Leipzig 1984, Herbstsalon

The paper deals with the 1. Leipziger Herbstsalon, organized by six artists from the German Democratic Republic in the late fall of 1984 at the Messehaus am Markt in Leipzig. For the occasion, the artists issued, under the initiative of Lutz Dammbeck, a thin book in a limited edition, one copy of which is now held at the Getty Research Institute. Every book page is conceived as an independent artwork: while only few pages carry biographical information - as it would be expected from a catalogue - all of them feature an assemblage of text and image, rendered in different techniques, such as drawing, print, collage and photography. The book unfolds multiple possibilities of reading and viewing: the loose binding generates parallel narratives, while the different texture of the pages a sensorial experience. The compelling intertextuality of the book is not limited to the contingency of the paper, but opens up to an expanded mediality, to the exhibition itself as the ultimate medium. This is of particular relevance given the status of the 1. Leipziger Herbstsalon as the first initiative self-conceived and self-produced by the artists and held in an open public space. This extension regards also the specific exhibition context, determined by the firm intention of the six artists to “go public” in a centrally located location, during the International Short Film Festival. In doing so, the artists broke with the tradition of exhibiting in marginal art spaces, addressed to the so called “second public sphere”. Hence, their artistic agenda included further instances, such as the advertisement and communication of the exhibition (see the personalized invitation in the postcard format, attached to the book), its set-up and the final display of the exhibits.