Annette Weisser, D-Berlin (*1968)

In her newest works, Annette Weisser deals with recent German history, particularly with the Allied re-education programme. In her complex installations, which make use of video, drawing and collage, she creates an associative series of "scenes" that depict the way the instrumental wielding of power operates. Her interest is focused on the moment of staging and on the question of which drama is actually being performed for which audience.

In addition to her artistic activities, Annette Weisser writes and publishes theoretical texts and co-curates exhibitions - most recently "Arbeitshaus Einatmen. Ausatmen" at Kunsthaus Dresden. In the NameGame project, realised together with Ingo Vetter, she already intensively dealt with the meaning of the concept of "labour" and its shift since the late 1990s. At the centre of the NameGame project stood workshops held with persons employed under precarious conditions in the field of culture and science at Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg, and Stadtpark, Graz. A spatial installation consisting of a show stairway, a golden curtain und 20 bales of straw served as the studio backdrop during the workshops and then as an exhibit. The different materials and elements of the installation established a central theme ("straw turns into gold"). A room was also provided for reflecting on the advantages and drawbacks of living and working as an "entrepreneur of oneself", interspersed with playing rounds that dealt with neoliberal buzzwords such as "lifelong learning" or the ability to work in a team. Special emphasis was placed considering the effects of "immaterial labour" - activities in the fields of art, culture and information technology - in regard to its reuse and redefinition.

Annette Weisser: Reeducating Germany / Schwarze Milch 2004

Curriculum vitae

Annette Weisser: Reeducating Germany / A philosopher´s country 2004
(Frottage der Widmung von B. Franklin im Foyer der Berliner Kongresshalle, heute Haus der Kulturen der Welt)

Annette Weisser: Reeducating Germany / Szene 2 (Effekt) 2005

Annette Weisser: Reeducating Germany / Szene 4 (Lager) 2005

Alle folgenden Angaben zu Ausstellungen und Auszeichnungen beziehen sich auf die gemeinsame Arbeit mit Ingo Vetter sofern nicht anders angegeben. (A.W.)

exhibitions, festivals (selection)

solo exhibitions

"controlled atmosphere", Der Garten, Akademiegalerie München

group exhibitions

"Park Fiction 4", Hamburg, St. Pauli

Publikationen (Auswahl) / publications (selection)

1998

awards and grants