Hermann Nitsch: Austrian Aktionism
Herman Nitsch, telling from the title of this post, is Austrian. He was born in 1938 and has been a controversial artist of various genres throughout the 20th century. While Nitsch does create different types of art, he does not treat them all equally. Rather, Nitsch uses his visual art as means of mapping out his performance art; even the visual art pieces that are not associated with Nitsch’s performances are created with movement, they are splatter paintings. All of Nitsch’s art falls under the movement of “aktionism,” (Nitsch is called “The Pope of Viennese Aktionism”). All of Nitsch’s art is violent, characteristic of the aktionsim movement, they contain dark red, maroon, and grey colors. Nitch’s art often represents the slaughter of animals. These and Nitsch’s performances are what revived the art of the sixties in Austria.
Nitsch created the Orgien Mysterien Theatre (the Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries) in the fifties, where he staged 99 performance pieces from 1962 to 1998. Nitsch performances had common characteristics of mock religious ceremonies including on stage crucifixions and robes, music, dance, animal slaughter, and audience participation. In 1998, Nitsch performed his 100th piece entitled “The Six Day Play,” which was a representation of the creation story, held in his castle, and actually lasted six days. Nitsch feels this performance was his masterpiece.
I feel that the role of the artist today is to express themselves in a way that is satisfying and fulfilling to them. I do not feel that the artist needs to keep in mind anyone’s agenda but their own when creating their work. I do not feel that it is necessary for the artist to have a social or poltical commentary present in their work, but only a commentary on their feelings. I feel that Nitsch does fit this role of an artist in that although it is probable that there is political/social commentary in his controversial work, it is Nitsch’s perspective on life and religion. Nitsch’s work is full of violence and emotion, something that is representative of Nitsch’s expression of his thoughts and feelings. Nitsch’s work is gory, provocative and startling, and he is still creating and performing to this day.
The following is a link to the Saatchi Gallery website that contains a catalog of some of Nitsch’s works and a biography and explanation of works: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/hermann_nitsch.htm
If you know German, you can also go to Hermann Nitsch’s homepage that includes current news and a catalogue of works: http://www.nitsch.org/
September 30th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I completely agree with you that “the role of the artist today is to express themselves in a way that is satisfying and fulfilling to them. I do not feel that the artist needs to keep in mind anyone’s agenda but their own when creating their work.”
I think that if someone is truly an artist and was born to be one, then they live to express themselves in whatever way the choose to. If the artist loves what he or she does, then nothing is off limits. They are capable of doing anything and expressing everything in their own way.
However, I do feel that they can use their platform as an artist (especially if they acquire fame) to make statements about their world. Artists everywhere can use their statuses to make the public aware of tragedies and of causes that demand change. They should not only express themselves and get their own emotions out but their art should influence and people and help them see the world around them through different eyes!