Statement on appropriation (London version)

“Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet” is the third in a series of exhibitions and publication based on a wide-reaching research about writing with the title “Possible Content for 18 Pages”. The original typewritten manuscript of Vilém Flusser’s essay “The Gesture of Writing” provides the thematic and formal-aesthetic foundation for reflecting the act of writing at the intersection of linguistic, visual, physical and spatial communication. “To write,” says the philosopher about the basic requirements that should lead to a complete piece of writing, we need “a blank surface, for instance a white leaf of paper; an instrument which contains a matter that contrasts with the whiteness of the paper; the letters of the alphabet; the convention which gives a meaning to the letters; ‘orthography’ = correct writing; the rules which order that language, what is called ‘grammar’; an idea to be expressed in a language; and a motive to express that idea”. Understanding the act of writing as a culturally embedded gesture, “Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet” covers artistic, literary, as well as curatorial and editorial fields of action and combines them. The book is published on the occasion of the eponymous performance by Lois Bartel at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (June 11, 2016) and contains a curatorial-editorial statement by Franz Thalmair. Furthermore, the artist Michalis Pichler and the professor for media theory and aesthetics Oliver Ruf situate the publication in an actual context of literature and criticism. The participating visual artists expand the topic of the research with artistic contributions especially made for „Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet“. Text contributions: Michalis Pichler, Oliver Ruf, Franz Thalmair Artistic contributions: Lois Bartel, Irma Blank, Daniel Gustav Cramer & Haris Epaminonda, Alejandro Cesarco, Natalie Czech, Agnes Fuchs & Thomas Freiler, Nikolaus Gansterer, Charles Gute, Rafaël Rozendaal