artist talk
Stefan Römer
Artist, art theorist, and professor Stefan Römer is interested in new forms of presentation of Minimal and Conceptual art, where in exhibitions suppresses artistic interests and intentions for the sake of conservational and economical aspects. He also often combines an ecological and ethical awareness in his art where he initiated political activist art collective “FrischmacherInnen” in Cologne (1993-2000).
During the artist talk with Römer, students were invited to pose questions about his work, process, and methodology concerning performative practices. Römer emphasized that his works are known for their deconstructivist approach to image, sound and text. Methods of lens-based, time-based and performative practices all diverge. He finds interest in creating a mode of artistic ‘real’search for multi-layered critique and examination of prevailing discourses. The ‘real’ in ‘real’search is an entrance to reality through artistic work. His main point of focus during the artist talk was this idea that theories and practices are becomings of praxis, both open and urgent and place for possibility. The students were able to listen to some of Römer’s musical works including “Sex Practice is Text Practice,” “Decon Sound,” “Extension of the Alphabet” and“Crackle & Crackle.” At the end of the discussion, the field school continued their conversation with Römer at a local beer garden, continuing discussions of theory and practice, anti-colonial ways of seeing, and the subject of conceptualization and reconceptualization. For more information on Römer and his archived work, visit: Stefan Römer.