AROUND THE WORLD
since 1985 net since 1997


Gerard Goodrow (Cologne, Germany)
«A.T.W. - PAST PRESENT FUTURE»
Published 1991, June 14th in catalogue «A.T.W. - PAST PRESENT FUTURE» by Dr. Uwe Rüth, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten (Marl, Germany)

A.T.W. - AROUND THE WORLD

  Recent political, economical, and environmental crises and breakthroughs throughout the world during this last decade of the second millennium have made global communication, cross-cultural cooperation, and interdisciplinary exchange essential to the continued survival of our planet. The democratization and economic reorganization of the COMECON nations; the reunification of East and West Germany and the approaching consummation of the European Community in 1993; the devastating six week war in the Persian Gulf with its long-term political and environmental consequences; the abolition of Apartheid in South Africa; the recent natural catastrophes in India, Japan, and the Philippines; the cholera epidemic in South America and the global AIDS crisis... The list goes on ad infinitum.
  In 1985, in response to the rapidly changing global situation, an international network of committed individuals from various cultural and professional backgrounds was founded by the Swedish-German sculptor Jårg Geismar. A.T.W. (Around The World) is an international forum of more than one hundred visual artists archaeologists architects, critics scientists, poets musicians, engineers end other creative individuals from over twenty countries and five continents, dedicated to the vital importance of dialogue as a means of breaking down barriers and opening paths of free communication across national, cultural, religious, and racial borders. The interdisciplinary nature of A.T.W. is essential to its goals. Only by means of collaborative efforts across professional and ideological borders is the successful combat of environmental, economic, and political crises possible.
  "A.T.W. - PAST PRESENT FUTURE" is the first comprehensive exhibition of the growth and achievements of this multifaceted forum, documenting not only the individual activities and events organized in the six years since its founding in Düsseldorf, but also indicating impulses for future developments and goals. Inaugurated at the Langage Plus cultural center in Alma, Quebec, in December 1989, the exhibition has since traveled to New York where it was presented at P.S.I; Institute for Art and Urban Resources (April 1990), the Museo de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro (October/November 1990), and the Museo de Artes Plasticas y Decorativas in Montevideo (March 1991), and the Glaskasten Sculpture Museum in Marl, Germany (July - August 1991). In an effort to mediate and maintain the direct experience of immediate global communication, each exhibition is accompanied by o fax-action, for which A.T.W. members from all over the world ore invited to send one telefax transmission during the opening ceremonies.

PRESS
  At the center of the exhibition is the "A.T.W. press" loosed in Düsseldorf and distributed to members, museums, and university libraries throughout the world. Published quarterly since 1986 in an edition of 300, it is the mouthpiece of A.T.W. and the primary medium of discourse for its members. An important aspect of the edition is the list of contributors with photographs and full -contact addresses, located at the back of each issue. This information allows for direct, personal communication between members, or between subscribers and members, beyond the confines of the A.T.W. organization. In addition to its function as a facilitator of interpersonal communication and cross-cultural exchange, the "A.T.W. press" is also a significant artistic document of our time.
  In addition to the "A.T.W. press" the group has also organized a number of simultaneous projects over the last four years in an effort to foster cross-cultural communication and collaboration. The parameters for each A.T.W. Project, like the "A.T.W. press" are similar: A particular site or space is provided to each participant for their unedited contributions; the space provided is discrete and equivalent for each participant; projects are usually presented simultaneously at two sites; and, finally, projects nearly always rely on readily available, internationally interchangeable and reproducible communication tools, including photocopies, slides, Super 8 film, audiocassettes, and telefax transmissions.
  The consciousness of simultaneity and bilateral communication inherent to these projects allows the physical and psychological distances between the continents to become insignificant, to disappear. The "Holland-America-Line" for example, A.T.W.'s first film loop installation, took place in 1987 with simultaneous screenings of five films by artists from five different countries at ABC No Rio in New York City and the contemporary art gallery H.C.A.K. in The Hague. That same year, "Die Zwei - The Two" a simultaneous public slide projection at Vagedes Straße 21 in Düsseldorf and at Avenue A and Second Street in New York, presented pairs of slides from forty participants from more than ten different countries. "Poetry-Spirit" the third synchronous action, took place in New York and Düsseldorf in November 1987. Here, German and Dutch poets read their works in Düsseldorf while two American poets presented their own work simultaneously in New York.
  The two readings were linked by prerecorded audio-cassettes of the companion event across the ocean. A poet from Moscow was represented on tape at both sites.

PROJECTS
  The goal of each A.T.W. project is to involve Qt least two sites on two continents. Cultural differences are thus addressed and incorporated into the concept. Although most of the projects organized to date were- between Germany and the United States, a large number of distinct nationalities and cultures were always present. "Loop 2: Cultures Converge" for example, one of the most recent projects, which was presented et Artists Space, a contemporary art center in New York City, in June 1990, featured eight simultaneously projected endless loop films by nine artists from Brazil, Japan, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Poland. The films addressed a wide variety of issues, ranging from environmental protection to the cruelty to animals, from urban problems to recent political developments in Eastern Europe.
  Likewise the inclusion of A.T.W. in the exhibition. "Bilder vom Neuen Deutschland" at the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf in June 1990, is especially significant. A.T.W.'s contribution to this comprehensive, end in most instances highly critical survey of "the New Germany" was an installation in response to the question "What is German?" This was the first time that an A.T.W. project was determined by one specific theme or issue. In addition to this installation, an international telefax-action addressed the theme "DM". The contributions received from A.T.W. members from all over the world were later collected and published in a catalogue whose format resembles that of the "A.T.W. press".
  A.T.W. is a Social Sculpture in the tradition of Joseph Beuys' extended concept of art- precisely for this reason, the current presentation of "A.T.W. - PAST PRESENT FUTURE" at the Glaskasten Sculpture Museum in Marl is especially significant. Creativity and cooperation among various groups from the most diverse cultural and occupation backgrounds enrich and stimulate international collaboration. With base offices already established in Düsseldorf, New York, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro, A.T.W. has contributed to and helped motivate transcontinental, cross-cultural communication on various levels, reaching beyond ordinary limitations and barriers in its quest to improve the human status of our globe and trigger positive impulses Around The World.

Gerard Goodrow

Copyright © 1991 Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten, Marl, Germany, ATW and the authors.



email geismar@ATW.org