Jede Gesellschaft hat die Kultur, die sie verdient (1984)
Jürgen Klauke
Title of the compilation: Perfo 2
Title: Jürgen Klauke: Jede Gesellschaft hat die Kultur, die sie verdient (Track 18)
Publisher: Lantaren Venster Records, Rotterdam
Date: 1984
Medium: record 30 cm
The piece Jede Gesellschaft hat die Kultur, die sie verdient (German: Every society has the culture they deserve) by Jürgen Klauke is an acoustic compilation of the performance and action of the same name that Klauke performed at three different locations in 1984. In it, Jürgen Klauke and the musician Arno Steffen sat down in overflowing water and stared into the water level.
"The performance installation was first seen in 1984 at the week-long international performance meeting in Rotterdam, which was organised by Wink van Kempen. There were 30 chairs set up in the back of the darkened room. Each chair was covered by an open men's umbrella. To the left were two sculpture stands of different heights, each with a zinc bucket on top. Water was fed into the buckets via rubber hoses suspended from the ceiling. The overflowing water flowed onto the floor, where a wide pool of water had already formed. The room was illuminated by spotlights directed at the floor. The title of the installation could be read on the side. While in Rotterdam it was projected sideways and only became legible in the reflection of the water, in Kiel it was projected legibly. Alternating slide projections on the back wall showed images of crowds and acts of violence next to images from advertising. On one slide, a Hitler Youth was on permanent display. This was accompanied by rhythmic instrumental music that Arno Steffen had generated from electronically alienated hymns. Radio advertisements were also played.
In Kiel, Klauke staged the performance as part of the performance event with Cologne artists that Ulrich Bischoff had organised to accompany the KunstLandschaft exhibition. In Hamburg, Klauke also showed the installation in the context of the exhibition KunstLandschaft Bundesrepublik. "
(Cf. Heinz Thiel, Auf 48 Parketten. Tanzturnier statt Debütantenball. Eine Übersicht über die Kunstlandschaftsausstellung zwischen Flensburg und Konstanz, in: Kunstforum International, vol. 73/74, June/Aug. 1984, p. 208ff.)
ATJ