Heilmittel, 2014 / (Artist’s Antidote, 2014)

medication to get rid of being an artist

The work Heilmittel (Artists Antidote) is part of a work cluster dealing with society’s definition of normality or rather with its anomalies. A performative installation, the work focuses on conceptions of being normal, being delusional and being an artist. Looking at the symptom descriptions for delusions in the ICD 10 evaluation (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) and replacing the word “patient” with “artist”, one must feel more than concerned. The ambivalence produced by this action was the starting point for the idea to visit a doctor practicing traditional Chinese Medicine to get cured of the actual state of being. By abstractly describing to the doctor the symptoms of being an artist, or rather the artistic working and thinking processes, the doctor made a diagnosis and handed over a prescription for a cure of this “state of thinking and being”. The prescription was forwarded to a traditional Chinese pharmacy in order to receive all ingredients needed to create the artist’s antidote. The ingredients were prepared according to the given instructions in a performative act during the opening of the exhibition. The resulting mixture was then put in a glass beneath the framed receipt. The installation Heilmittel constitutes a drinkable sculpture that as idea and placeholder, inherently questions concepts of being based on normative ideals.