{"id":4873,"date":"2026-04-22T17:31:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/?page_id=4873"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:24:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:24:05","slug":"about-the-archive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/about-the-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

This archive shows the complex work of Magdalena Inc. +<\/a>, starting from the group\u2019s foundation in 1996 and all the way to their latest work in 2003. Presenting exclusive document material, this archive allows for a sensitive exploration of original video documentations of rehearsal research, staged programs and selected video-stills as well as the artist’s original mediatic material that was used during the performances.<\/p>\n

Plotting a line through the group\u2019s productive years, the purpose of this archive is to present a vibrant picture of a specific collective practice of performance art at a specific moment in time. However, our aim is also that this archive informs, shifts, expands and inspires present-day perspectives on performance art.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when setting up such an archive, the question arises whether and (if yes) to what extent, the utopian moments of concerted action that were created by Mi+\u2019s performances can be adequately shown through their representation in an archive space. Of course, it is a question that haunts all the attempts to document and represent different kinds of performance practices outside of their performative context. Along these lines, the documentation of actions also raises anew the question of the extent to which art documentation presented is also a form of art. The artwork is traditionally understood as something that embodies art, making it immediately present and visible. When one visits an exhibition, one conventionally assumes that it presents art, but is not art itself. Art documentation, then, is perceived, as a container, not as art.<\/p>\n

Thus, it seems that to document performance art events means to betray not only their character as ephemeral action but also their character as art. One might argue, that if performance art has as its stronghold in the production of presence, its documentation might be felt as stressing the absence of this presence. However, the performances by Mi+ are different in that for them, the production of documentation has constituted a decisive part of their artistic practice. The action itself is, for them, always a medium for research on the question of how a collective setting can be re-arranged , re-assembled and rehearsed.<\/p>\n

As this archive demonstrates, Mi+ has a very different approach. Moving beyond old dichotomies, Mi+ lets action emerge as a medium. In this way, action becomes a reflective tool, also post-factum through its documentation, through the effort of memory and interpretation. Here, the presence of the action was always tied to a recording. And this recording was always thoroughly archived and used by the group as a medium of critical reflexivity. Every further recording and every further reflection of the recording inscribed itself in a potentially infinite iterative process of clarification and interpretation of the original action. In other words: here, the originality of an action is extended by the relationship to its recording – every recording being not merely a re-presentation of this action but a further contribution to its making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This archive shows the complex work of Magdalena Inc. +, starting from the group\u2019s foundation in 1996 and all the way to their latest work in 2003. Presenting exclusive document material, this archive allows for a sensitive exploration of original video documentations of rehearsal research, staged programs and selected video-stills as well as the artist’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4873","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4873"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4886,"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4873\/revisions\/4886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frauenvereinmessel.de\/wpBK\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}