The blood organ

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The blood organ was a multi-day performance in 1962 by the Viennese actionists Adolf Frohner , Otto Muehl and Hermann Nitsch , which was very controversial as an action art . A manifesto of the same name was published for the art campaign.

Art action

It had its premiere in 1962 in a three-part action, whereby the three artists had themselves walled up on June 1, 1962 in the Muehls basement studio in Perinetgasse No. 1 in Vienna - Brigittenau during incarceration . In the second part, object montages were made in the basement by Frohner, junk sculptures by Muehl and a poured painting by Nitsch . In the third and most important part, on June 4, 1962, the artists who had previously been walled in and their works were exposed by the public when the wall was being laid; in combination with the presentation of the previously created poured picture by Nitsch (blood organ picture: 9 × 2 m, blood, dispersion, whiting chalk on jute) the artists performed a crucifixion, grazing and tearing of a dead lamb . The slaughtered and skinned lamb was crucified upside down and nailed into an arch , the entrails placed on a table and poured with blood and hot water. A central element of the campaign are also some white fabrics that enhance the contrast of the colors.

Originally from the Happening and the Fluxus , actions like these by the Viennese Actionists, who at the time were quite isolated, were summarized under the term “Orgies-Mysteries-Theater”. It was a conscious goal of the artists to move from action painting, as it is e.g. B. Frohner practiced developing an action theater that was understood as political theater, although sadomasochistic or exhibitionistic elements could certainly irritate the Austrian audience of the time.

Significance for Nitsch

For Nitsch, the symbolism of the lamb lay in the fact that in the Christian religion the lamb is an analogy symbol for the human sacrifice through the vicarious death of Jesus Christ on the cross - especially in the Catholic liturgy . This so-called Lamb of God, the Agnus Dei , is often taken up in Christian symbolism and art, but crucified upside down in this art action. With the rupture, Nitsch also refers to the Dionysus cult of antiquity. The action of June 4, 1962 was an occasion for further actions for him and for the MANIFESTO das lamm published in 1964 .

"The Blood Organ" magazine

In addition to the manifesto, a short-lived magazine that appeared in only four issues from 1962 to 1963 emerged: Die Blutorgel , Wiener Illustrierte political bimonthly publication (also with other subtitles), for which Josef Dvorak was the editor in particular.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manifest “Die Blutorgel”, Vienna June 1962. ( Memento of November 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved October 21, 2012; again on May 21, 2018: Link works without complaint.
  2. ↑ Christian Gagerle et al. a .: Nitsch. The pictorial work. Published by Museum Moderne Kunst Wien, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich. Residenz-Verlag, Salzburg, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7017-0538-0 , p. 50, Figure 25. (exhibition catalog).
  3. ↑ Ekkehard Stark: Hermann Nitsch's "Orgien Mysterien Theater" and the "Hysterie der Greeks". Sources and traditions in the Viennese antique picture since 1900. Fink, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7705-2413-6 , p. 15.
  4. ^ Thomas Dreher: Performance Art after 1945. Action theater and intermedia. Fink, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-7705-3452-2 , pp. 164–165 (Chapter: Premiere of Viennese Actionism) Digitized version , accessed on October 25, 2012.
  5. ^ Archive Sohm: Wiener Aktionismus. Viewed October 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ MANIFESTO the lamb from 1964. In: Hermann Nitsch: Orgien Mysterien Theater. Orgies mysteries theater. März-Verlag, Darmstadt 1969, pp. 47-52.
  7. ↑ See also: Hermann Nitsch The OM Theater. In: Kristine Stiles , Peter Selz : Theories and documents of contemporary art. A source book of artists' writings. University of California Press, Berkeley 1996, ISBN 0-520-20253-8 , pp. 747-749. English, accessed October 25, 2012.