Auszeichnung
künstlerischer Projekträume
und -initiativen

Kinderhook & Caracas

2011
Kreuzbergstraße
42e
Berlin
10965

Merzbau-Garten, 2020, Foto: Joe Clark

Merzbau-Garten, Foto: Joe Clark

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 power to make people think and feel differently. Art has the power to activate change.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.