The Art of Appropriation

Michael Satter (2008)

Originality seems to have something sacred, precious and good to us, while the ‘copy’ has a rather bad reputation. But can’t a copy also be an original? Where does it become unique again? This is the subject of the project ‘The Art of Appropriation’. The aim is to explore the limits of originality and the gray area between ‘template’ and ‘image’. So-called ‘original works of art’ and their surroundings (gallery, museum, viewer) are copied using photography and presented again in a new context or a new exhibition, which was then photographed again. The visitors to the exhibition should now be confronted with the following questions: So what is the original? The work of art in the photo, or the photo that has a work of art hanging in a room? Do we see a now ‘real’ original in a photo, or just a depiction of a real original that hangs in a room? Photographs and an exhibition catalog were created for this exhibition, which in turn consists of copied elements (fonts, formats, texts, etc.).

Studio Michael Satter