Reductionist Art Manifesto Interview Kinga Kielczynska
In 2009 Kinga Kielczynska presented her Reductionist Art Manifesto, claiming there is too much art in the world and telling us what to do about it. She explains why she wrote it and tells us whether she still lives by the rules of the manifesto or not.
Why did you write the Reductionist Art Manifesto?
The reason for writing the manifesto back in 2009 was related to the idea of progress in context of the global economy as well as the behavioural economics of individuals. I took art as both a working example and a metaphor to investigate this trajectory.
During the time I was also undergoing a metamorphosis within my own work. I started to interrogate my personal reasons for making art. The overproduction of art is extremely visible in Europe, especially in a city like Berlin where I reside. Due to this self-reflection I began to ask several to my fellow artists: why do we need more art?
This question became a title for a show I curated in my Kreuzberg apartment. This was also where I first presented the Reductionist Art Manifesto. When you contextualize a show in a place that is not a gallery, every element in the space naturally becomes a part of it, as it blurs the borders between intentional art pieces and other entities within its vicinity. I have always been interested in the threshold in between. Coming from the concept of the readymade (like my home life itself as part of the original exhibition of the manifesto), I wonder about the idea of art as an intentional and necessary mode of production.
What do you consider to be the main point of the manifesto?
It is a call for visions. More precise, its ultimate intention is to question the idea of production in times of overproduction. It is a strategy to open paths for new ways of seeing and creating art out of the very established systems that appear barren. This includes galleries, large objects and egotistic manifestations of every kind.
The manifesto is first and foremost concerned with drawing attention to the essence of things in the historical tradition of conceptual art and anti-philosophy. But let’s be clear: the manifesto is not an anti-art statement. It is not a point of negative closure or a dramatic death march for all art production. It is a provocation. It demands a reflection on our actions in a bigger picture. And I am not necessarily speaking of a ‘save the world’ type of statement. It’s more like: let‘s stand upside down and see how we see the world from an antipodean perspective. We may eventually get back to our previous position, but our view will be enriched by the contrary viewpoint we have just experienced. It’s important to take an extreme stance to refresh our view on the world.
Where did you show or present it?
It has had various iterations: as a framed text for the aforementioned exhibition in 2009 and later at an edition of Lost & Found at the New Museum via telephone. Then at the Kanzler exhibition at Sandra Breugel Gallery in Berlin, as a spam email and as part of a movie 2084 by Anton Vidokle and Pelin Tan shown at various locations. It has also become part of one of my performances. At some point I also sold its frame version. So it’s hanging in a collector’s apartment.
Has it triggered a debate?
Yes, and I would say I get more and more positive feedback on it. Naturally, every time it’s exhibited or when someone reads it online I am interrogated about it. Some artists feel intimidated. That’s of course exactly what my intention was. I was and still am happy if people disagree, if it makes them defend the purpose of art. On the occasion of an announcement of the movie ‘2084’ on E-flux’s Facebook page, where the first line of the manifesto was used as a still frame, a barrage of comments followed.
Do you still follow its main rules?
I followed the rules of the manifesto to its extreme for some time, but of course, as an individual I am in a permanent flux, so I am in a different situation right now. At first it was like a kind of cleansing of my mind. Taking the manifesto literally would put a stop to any art activity; it would ultimately deconstruct all other art works. I still keep on deconstructing and questioning the art system, and the past is something that always follows us in some form even after a dramatic transformation. In this way, I will follow the essence of the Reductionist Art Manifesto and continuously question the need for more art production.
Kinga Kielczynska is a Polish artist who works and lives in Berlin
A TRANSLATION OF THIS TEXT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN METROPOLIS M No 5-2013 SURPLUS. BUY IT HERE.