Arbeit
Performance
Stamp, coins (ten cent), posters
2018

How does art emerge? What kinds of work are involved? Following a somewhat exaggerated version of an aesthetics that focuses on experience and the viewer or listener, one could say that art comes into this world only within the collusion of an object, a situation etc. and an interpreter. An interpreter who – based on experiences, social norms etc. – gives meaning to a work of art in a kind of dialog with the works own logic. Thus, if one asks about the kind of work, that is involved in the emergence of art within such a framework, it seems plausible to speak of receptive work. Listening is work, looking is working.

Arbeit (the German word for "work") is set up outside of a gallery or concert venue. Every visitor entering the space gets ten cent and a stamp with the word "Arbeit" on his or her arm; similar to the stamps one gets when entering a club. A fictive collective agreement between me, the event organizer and the audience regulates the performance and functions as a kind of score.