Paradoxes

In the exhibition Paradoxes, eight artists showed self-contradictory, diverse, oppositional elements of play and seriousness, paradoxical productions. The exhibition theme was chosen for one's own pleasure and was intended to show that one can also laugh about/with art. The paradox 'Be spontaneous!' was introduced to the exhibition. The effect of evoking a certain distance from the detachment of art life and also amusement in some parts of the audience was intentional.

As is well known, artistic practice is based on the formation of theories, which is often a form of critical self-reflection. In this self-criticism, however, art does not strive for utopian, alternative and idealized counter-worlds, but shows paradoxical connections that this world with its complex systems and surroundings has to offer in many ways. The playful element is used to clarify these paradoxical worlds. The fact that so many artists are concerned with games, rules and forms of play inevitably means a fundamental turn to the art of paradoxes.

"A paradox starts with a set of reasonable and plausible premises. From those premises it draws a conclusion that undermines the premises. The paradox is a travesty of belief in provability. (...) The paradox rests on our erroneous assumptions about how the world works and not on the logic of situations." William Poundstone, physicist

"If you take a grain of sand from a pile of sand, you still have a pile of sand." the heap paradox

Text: Andrea Hörl

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