CHASOS (art project)
CHASOS was a satirical art project that was launched in 2011 by Andreas Heusser . It consisted of the establishment of the fictitious aid organization "Christian-Humanitarian Asylum-Self-Help Organization Switzerland" (CHASOS) and several actions by its President, Pastor Wilfried Stocher.
Art vs. politics
The project was carried out in 2011 as part of the political debates about the feared "waves of refugees" in Switzerland due to the Arab Spring . Although Switzerland has a long humanitarian tradition and is still one of the richest countries in the world, many Swiss politicians and Christian church representatives were not concerned about how Switzerland could help, but how they could fend off the refugees. "Switzerland is bursting at the seams. We cannot accept and finance thousands of North Africans. That would be state funding for asylum abuse." (Lukas Reimann, SVP). The satirical project aimed to question the moral status of these arguments through methods of subversive affirmation and parody .
Prevention campaign for foreigners
The project began with the publication of a propaganda video in which a pastor addresses potential "waves of refugees" and tries to prevent them from "rolling" into Switzerland. The video was a satire of a federally produced deterrent video targeting potential migrants from Africa.
Art relocation petition
The pastor also started an online petition demanding that all subsidies for artists and cultural institutions be suspended and that their funds and spaces should be used to help refugees. The petition sparked a lot of outraged reactions, especially among cultural workers.
Refugee camp hall 32
During Art Basel , a desolate refugee camp was built in Hall 32 that was only equipped with the bare essentials. It was fenced off with a high, electronically secured barbed wire and under video surveillance. Its main function was obviously not to protect refugees, but to protect the Swiss population from them. According to the artist, it was originally intended that "real" refugees would live in it for the duration of Art Basel, but the designated participants got out before the start of the project, so the camp remained empty.
reception
The project was controversial in the media, raising the question of how far political art can or must go to attract attention.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Be fruitful and multiply , Radio RaBe, 23 June 2011
- ↑ Asylum for refugees from North Africa? , Look, 28 February 2011
- ↑ Original spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Z3uQyvE7w
- ↑ Cf. This is how we deter Africans , Blick, November 24, 2007
- ↑ Every shed counts , Tages-Anzeiger, May 30, 2011
- ^ Artist intervenes in the asylum debate , Blick am Abend, May 10, 2011
- ↑ Cf. Now Alois Stocher's brother is up to mischief , Blick, May 10, 2011
- ^ Immigration , SWR, June 19, 2011
- ↑ Provocation or Openness of Art , ARD Tagesthemen, June 16, 2011