Cosinus Alpha 6 1964

Editor: Here we have Otto Muehl's "Cosinus Alpha 6" from 1964, documented through photography. It’s… well, it's a striking image. What do you see when you look at this performance piece? Curator: I see a direct engagement with the materials of performance: bodies, substances, and space, all being manipulated within a clearly defined system of production. Consider the materiality of the bodies—stripped bare, covered in what appears to be some sort of lubricant. What does that materiality suggest to you about power? Editor: I guess...vulnerability? Like they’re being presented as objects? Curator: Precisely! The photographic documentation itself is also a key element here. It’s not just a record; it’s part of the consumable product. How do you think this documentation changed the Actionist movement, shifting its emphasis from the act itself to its representation and dissemination? Editor: Hmm, so, the actual ‘event’ is less important than how people later see or experience it, because it lives on as a photograph? Curator: Exactly. And think about the audience: are they participants or just viewers? Muehl blurs those lines. Is it about raw expression or manufactured outrage, intended for consumption? Where do you see evidence of labor here, in the Marxist sense? Editor: It seems like the "labor" is really performative, maybe not traditionally productive, but demanding physically and emotionally. It's labor aimed at an audience and… documenting that labor turns it into a commodity, I think? Curator: Yes, this shifts our perspective from mere aesthetics to examining the labour and exchange relationships embedded within art production. Understanding that transformation—from live act to a photographic object—is crucial. Editor: Wow, I never considered the documentation itself to be a tool or product, like, of labor. That’s a whole new way to see performance art. Curator: Indeed, thinking about art this way opens doors to discussing class, ownership, and distribution—radical questions in art history.