I had not seen the reports at the time... but of the link below to the late Christoph Schlingensief, I really LOVED what he did in Switzerland. He got all these complacent subscribers into a beautiful theater, thinking they were gonna see Hamlet.
But he radically changed it. And seemingly, at the end, came out in an SS German uniform, and 'in his role' really went AT them for taking the ones lucky or rich enough to get over the border, more or less steal their money, and then throw them under the bus and send them elsewhere, because, as they said at the time, 'the boat is full'. Right.
Those were historically known and documented facts, but he pushed it in their collective faces. Being in a role of outraged Nazi, that they would DO that and betray their neighbors.
You have to place this in the historical context of the time.
Christoph Schlingensief took no prisoners, and it is a joy to see some stolid Swiss in the audience demonstratively walking out, and him sitting on the stage, and calling them cowards. And getting into his camera team outside, and saying they would NEVER renew their subscriptions. Art has been political here.
I just let Peter know that he is gone, he was devastated, spent much time in theater circles in Germany before he came back to Graz. He knew him personally. And cried.
We had heated discussions about the film mentioned below, because the then not-formed GLBT people were angry with him for decades. But he was right. He wanted to light a fire under their behinds and get them active. So he was radical. It was the times.
I never saw much of his work. But did see what he did in Vienna one year. He was FULLY pissed off about us having homeless people. So for three weeks, he set them up in see-through containers, where everyone could watch them go about their daily stuff, and believe me, nothing gets an Austrian's more attention than watching other people and what they do... And set it up right beside the Opera near the Ringstraße, and the Viennese went on the 'Ram-PAGE', they were so indignant.
You couldn't PICK a more exposed and central place than that. Scandal, I tells you. I was just surprised anyone would agree to do that. He must have had powers of persuasion, I guess...
So he was an activist, an artist, a theater director, an actor, an all-around talent of immense capabilities, but he never gave an inch, and provoked.
Just to let you know... we've had some stellar artists in that caliber since I came here... Peter Handke, who won't be recognised till he is dead. Thomas Bernhard, who was smart enough to mess around with the upper class then published a roman à clef, and his book nearly got banned, but smarter than Truman Capote... And sculpt0r Alfred Hrdlicka, who drove Vienna nuts with a very controversial ensemble. I was there the night it was unveiled, and nearly got into a fist-fight. Don't ask. It had to do with 'the street-washing-Jew', and I nearly got into a fist-fight. Whereby the guy was of that faith. I had no wish to interfere, but he was belligerent, and I was of the opinion that you can't change historical FACTS, as ugly as they can be. It serves no purpose...
Those are only a handful off the top of my head, mind you.... and recent....
Art IS Politics here. And I don't know, but it fascinates me. It isn't about going to museums, or pretending to understand sculpture, it is POLITICAL. It's about making people think, herrgottnochmal. Gawwd, I am missing my friend Bernhard tonight... just to get him 'out on the Sqare', and having a very good talk. But alas, he's been dead some years now. He would have understood.
