Inkijk # 23: Extasy

As a part of the sound installation, 'Mindless Beauty', Delphine Bedel presented two video works in the Inkijk titled 'Aussicht' en 'Extasy'. Both were made in 2002 for Bedel’s solo exhibition in Vienna’s Secession. Bedel was invited by curator Barbara Clausen to stay in Vienna for the period of one month and to develop an ‘on location project’ that pertained to this city.

In her work Delphine Bedel explores the boundaries of ‘movement’ and ‘being moved’ in the urban environment. She is interested in the individual’s experience in relation to the collective memory and mass entertainment. Bedel focuses on how contemporary cities have transformed into theme parks through tourism, urban planning, shopping culture and progressive privatization of public spaces. She observes which possibilities for personal encounters and experiences have been left over within these scripted spaces (1).

The artist made an extensive series of walks through the city, always in the company of local artists, journalists and musicians. The walks were based on her preconceived impressions of Vienna which were, in turn, based on literature, politics, films and electronic music. The guiding principles of these excursions, which could be described as Situationist 'dérives', were formed by questions such as: What should be visited? What shouldn’t be visited? How can one approach a specific place? How can one approach a specific political situation? Armed with a map and recording equipment, Bedel collected images, stories, sounds and impressions for her project. The video, Aussicht, was made in the desirable tourist attraction Daunaturm, a Viennese TV mast that features a panoramic restaurant revolving at a height of 170 meters. Extasy was made in Prater, an amusement park. Both locations offer ready-made experiences albeit in different situations. In these films, Bedel seeks to not only record visual and physical sensations but also to turn them into tangible experiences. Her third work, the sound installation Mindless Beauty, was realized in collaboration with Viennese DJs Czerwenka-Werkstetten and Dax and represents a mix of sounds borrowed from the city, such as the Prater, electronic music and computer games.

Bedel's quest for urban spectacles as well as her focus on the diktat of tourist attractions with their limited possibilities for authentic experiences, made the project interesting enough to be exhibited in Amsterdam, a city that forms a type of junction between surrounding tourist attractions. In Vienna, Bedel invited musician Herbert Weixelbaum to make a collective performance. Weixelbaum uses Game Boys as instruments, a strategy that mass entertainment also uses in aid of individual expression and sensory experience. Meanwhile Weixelbaum has established a Game Boy Club in Vienna. He also performed in Amsterdam during the mister Motley Number One Party in Amsterdam’s De Veemvloer.

(Noot 1 Norman M. Klein,'Scripted Spaces' From #2, Witte de With, April 2000)

For additional information:
members.chello.at/herbert_weixelbaum
www.gameboymusicclub.org
Malcom McLaren on the new music underground, in Wired, nr 11 2003, p.186