Silke Wagner
bürgersteig (Pavement)
A project by Silke Wagner in cooperation with www.aktion-fluchtwagen.de Münster (Action Escape Vehicle Münster), Unabhängige Antifa Aktiv Essen (Independent Active Anti-Fascists Essen) and kein mensch ist illegal Hanau (Nobody is Illegal Hanau) Silke Wagner’s bürgersteig (Pavement) project visited three German cities over a period of twelve months. Early in 2001 a VW minibus was purchased and put into operation in cooperation with local political groups in each city. The minibus, which each group customized to suit its needs, served as a mobile information point, a transport vehicle and a project van. The form of use and the specific local project were developed in cooperation with the respective group. Silke Wagner’s bus is arguably the most frequently cited work of political art in recent years. The bus was originally part of a project that took place at three different locations. The artist purchased a minibus for the exhibition Plug-In. Einheit und Mobilität at the Westfälische Landesmuseum in Münster in 2001. She placed it at the disposal of local antifascist and antiracist groups. Discussion and planning were incorporated into the artistic process. For the 2001 exhibition Arbeit Essen Angst in the Kokerei Zollverein | Zeitgenössische Kunst und Kritik in Essen, the artist made the bus available to the Independent Antifa Aktiv Essen organization. A documenting exhibit was produced together with the artist, and a series of events and lectures were arranged for the Essen inner city and the Kokerei Zollverein. The third stop in 2001 was Frankfurt am Main, in cooperation with the Hanau activist group kein mensch ist illegal (no-one is illegal); here, the practice of deporting refugees—in which Lufthansa is involved—was examined as an example of the dark side of the process of European integration. Lufthansa sued the artist but lost its case.
Silke Wagner
born 1968 in Göppingen/D, lives in Frankfurt am Main/D
Solo Exhibitions
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt am Main/D, 2007
Locals only?, Kunstraum München, Munich/D 2004
New Old Works (Theme), Kunstverein Heilbronn, Heilbronn/D 2002
der gelbe Pullover, Meyer Riegger Galerie, Karlsruhe/D 2001
Volxshochschule (mit | with Marius Babias, Meike Schmidt-Gleim), Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg/A 2001
Drehbücher, Galerie Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe/D 1999
Group Exhibitions
Skulptur Projekte Münster, 2007
Das große Rasenstück, Nuremberg/D, 2006
Nizza Transfer, Untermainkai, Frankfurt am Main/D 2004
Open House, O.K Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz/A 2004
Niemand ist eine Insel, Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst; Lichthaus Plus Neue Kunst, Bremen/D, 2003
in capital letters, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel/CH 2002
Zusammenhänge herstellen, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg/D 2002
Der globale Komplex, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz/A 2002
Arbeit Essen Angst, Kokerei Zollverein | Zeitgenössische Kunst und Kritik, Essen/D 2001
Plug-In. Einheit und Mobilität, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster/D 2001
Flexibilitätsversuche, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel/D 2000
Dribbdebach (Zakynthos), ZKM, Karlsruhe/D 2000
Home & Away, Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover/D 1999
German Open, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg/D 1999
Bibliography
Hagen Kopp, Silke Wagner, „bürgersteig“, in: Exhibition catalogue The Open City: Models for Use, Kokerei Zollverein | Zeitgenössische Kunst und Kritik, Essen 2003
Silke Wagner, New Old Works (Theme), Exhibition catalogue Kunstverein Heilbronn, Heilbronn 2002
Raimar Stange, „Interview mit Silke Wagner”, in: Raimar Stange, Zurück zur Kunst, Bernhard & Rogner bei Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2002
Kerstin Esch, „deportation class", arte, 16.07.2002
Markus Wailand, „Volxhochschule", in: Magazin 6, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg 2001
Markus Heinzelmann, „Silke Wagner", in: Exhibition catalogue Plug-In. Einheit und Mobilität, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster 2001
Links
www.aktion-fluchtwagen.de
www.deportation-alliance.com
http://gf-echt.primary.at/index.php?id=265&L=1
http://wilmatolksdorf.de/index.php?q=artist/view/243