TEXTPORTRAIT "MISSING"

"Missing", Textportrait at Ground Zero, Cafe Europe and Chelsea Art Galleries - Tomwell, New York).


MISSING PEOPLE
Grundlange dieser raumübergreifenden Installation, die sich an mehreren Orten in New York City fast gleichzeitig und in ähnlicher Konstellation dem Betrachter darbot, war das "Multiple Portrait" MISSING. Ralph Ueltzhoeffer bediente sich des aktuellen "People Missing Report" (2007), dieser bot ihm die Grundlage, aus mehreren Einzelportraits vermisster Personen ein anonymes, multiples Portrait zu erstellen. Gemeinsam mit der Künstlerin Laura Maria May konnten Anfang 2008 an Orten wie dem Ground Zero, dem Cafe Europe und in der Chelsea Art Gallery - Tomwell, die Textportraits ausgestellt bzw. installiert werden. [...]

[Installationsansicht: "Missing" Ralph Ueltzhoeffer (Textportrait), Laura Maria May (Organisation). Digitalprint auf Netzplane (Feb 2008) - *Unser Dank geht an: Jill Meyers, Owen Bernstein, Mary Sandle, Kevin Kampinsky (Organisation).]

[Übersetzung: Martin Frei - *Artprojects at Ground Zero.]

Installation "MISSING" - PRADA, New York (2009).

Wenn Luxus-Konsumtempel Raum für Kunst bieten.
Prada Flagship Store, New York (SoHo) räumt einen Teil seiner Schaufenster und überlässt sie der Kunst. Die beiden Künstler Laura Maria May (London) und Ralph Ueltzhoeffer (Mannheim) installieren übergroße Portraits aus Schrift und Bild. Die vierteilige Arbeit, die sich zunehmend auf ein Wort konzentriert, zeigt dem Betrachter im Vorübergehen wie Luxus und Konsum zur Farce werden.

Die Portraits (Textportraits) beschreiben mit dem Wort "MISSING" die Situation mehrdeutig im Sinne einer transparenten und gleichermaßen untransparenten Gesellschaft. Auffallend bei dieser Installation war das nicht unerhebliche Interesse der Geschehnisse hinter dem leicht transparenten und lichtdurchlässigen Kunststoff. Die Neugier der Passanten überwog alle Bedenken kindlicher Schaufenstermanier. Von der Straßenseite gegenüber mit Abstand erschließt sich das Portrait als eine vermisste Person die an diesem Ort eine globale Rolle einnimmt. Das Ablenkungsmanöver der Inszenierung wird durch gezielt platzierte Neugier auf unwesentliches gelenkt. So waren viele Betrachter enttäuscht hinter der Luxus-Schaufensterfront einfach nur "nichts" zu entdecken - nichts im Sinne eines Verlustes.

Die Textportraits von Ralph Ueltzhoeffer (geb. 1966 in Mannheim) geistern seit Jahren unkontrolliert und absichtlich, maßlos überpräsentiert durch das world-wide-web. Die Grundlage der Portraits entspringt eben diesem Medium, zusammengefügt aus biografischen Texten z.T. der freien Enzyklopädie Wikipedia entnommen. Die Fotografien stammen ebenfalls aus dem Internet. Wenn das World-Wide-Web eine künstliche Intelligenz hätte und Kunst erschaffen würde, könnte diese ebenso aussehen oder so ähnlich. Jedes Detail der Arbeit, die Ästhetik der Portraits, sowie die Einbindung durch zahllose Webseiten machen den künstlerischen Gedanken der sich dahinter verbirgt zu einem Gesamtkunstwerk des Internets. (Von: Bernd Lindemann).

An opera house, a community center and a theater complex showcasing talent from throughout the country are among the ideas submitted by cultural organizations seeking a presence at ground zero. Groups had until Monday to send their proposals to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which is overseeing the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. While the agency has not announced who has submitted proposals, some groups have been lobbying for their plans. A proposal for a theater complex that would feature productions from regional companies has received support from Meryl Streep, Arthur Miller and others.

"There is a presumption that the best of everything gets to New York, and that just simply isn't always true," said actress Blair Brown, who performed at a fund-raiser for the proposal last week. "We don't have any venue for getting the best in American theater." The project, called the American National Theatre, would have an annual budget of up to $20 million and would choose the best productions from about 150 regional theaters, said Sean Cullen, an actor who is leading the campaign. "Hopefully, one of the strengths that this idea has is that it will have an appeal nationally," Cullen said. The complex would include three theaters — one with 800 seats, one with 700 and one with 400. More than 70 groups submitted proposals by Monday's deadline, said a spokeswoman for the development corporation.

The New York City Opera was originally considered a front-runner for the cultural center, but rebuilding officials questioned whether there would be room for an opera house. The City Opera announced Monday that it has submitted a proposal for a 2,200-seat opera house estimated to cost $291 million, two-thirds of which would be secured by the opera company. The proposal calls for 19 weeks of opera, similar to City Opera's current season at Lincoln Center, and 24 weeks of musical theater.

"We wish to create an iconic, active and meaningful symbol of hope and culture for the city, the region and the world," said Paul Kellogg, artistic director of the City Opera. Some downtown residents approached the Upper East Side's 92nd Street Y, famous for its lecture series and its nursery school, and asked the organization to submit a proposal. Sol Adler, executive director of the 92nd Street Y, said its proposal was based on community interest in a preschool, a senior center and after-school programs as well as lectures and performing arts.

"We're mindful of our need to really understand what the community needs and wants," Adler said. He said his board is spending more than $1 million on a feasibility study and a business plan for a downtown version of the uptown Y, where multitasking New Yorkers can work out in the gym while listening to lectures on closed-circuit TV. Architect Daniel Libeskind's master plan includes a cultural center as well as a museum commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Arts groups submitting ideas were asked to provide documentation of a proven track record and a description of experience with capital projects.

Sarah Henry, deputy director for programs at the Museum of the City of New York, said the museum was part of a consortium of institutions that collected artifacts from the terrorist attacks and submitted a joint proposal for the museum. "It would be looking at the events in the context of New York City history," she said. The consortium includes the New-York Historical Society, the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress. Madelyn Wils, a board member of the development corporation and chairwoman of Community Board 1, which has championed the 92nd Street Y idea, said the development corporation might combine proposals and some projects might be built outside the 16-acre boundaries of the trade center site.