Monday 21st June 1999 was declared by the Foundation for Art in Zero-G as the dawn of Year Zero – the point beyond which anything can happen. The following manifesto was published to coincide with Year Zero and the launch of the Foundation.
It is the belief of the Foundation that all conventional definitions of art, artists and the audience must be eradicated if art is to flourish in space. Indeed, a Foundation for Art in Zero-G can only exist within a culture that has been liberated from such traditional thought processes.
Emancipation from contemporary conventions preempts the inevitable shift in the practical application of art in zero gravity. The use of gravity in physical performances, the use of air as a carrier in the playing of reverberatory instruments, the use of four walls within which to ‘hang art’ – all are no longer feasible, or indeed desirable, in space. Both the creative process and the exhibition process of art will be radically re-appraised in space.
In short, all bets are off.
The Foundation for Art in Zero-G believes that such a re-appraisal can begin today – right where we are sitting now. It seeks to rid itself of the need for the crutches of existent modes of creation and exhibition and, more importantly, for the need to ‘brand’ art into its relative types.
Hence, a national council for art with its multitudinal departments is declared invalid. Hence, the tags not only of”inter-disciplinary” and the “multi-media”, but additionally those of “visual art” or “the performing arts”, are declared invalid.
Ultimately, all prior context is declared invalid.
It is at this stage that the Foundation creates a benchmark – declaring this to be the point beyond which anything can happen, declaring this to be the dawn of YEAR ZERO.
All clocks have now been re-set in preparation for our departure.
To mark the dawn of Year Zero, two events were staged.
DAY ZER0 MINUS TWO: SATURDAY 19th JUNE 1999 c.e.
an installation & ritual banishing by Stuart Buchanan
Formed part of the ExtraTerrestrialCinema event : an evening of films, music & live performance
Venue : Strike, Fashion Street, E1.
DAY ZERO : MONDAY 21st JUNE 1999 c.e.
Julie Bacon : AQUARANTINE INTERCOURSE
incontinently itinerant, interdisciplinary living in n degrees
Andy Smith (Project One) : THERE’S NEVER ENOUGH SPACE
a meditation on the possibilities and practice of taking performance into new landscapes
Stuart Buchanan: POLAROID HAIKU
crossing innumerable borders with simultaneous actions
Venue : Central St. Martin’s College, Charing Cross Rd WC2
YEAR ZERO was staged as part of the SPACE 1999 festival produced by the Association of Autonomous Astronauts.
