The Kaskadenkondensator – space for contemporary music, visual arts and performance – has been in existence in Basel for ten years. During this time 431 projects have taken place: From musical evening events to exhibition projects, from interventions in public space to cooperation with other exhibition spaces.
The cascade condenser has undergone constant change since its foundation in 1994. While in the early years space-related, temporary installations, actions and improvisations by visual artists and musicians reacted to the expansion of space, for some time now performances, artist talks and thematic research have been determining the programme. Everything at the cascade condenser is constantly ephemeral, short-lived and lasting. The management team changes continuously, you never know who is in charge at the moment. And yet the cascade condenser is getting older. Vague notions of its history and tradition have penetrated the consciousness of the makers and visitors. The imaginary history promises liberties and mortgages – a dynamic that becomes more and more serious and incomprehensible as the years go by.
“Self is art itself” gathers together a wide variety of material on the changeable, varied history of the cascade capacitor: a detailed chronology of events bears witness to this. In addition to the cascade-specific themes, various contributions also raise questions of general interest: they examine, for example, the qualities and functions of alternative art spaces or the strategies of curatorial decisions and role changes.
“Selbst ist die Kunst!” provides first-hand information - most authors argue from actual or idealistic proximity – but: the general lies in the specific, the cascade capacitor is a proxy also for other self-initiated spaces, and the present publication is an indispensable contribution for all those interested in developments outside the market.