Overruling Landscapes

Come on down! We’ll take care of you!

The BLA’s participatory performance will shake you up and open your eyes to the set of rules that define our environment, the built “free space”. Breadth, height, depth, spacing, size, colour—freely chosen and composed according to artistic intuition and principles? No! Playgrounds, green spaces, streets, and parks are all saturated with safety regulations, laws, and norms, and adhering to these policies is meant to protect us all: the toddler should never fall over, the elderly man can’t be allowed to stumble or trip, no child should ever give the kindergarten teacher the slip, joggers are to see and be seen, walkers should keep a proper distance, climbers should have a soft landing when they fall, strollers don’t bump into any posts. When things bleep and light up, these rules can be seen and heard. But absolute safety is an illusion. The visual consequences of the flood of laws and norms also have an effect in the places where we are not aware of them, and they restrict the leeway for creative design—but, far worse than that, they limit our freedom to act.
We reveal the rules of order and blow a raspberry at the mania for security! Come and join in! (Safety clothing and protective goggles provided)

Participatory Performance
Project space k48 – Offensive für zeitgenössische Wahrnehmung (Oliver Hangl)
Kirchengasse 48/Lokal 2, 1070 Wien, 26.04.2017, 19:00