Viennese Actionism...

[Pharmakon]

Otto Muhl, Hermann Nitsch, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, and Günter Brus...

I am curious if anyone has recommendations for contemporary artists inspired/influenced by this vein of visual art. (Martin Bladh?) Or arguments for validity of a modern equivalent? Recommendations for good books on the subject, or photo books with a good collection of images, etc. Discussion on the ephemeral nature of performance, body art, and happenings, and the flaccid disappointment of documentation of such things against the firsthand experience (solutions to this problem?)... etc.

[stilnoct]

Günter Brus alreary mentioned, but here's a video that I find very special on many levels. I'd definately be interested to see some more of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kiAG1M67Io

Maybe a bit mainstream but most likely inspired by vienna actionists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTu35WLJ57g&feature=related

[RG]

Mentioned it in another thread, but Gottfried Helnwein (also Austrian) was clearly influenced by the Viennese Aktionists in his photo works from the 70s and 80s. Strong Schwarzkogler influence with lots of bandaged heads & limbs, but adds his own twist by using children (his own, I believe). Whereas Schwarzkogler's photos have an otherwordly and "mystical" aura to them, Helnwein's are unsettling and slightly menacing. An artist worthy of investigating.

I was always drawn to Brus and Schwarzkogler. Muhl seemed mainly interested in getting women naked and dumping food all over them, and Nitsch is too grandiose for me.

[nidding]

If you have the possibility to visit Vienna and fast, then there's a very worthwhile exhibition at Museum Moderner Kunst (MuMok) about the Vienna Actionists and Aktionsraum 1 there. It also draws parallels to interesting contemporary artists.

[dj_terror]

After seeing the Günter Brus performance, I believe to know were the inspiration for the Tool video-clips came from.

Apart from the aesthetic aspect, The Outside album is a collaboration between Bowie, Eno and Trent Reznor. We can clearly hear the NIN influence.

Günter Brus alreary mentioned, but here's a video that I find very special on many levels. I'd definately be interested to see some more of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kiAG1M67Io

Maybe a bit mainstream but most likely inspired by vienna actionists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTu35WLJ57g&feature=related

[kittymagic]

contemporary artists inspired/influenced by this = rudolph eb.er

[RyanWreck]

Fucking a dead Dog for the sake of art. Not sure how "VA" is it but it seems worthy of this thread:

[aischrolatreia]

Last night we went to the opening of RITE OF PASSAGE- The Early Years of Vienna Actionism, 1960 – 1966 at hauser+wirth , NYC.
Great exhibition, over 70 works ranging from contact sheets, original photos, paintings/assemblage.
Worth going if you are in the NYC area, open til 10.28

http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/2220/rite-of-passage-br-the-early-years-of-vienna-actionism-1960-y-1966-br-b-curated-by-hubert-klocker-b/view/

[Cementimental]

http://littershitter.debilas.net/

[Jordan]

Since people are bringing up obvious things like Schimpfluch, COUM Transmissions was very obviously, heavily influenced by Viennese Actionism, though, since there's a chance that none of us would be here discussing what we're discussing without them, at least in some of the terminology we use, I guess that's even more obvious.

Valie Export was heavily influenced by the Actionists, and Viennese.

What about Karen Finley? I think I read somewhere that she was unaware of any of that stuff, but I can't remember.