Keywords: virtual space, real space, private space, social space, social interaction, exchange, heterotopias, artistic creation, studio, overcoming borders, accessibility of art, navigability of art, digital formats, mediation.

Artistic work is no longer presented solely on traditional channels such as the exhibition space or the website, but in virtual spaces where “amateurly” filmed live tours and improvised live interviews on current topics take place. The digital possibilities, which began as a provisional arrangement, were quickly and playfully adapted by many artists. The otherwise closed studio dedicated to one’s own reflection was and could increasingly be spontaneously made digitally accessible to an interested audience.  Thoughts, fears, taboos, and current topics could be immediately shared and communicated. The title of the project idea, “I wouldn’t have time for,” picks up on exactly this fusion of work, life, art and private/public space. What does it mean to not have time and for what? This is the starting point for the present project, which aims to explore the lived and diverse experiences of various artists during the restricted situation in the last one and a half years. Yet at the same time this situation has extended their visibility and possibilities to exchange artistic work.

It is not only since the 20th century that art has been dealing with the fact that the perception of the world, which for the most part simply appears to us as a given, is a process of negotiation in which we ourselves are actively involved. It makes this process accessible and thus makes perception visible as a form of action. The starting point for the reflection and examination of the past months of the Corona Pandemic are the individual perceptions, experiences and development horizons of a wide variety of artists under the guiding theme “What does it mean to have no time and for what not?”. We have embarked on a journey of artistic discovery, whereby focusing on collaborative and artistic exchange. We are making our creations and work accessible and communicated in different ways: On the one hand, we collected visual impressions of our research. On the other hand, we wanted to share and expand our experiences collaboratively and sustainably through live interviews and workshops in exchange. Together as a project team we looked at works from various artists and asked them questions within the framework of the project idea. In performative works, new approaches and forms of communication were also developed. With the inclusion of Augmented Reality (AR), first attempts were made to present performative actions both in real and digital form. We worked with iPads and/or smartphones and mixed virtual parts with real reality.

This means that by means of augmented reality, the drawings designed in the workshops or the objects and stage sets created were extended by other objects, overlays or effects and integrated back into the real world. For example, elements can be displayed directly through the cell phone screen (mobile AR) and superimposed onto the real environment. In addition to going to real-world locations, we used social media on Instagram and TikTok for researching these places. We set up a new account on Instagram, “nothavetimefor”, and we researched over several months what effects this has or could have on artistic work.