20 Sep 2010

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents 'The Stock Is Rising'

'The Stock Is Rising' is the latest project by artist Annika Lundgren and operates with the notions of collective willpower and how faith creates reality.

Consisting of one Internet-based part and one live part, 'The Stock Is Rising' aims at levitating the old Frankfurt Stock Exchange to drive out evil spirits. The online meditation begins on August 21, accumulating spiritual power for a month through the contribution of participants from all around the world. This manifestation culminates in a physical gathering in front of the building at Börsenplatz in downtown Frankfurt between 3:00 and 5:35 p.m. on September 21, where the Stock Exchange will be elevated in a final collective effort.

The financial sector's use of and faith in the index graph undeniably creates an economic reality for everyone, but the faith of a determined community of levitationists using a different set of values can also create an ethical and political reality.

On the one hand stock brokers frantically preoccupied with stocks, options, and funds representing a fictitious value, on the other a group of people focusing their mental powers to challenge the way this system affects democracy. Which, after all, is the more absurd idea?

The project is also a tribute to American activist Abbie Hoffman and his Pentagon-levitation during the protests against the Vietnam War in 1967. 'The Stock Is Rising' strives to pick up where Hoffman left off.

More about the project at: www.stockisrising.com

Annika Lundgren is a Swedish born artist, currently based in Berlin. Lundgren's practice encompasses site- and context-specific pieces involving the audience and society, and has been represented in exhibitions and events in Europe, the United States, Korea, Japan, and South Africa – both inside and outside of institutions.

Lundgren's practice functions through the careful relocation of power, addressing itself to the hierarchies of knowledge and the discrimination incorporated in history writing and economic forces. Combining social/political analysis or critique with a narrative and visionary element, Lundgren's projects not only question those issues, but also generate possibilities for concrete actions and development based on new perspectives and strategies.

Other projects by Lundgren comprise 'The Power & Illumination Project' (transferring energy from fitness centers to forums where knowledge about 'power' is produced and presented), 'Public Educational Tours' (a series of guided tours discussing history writing), and 'Projections' (digitalized slideshows appropriating the format of the boardroom presentation and using its authoritative aura to relate a number of poetic and political fictions through images and text). Recent work also includes 'Temporary Flora' (an ongoing research of competition and cooperation based on the theories of Darwin versus those of Kropotkin) and the upcoming 'Meanwhile – Back at the Ranch...' (a stage performance combining magic tricks, politics, and poetry).

More about Lundgren's work at: www.annikalundgren.net

'The Stock Is Rising' is produced for the exhibition project 'Playing the City 2.' Organized by Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and curated by Matthias Ulrich, this exhibition hosts a number of artistic activities in various locations around the city of Frankfurt, posing the question of how the public participates in the political process.

'Playing the City 2' takes place between September 8 and September 26 and features Nina Beier, Clarina Bezzola, Julien Bismuth, Clegg & Guttmann, Cosalux, Christoph Faulhaber, For Use / Numen, Swetlana Gerner, Jördis Hille, Christoph von Löw, Josef Loretan, Jan Lotter, Annika Lundgren, Lee Mingwei, Ivan Moudov, Anny and Sibel Öztürk, Paola Pivi, Plural Art Collective feat. Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Reactor, Annika Ström, Leonid Tishkov, Gavin Turk, and Vanja Vukovic.

More about 'Playing the City 2' at: www.playingthecity.de