1 2 3 (Public Action)
TITLE
1 2 3 (Public Action)
DIRECTOR
Bert Theis
COUNTRY
Luxembourg, Italy
YEAR
1999
DURATION
3′
GENRE
Video Art
1 2 3 (Public Action)
The video 123, a public action performed in 1999 in front of the Milan Central Station on a traffic island. Public space is subject to a variety of interests and in a time of increasing regulation and privatization of public spaces, Bert Theis's aim with this action was to use art to question who decides what can or cannot be done there. It wasn’t the pigeons who wanted to prevent this action; they were actually very interested in the burgers that had been bought especially for the performance. It was different for McDonald's; they immediately called the police even though the action took place outside their premises.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Bert Theis
Bert Theis was born in 1952 in Luxembourg. Lives and works in Luxembourg and Milan. He belongs to that generation of artists that emerged at the beginning of the 90’s, that try to drop their operative strategies into public space, anchoring them to social contexts and relational modalities, without, however, removing them from the category of works of art which they are. He is the founder of Isola Art Center, Milan, Of ce for Urban Transformation, Milan/Mexico City and also professor at NABA Milan. In 2009 Theis curated “Territoria 4/The Great Leap” at Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato. He has exhibited at Manifesta 2 Luxembourg, 4th Gwangju Biennale, Musée d Art Moderne et Contemporain Geneva, Skulptur ́ Projekte Münster 1997, 46th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale, Casino Luxembourg, 2nd Tirana Biennale, Busan Biennial 2006, 10th Istanbul Biennial and MUDAM Luxembourg.
- DirectorBert Theis
- Screenplay
- Cinematography
- Cast
- Editing
- Producer/s
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project Title1 2 3 (Public Action)
- Project TypeVideo Art
- Completion Date1999
- Country of originLuxembourg, Italy
- Country of filmingLuxembourg, Italy
- Language
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Bert Theis
Bert Theis was born in 1952 in Luxembourg. Lives and works in Luxembourg and Milan. He belongs to that generation of artists that emerged at the beginning of the 90’s, that try to drop their operative strategies into public space, anchoring them to social contexts and relational modalities, without, however, removing them from the category of works of art which they are. He is the founder of Isola Art Center, Milan, Of ce for Urban Transformation, Milan/Mexico City and also professor at NABA Milan. In 2009 Theis curated “Territoria 4/The Great Leap” at Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato. He has exhibited at Manifesta 2 Luxembourg, 4th Gwangju Biennale, Musée d Art Moderne et Contemporain Geneva, Skulptur ́ Projekte Münster 1997, 46th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale, Casino Luxembourg, 2nd Tirana Biennale, Busan Biennial 2006, 10th Istanbul Biennial and MUDAM Luxembourg.
