from VNS Matrix to contemporary digital activism — that highlight critiques of platform corporations, AI cultures, and global inequalities.
Xol Meissner
Concert
Video
New York-based artist Xol Meissner — the alter ego of composer Mauro Hertig — has transformed the HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark into a hypnotic soundscape of extraordinary intensity with his haunting music, which oscillates between contemporary classical and avant-garde rock.