Wir kaufen Seelen
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Wir kaufen Seelen (also known as Seelenankauf or Soul Sale) is a 1998 performance by Austrian art theory group monochrom and is considered a significant work in the group's history and Austrian art history in the 1990s.[1][2][3][4]
On 1 November 1998 (All Souls' Day), monochrom members Johannes Grenzfurthner and Harald Homolka-List (supported by their friend Ulrich Troyer)[5] staged a "spirituo-capitalist booth" at Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (very close to St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna's first district) where the project members tried to buy the souls of passers-by for ATS 50[6] (roughly US$5) per soul. The "acquisition team" performed an "evaluation routine" to check the "quality" of the soul of interested sellers, for example by asking jargon-laden philosophical questions, by using a divining rod and similar pseudoscientific techniques. A total of fifteen were purchased and registered. These souls are still being offered for sale to third parties.
The group sees the project - beyond all philosophical discourses and argumentation seeking to prove the existence of God or an afterlife - in the classical sense of a market driven by supply and demand. For the group it "doesn't actually matter if there is a soul, as long as it can be sold for a profit. The soul is a tradable commodity, a form of virtual capital."[7]
The performance has been presented in exhibitions and debated in magazines and in academic circles.[8][9][10][11][12]
External links[edit]
- Wir kaufen Seelen (project page)
References[edit]
- ^ Paterno, Wolfgang. "Die Allesfresser". Profil. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Seele günstig abzugeben". Wiener Zeitung. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Seele? Trading Futures?". FM4. ORF. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Weiser, Ulrike. "Monochrom: Die Pioniere des wilden Worldwideweb". Die Presse. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ monochrom #11-14 1/2. edition mono/monochrom. ISBN 3-9500731-2-4. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Gotthardt, Yannick. "Fuckzilla in der Diskurshöhle". The Gap. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ monochrom #11-14 1/2. edition mono/monochrom. ISBN 3-9500731-2-4. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Matzner, Alexandra. "monochrom at MUSA". Art in Words. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Zarzer, Brigitte. "Katzen würden Adorno lesen". Telepolis. Heise. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Friesinger, Günther. "Context Hacking" (PDF). Universität Salzburg. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Borderline: Strategien und Taktiken für Kunst und soziale Praxis". Borderline Kongress. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Medosch, Armin. "Seelenverkäufer". Telepolis. Heise. Retrieved 19 February 2019.