Auszeichnung
künstlerischer Projekträume
und -initiativen
Every hour one puts into the project will be missed in your own practice. Project spaces are significant to counter the institutions and their market-oriented curated productions. They still have the ­capac­ity to foster artistic practices and communities, but also to be resistant to general tendencies and trends. Perhaps project spaces are now what once were the underground and the avant-garde.To run a space is a form of appreciation of other artists, it is an outcome of friendship and mutual understanding; it is an indication of trust between all involved. To run a space means to take responsibility. To run a space is not only self-organization – money may not be vital to put up a show – but it is for sure necessary to animate a space and keep it alive. The prize comes due to hard and merited work, but maybe a grant would be more befitting than a prize? Maybe an iron scaffold holding up a structure in advance is better suited than a gold star for accomplishments? To run a space is a full time job. A group of artists who share their enthusiasm, interests, time, and skills would impart a project with a larger circulation of assignments between the makers. I am convinced that the longevity and success of a space relies on a horizontally organized (net) work.Art has the unique ability to help us expand our imagination and the way we think about the world. By bending the lines of logic and ­rational approaches, it offers a gateway to our collective unconscious and provides a terrain where everything is possible, hence pushing our thinking process forward. We see art and artists as seismographs for changes in society. There is also great freedom in art, addressing big and timeless questions that are independent of current economic and political realities and interests. Art can be a space for utopias, or for histories outside of history books. Art is important because it keeps us going through the difficult and dark times. Art keeps us alive.