Some weeks after 9 11 the German television broadcasted a news item, announcing that the German government decided to raise the tax on tobacco and that the extra tax revenues would be spent on the war against terrorism.
German smokers today are made very aware that smoking causes damage to your health. Our project aims to make the public aware, that smokers, indirectly, also support the war on terrorism. With our cigarette box wrap-around the smoker can casually launch a wholly different set of discussions about his smoking habit.
SMOKING AGAINST TERROR is a free obtainable package in PDF-format to wrap around your cigarette box. Available in two sizes: King Size and Standard. The PDF can be obtained through e-mail or on the web, printed on thick paper or carton in any colour you like. Then cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines. Assembly is very easy and can be done with simple household appliances. Print as many as you like and distribute as free gifts to your friends!
SMOKING AGAINST TERROR is edition no. 5 in our Culture-good series, a series of art multiples that camouflage themselves as low-key products from the consumer society, for which there is no or little appreciation but which are clearly part of our everyday life.
HOW TO LOCATE
The PDF/JPEG can be received by e-mail or downlaod from the web
VISIT ON THE WEB
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Norman Beierle was born in 1967 in Wehr/Baden, Germany, and grew up near Munich. He received his art education in Kampen, Holland. After graduating in 1993, he moved to Leiden.
Hester Keijser, born in the same year, grew up on the north coast of Holland, studied for two years in the United States and afterwards moved to Leiden to finish her master's degree in contemporary philosophy.
Beierle and Keijser met in 1994 and have been working as collaborative artists since 1996.
We are mainly concerned with the genesis of 'beeldvorming' that surrounds the contemporary arts and art practice. 'Beeldvorming', a typical Dutch word, has no real equivalent in the English language. Literally translated it would mean Œimage creation/forming‚, but perhaps it could best be explained as the process of acquiring a view/mental picture/conceptualization on a specific topic. The word itself is encountered in many different contexts, ranging from cultural, historical, and educational to political and social. In a sense, 'beeldvorming' refers to the genesis of our views, beliefs and ideas and it is in this genesis that we are specifically interested. 'Beeldvorming' is a very crucial element in our society. It determines the way we deal with each other on social and political levels, it determines the culture we live in and it determines the way we view our history and tradition.
'Beeldvorming' in the history of contemporary art involves a lot of myth making, personal idiosyncrasies of curators and critics, ambiguous and contradictory statements by artists, funny coincidences, misinformed journalists etc. A closer look at any major art movement will always reveal cracks in the carefully woven fabric known as art history.
What fascinates us specifically are such cracks in these historically grown fabrics plus the fact that, by and large, humans will prefer not to see some of these cracks, while attributing great relevance and importance to others. 'Beeldvorming' is a very selective process, the mechanisms of which are not to be understood easily. By uncovering the structure of these 'beeldvorming' processes, we do not necessarily take on a critical role; we see ourselves rather as unpartial reporters and sometimes as astonished witnesses.
NOTE
Visit our other Free Manifesta project (in collaboration with Valentina Ferrarese): !Upwardly Mobile. Between August 11-18 in the coat check room of the Modern Art Museum in Frankfurt, free admission to the museum on Wednesday.
CONTACT THE ARTISTS
