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Review: Maria Pask at Frankfurter Kunstverein

published on 12 October 2007

SHOWstudio visited 'A Delicious Feeling of Confidence', an off-site project exploring the art of stand-up at Frankfurter Kunstverein.

SHOWstudio visited 'A Delicious Feeling of Confidence', an off-site project exploring the art of stand-up at Frankfurter Kunstverein.

An interesting starting point for a special off-site project for Kunstverein to embark upon in the context of a fair, was to investigate the complicated relationship that contemporary art seems to establish with its audience by, wait for it, using the notion of stand up. Sloverian artist Tobias Putrih designed the venue: a stage for the performances (made out of scaffolding and cardboard, its structure explicit).

'Stand-up addresses the ancient democratic aspiration of free access to the 'pulpit''. Lenny Bruce and Andy Kauffman are held up as leading figures of stand-up comedy, a genre explored so as to consider the possibility of a crowd being transformed into an audience, and the aspiration to provoke a response.

"The only honest art form is laughter, comedy. You can't fake it... try to fake three laughs in an hour - ha ha ha ha ha ha - they'll take you away, man. You can't" (Lenny Bruce).

Maria Pask (b. 1969, Cardiff), practices in Amsterdam made her contribution to the democratic stage by inviting a philosophy lecture on absurdity, a Dr Who Dalek and a curious band to perform. The image captures Dosa Jhana, who work on the notion that religion needn't be pigeon holed to certain musical styles, and created a metal band that practice a modern Buddhism.

Artist:

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