Positions

A political situation carried out by 10 Public Movement members or by its authorized agents. A choreography for a demonstration based on a series of physical positions taken by individuals and the forming of two rival groups, which embody demands, preferences and aspirations. Two ad-hoc blocks of people are constantly formed and reformed according to calls which are made through a megaphone by 2 public movement agents, one on each side of the space. The calls are made in pairs, such as Socialism/Capitalism, Men/Women, Gay/Straight, and other pairs which manifest a political position, a worldview, a preference, taste, fact or a moral claim. At large, Positions is discourse-specific and serves to manifest conflicts and tensions which are relevant to the time, place, institution and nation state in which it is activated. It also offers the public to divide in relation to universal values.

Positions is Public Movement’s first action that can take place without the presence of its members. The right to activate Positions can be given to one public institution in each state in the world.

First activation after the signing of the agency agreement between Public Movement and the Van abbemuseum and the registration of the work in the museum’s collection. This agreement is effectively a museum acquisition of the right and the duty to activate Positions within the boundaries of the Netherlands at least once a year, under specific conditions including an implementation period, after which the action can be carried out for eternity by museum employees who are Public Movement’s authorized agents. Legal consultant: Daniel McClean

First activation - Positions (NL, Van Abbemuseum, 23.11.09)
Opening of Play Vanabbe, Part 1.

Positions (NL, Van Abbemuseum, 16.04.10)
Positions (IL, Bat Yam Museum, 26.08.10) Struma Street, Bat Yam. The Island Project
Positions (IL, Holon Municiplaity, 04.09.10) Weizman Square, Holon. Weizman Rally, Produced by the Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon
Positions (NL, Van Abbemuseum, 18.04.11)
Union Square, Performa 2011, New Museum and Artis, New York
Positions (SE, Music and Art Festival, 03.08.12)
Part of Tensta Kunsthalle Curated by Maria Lind
Positions (PL, Maltafestival, 07.07.12) Mickiewicz Square and in front of the regional government building, Poznan
Asian Investments, curated by Stefan Kägi
Positions (IT, Terni Festival, 21.09.12)
Positions (FI, Baltic Circle, 11.11.13)

Public Movement leaders: Omer Krieger, Dana Yahalomi

Public Movement members: Karmit Burian, Ma’ayan Choresh, Luciana Kaplun, Gali Libraider, Adili Liberman, Hagar Ophir, Saar Szekely, Michael Rosman, Yossi Tal Taieb

Jesse Untracht-Oakner =Photo: © New Museum. Photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner, Positions, NY, USA 201
Jesse Untracht-Oakner =Photo: © New Museum. Photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner, Positions, NY, USA 201
Jesse Untracht-Oakner =Photo: © New Museum. Photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner, Positions, NY, USA 201
Jesse Untracht-Oakner =Photo: © New Museum. Photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner, Positions, NY, USA 201

Press

…”Public Movement used a written contract to define the rules for performance of the work and to transfer the exclusive right to perform it in the Netherlands to the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. In effect, the artists transferred the exclusive performance right to the museum, which became the artists’ agent authorised not only to enact the work according to specified rules, but also to update and change the work’s content to reflect future contexts of its performance…”
Art Monthly, Henry Lydiate and Daniel McClean, 2011

“…Yahalomi, realizing that the work would take only a half-hour to perform, handed over to Occupy the remaining time to the public in the issues of the day, and then proceeded to converse with a member of the New York City Police Department on just where the dividing line is between art and politics. …”
Forward February 24,2012, by: Graham Lawson

“Si les œuvres de performance poussent les musées à ajuster leurs modalités de collection et d’exposition, ainsi parfois qu’à repenser leur mission de service public, comme dans le cas de Positions, de telles œuvres renforcent également le pouvoir symbolique de l’institution à moindres.”
Frais Virginie Bobin (11/4/11)

More Actions:

National Collection

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