ZURICH.- The Kunsthaus Zürich is transforming itself into a space for live actions and performances. Visitors can also become active participants directly involved in the creation of new artworks, while historical performances are being revived or presented in new stagings. A total of 30 artists are represented, including Yoko Ono and Rimini Protokoll. ‘Action!’ is inspired by Allan Kaprow (1927–2006) and tackles some of the burning issues of our time.

In recent years, performance art has once again become a significant element of contemporary art production. A young generation of artists are revisiting the heyday of performances, happenings and art actions in the 1960s and 1970s. Why are ephemeral and process-oriented forms of art back in fashion? ‘Action!’ seeks to answer this question, examining the concept in both its formal and its political sense.

AGENCY FOR ACTION’
The world of today is undergoing a political paradigm shift. Issues such as the refugee crisis, the rise of right-wing populist parties and the questioning of fundamental democratic values positively demand a reaction – or rather: action. Allan Kaprow’s call back in 1967 for the modern museum to become an ‘agency for action’ is therefore more topical than ever. Kaprow, to whom the exhibition partly owes its name, is of course represented, with a reinterpretation by San Keller of his ‘Yard’ from 1961. Meanwhile, historical works by Yoko Ono and Adrian Piper are being revived and there are new stagings of historical performances by Trisha Brown and Lucinda Childs. Young contemporary artists are engaging in dialogue with these historical positions and asking questions about current socio-political issues.

GENDER ISSUES AND THE UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
The Guerrilla Girls’ striking and now famous statement that only 5% of exhibited artworks are by women but 85% of nude models in paintings are female set the debate rolling back in the 1980s. Given the continuing inequality in the treatment of men and women, that debate is far from over. While Valie Export and Adrian Piper appear as eyewitnesses to history, Sharon Hayes and the Guerrilla Girls carry the discussion on into the present day. Ahmet Ögut urges us to reflect on the universal basic income, while Boris Charmatz / Musée de la danse presents a work that explores the fundamental change in people’s demeanour in the public space since the Paris attacks.

PUBLIC SPACE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Here, though, the public space appears not just in its classical incarnation as the street, but also extends into the internet and social media. Alexandra Pirici investigates the flow of information directed by algorithms and filter bubbles. !Mediengruppe Bitnik asks who is responsible for a (political) action when a robot suddenly starts to do things it was never intended for. Cally Spooner revisits scandals that prompted strong reactions in internet forums. Acrimonious comments are displayed via an LED screen and will also be performed live by an opera singer at regular intervals, though the timings will not be announced in advance. The human voice invests these quick-fire, technologically mediated utterances with an emotional and personal message.

(DE)LIMITATIONS: ARCHITECTURE INFLUENCES CHOREOGRAPHY
Visitors are directly involved in many of the works, as they are transformed from passive observers into active participants. At the very start of the exhibition, Lebanese-Syrian artist Mounira Al Solh invites them to take off their shoes and don instead a pair of traditional Syrian clogs – of the kind still very often worn by Syrian refugees – before entering. Close by, the celebrated dancer and choreographer William Forsythe presents one of his choreographic objects. The cube suspended in space takes the audience out of their comfort zone. It can only be approached on all fours, crawling or bending down. The installation is a commentary on the increasingly circumscribed scope for action mapped out by present-day political developments.

THROUGH ZURICH ON A ‘PROTEST BIKE’; A SOUNDTRACK SUPPLIED BY VISITORS.
‘Action!’ offers a wide range of opportunities for participation; one of the most energetic is undoubtedly Marinella Senatore’s ‘Protest Bike’ (2016), a bicycle equipped with loudspeakers and horns that visitors can borrow and ride around the city. A new work by the Italian-born artist was created specially for ‘Action!’. Using audio files of various sounds from around the city of Zurich that anyone could record and upload until mid-June, Senatore composed a soundtrack for the exhibition that will be played back in a parade in which, in turn, many members of the public and extras can take part.