CABINET OF EXHAUSTION. The Video
Video (64 min), 2021.
This work was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. The original project - which had to be postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic - consisted of an exhibition in the style of a cabinet of curiosities and performances featuring guests, which were finally realized in 2022 under strict COVID-19 restrictions: CABINET OF EXHAUSTION. The Exhibition and CABINET OF EXHAUSTION. The Performances.
The video shoot took place in the Hall of the WUK Vienna. It was staged as a solo performance in front of empty rows of seats. A central element here, as in the live works, was Wagner’s archive of materials from his studio - a shelving system containing over 90 white-painted boxes.
THE ARCHIVE
Video (1 min 8 s), 2021.
Created as part of ARCHIVE OF DRIFTING (3000 BLATT oder OPERATION REISSWOLF) - a project planned for the Impulse Theater Festival in Düsseldorf but not realized (Environment / Durational Performance).
DER ZAUN (THE FENCE)
Video essay (2 min 50 s), 2015.
This video was produced for the performative news journal AKTION AKTUELL.
Building on this, Wagner developed various versions of his essay performance AESTHETICS OF EXKLUSION, as well as the wall installation WALL/WORK IN PROGRESS.
Was ist Geld? (What is money?)
Video essay (1 min 58 s), 2015.
This work was based on an examination of texts and statements by Boris Groys, Walter Benjamin, Norbert Bolz, Paul Lafargue, and others. Some of the icons are from ›The Noun Project‹ (credits at the end of the video).
Live versions of the essay were incorporated into performances such as WOUNDED WORLD #END and HOLY CAPITALISM VOODOO.
Was ist Smart CCTV? (What is Smart CCTV?)
Video essay (2 min 48 s), 2014.
At that time, ›Smart CCTV‹ was the subject of heated debate in the European Parliament. The goal was to build consensus around a European solution for the most comprehensive surveillance of the civilian population possible. As part of the three-year ›SurPRISE Project‹ - in which the Austrian ITA (Institute for Technology Assessment) was among the participants - selected individuals were surveyed about their sense of security at ›citizens’ conferences‹ held in nine European countries in 2014. In Vienna, Wagner was one of the moderators of this pan-European, questionable ›citizen survey‹ - which prompted him to create this video.
TAG DER ARBEIT. Ein Erlebnisbericht (MAY DAY. An Experience Report)
Video essay (12 min 17 s), 2013.
Vienna on May 1 - while the mob, armed with beer crates, march through the streets roaring, the Vienna SPÖ celebrates the Holy Mass of the ›working class‹ on Rathausplatz: Long live labor!
The video was shown, among other places, in the performance CLEANING UP! – 4 evenings about work.
