This group exhibition, 'Unruhe der Form. Entwürfe des politischen Subjekts', questions how contemporary art can challenge economic structures and explore aesthetic action within the political sphere. It features artistic works, lectures, concerts, and performances across multiple venues, examining artistic designs of political subjectivity.
Secession annually presents a group exhibition, inviting curators to develop new projects with maximum conceptual freedom. For 'Unruhe der Form. Entwürfe des politischen Subjekts', curators Karl Baratta, Stefanie Carp, Matthias Pees, Hedwig Saxenhuber, and Georg Schöllhammer developed a conceptual exhibition parcours. This project delves into the relationship between stage, performance, and visual arts to investigate the political subject and possible forms of aesthetic action. It questions art's capacity to resist economic structures and explore potentials beyond commodified activism. The exhibition spans Secession's spaces, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and the MuseumsQuartier Wien, animated by artistic works, lectures, concerts, and performances. It bridges visual and performing arts, reflecting on potential futures and past modernist and avant-garde movements. A series of authors contribute by addressing blind spots in the current political landscape, aiming to open a space for aesthetic action demonstrated through acts of subjectification and the disturbance of given identities and visibility. The exhibition advocates for maintaining the tension between the collective interest and the singular formalist act as a form of resistance.