EXTRA UNRUHIG

Описание: As a collective taking of space in the former correctional facility in Weimar, the group Extra Unruhig, consisting of 9 artists under the direction of Elena Zieser and Schorsch Kamerun, artistically poses basic questions about participation and empathy - also as a response to exclusionary simplification in currently increasingly fragile co-determination efficacies, with increasing social division and fear-fed opinion making. Is thinking, being, and doing differently really a fundamental general right? Which voice, which song hangs whom - or which one even hangs up? Can art effectively ask questions that are otherwise not dared, experiment freely, disturb, be random and (extra) restless - to keep borders necessarily fluid?

My work at the exibition:
The Unwanted Participation - An Interactive Installation

Public participation in political discourse is inherently ambivalent. In theory, it is necessary, important, and encouraged. In practice, however, from the perspective of capitalist-driven actors, it is inconvenient and unprofitable.
Election promises, once subjected to coalition negotiations or economic interests, dissolve into absolute disloyalty. Protest demands, at best, become mere campaign slogans. And in participatory procedures, citizens - who might otherwise pose an obstacle to investment projects - are transformed into knowledgeable aides in planning and development by offering their expertise within structured dialogues. What remains is a sense of powerlessness: not only are all efforts at participation exhausted, but these very efforts are strategically repurposed to reinforce the status quo and fortify hegemonic structures.
This feeling of powerlessness is at the core of The Unwanted Participation, a walk-through, interactive installation that makes this experience tangible. Through irony, curiosity, and absurdity, visitors navigate an obstacle course of failure. As an initial lure, they are invited to contribute ideas via a form, seemingly influencing the temporary use of the exhibition space - an abandoned former prison in Weimar.
The barriers placed in their way are blatantly bureaucratic, yet surmountable - especially through teamwork. A form positioned 2.5 meters high can be reached with a human ladder. A task set in complete darkness can be solved if three hands simultaneously operate the necessary light switches. Key information can be gathered through a complex web of interconnected telephones linking different exhibits. Nevertheless, the parcours ultimately concludes with a paper shredder, turning the participatory ideas into confetti that flutters down the staircase of the former prison.


The project was sponsored by the Studierendenwerk Thüringen, the Chair of Experimental Radio and the Students' Convention of the Bauhaus University Weimar and took place in cooperation with the Freiraum Kollektiv Weimar and the Kollektiv Raumstation from 22.03.-23.03.22 in the former JVA in Weimar