The final contribution to the series ‘Room D: Digital Projects’ pursues an approach that follows the tradition of Institutional critique in two ways. “Untitled (Filmsetperformancestagefilm),” (2009) is the unusual diploma project by Christoph Meier which simultaneously questions the academic institution art college, as well as the institutional character of the film industry.

For his final exam on the 8th of June 2009, Meier had assembled a comprehensive crew for a film shooting. From dramatic advisor to associate director to still photographer and caterer, all aspects of a professional film shooting were taken into consideration. Meier also did not compromise in regard to the technical equipment, not only a high-quality 35 mm camera, but also a dolly for tracking shots was at hand, and the sound recordings were made with professional technology. Finger food was served to provide meals.

When the examination board entered the room, the film shooting started. Not only the professors, such as Harun Farocki, Daniel Richter or Constanze Ruhm, but also their assistants were captured by the camera lens, furthermore a mirrored wall showed the actions of the film crew on set. The examination board had not been informed prior to the shooting, but expected instead, to be examining already finished works as usual. The board members obeyed the brief instructions of the associate director, yet the overall context they were embedded in was not disclosed.

Although he applied the standards of highly professional film shootings, Meier opposed the common modus operandi with his work, as he abstained substantially from a hierarchy when it came to the allocation of tasks. Consequently, the members of the film crew were allowed to decide for themselves with which activity they wanted to contribute to the film. Meier, who participated in a variety of film productions, had often experienced the strictly hierarchical processes. And by realizing the film shooting during the time of his final exam at the art academy, he also resisted the common practice there. His exam constituted a film set, a performance, a stage and a film, all at the same time.

From 2003 to 2009, Christoph Meier (*1980 in Vienna, lives in Vienna) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and in 2008 at the Glasgow School of Art. In 2005, he received his degree in architecture from the TU Vienna. His solo exhibitions in the last few years include “CCOOOO”, Casino Luxembourg (2018), “C O CO”, Kiosk, Ghent (2017) and “C & O”, Kunstverein, Hamburg (2016). He participated in group exhibitions such as i.a. “Black Pages”, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (2018), “Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox”, Kunsthalle Wien (2017) and “Lasting Concept”, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (2016).

With the new series “Room D: Digital Projects”, the Künstlerhaus as a Hall for Art & Media complements its program and offers the visitors insights into the practice of young positions on media art. Although designed as an open format, the works shown from May to September 2018 are mainly based on keywords such as “moving image” and the “digital”.