Elmgreen & Dragset: Trilogy: Celebrity - The One & The Many * The Collectors * The Welfare Show

Description

The three outstanding exhibitions featured in this publication form a trilogy: * The Welfare Show (Bergen Kunsthall, Norway; BAWAG Foundation, Vienna; Serpentine Gallery, London; The Power Plant, Toronto) * The Collectors (presented at the Danish and Nordic Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale) * Celebrity - The One & The Many (ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe). These exhibitions had a significant impact on the culture industry and consequently enjoyed an astounding presence in the media and in the art world. While each of the three exhibitions was independently conceived and separately presented, when considered together they form a complex depiction of present-day Western society as seen from a personal perspective. The decline of the welfare state, the accumulation of extreme wealth and growing class distinctions, together with the phenomenon of an increasingly dominant celebrity culture are among the many issues that Elmgreen & Dragset explore in this Trilogy.

Andreas F. Beitin is is a German curator, art historian and Director of the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen, Germany. Peter Weibel is an artist, curator and theoretician.