Intermedia. 
Archivio di Nuova Scrittura

The exhibition was organized in cooperation with Mart, which is opening concurrently under the same title with a presentation of journals from the ANS archives and works by the artist Sarenco. The ANS contains mainly concrete and visual poetry, works from the Fluxus movement, and conceptual art from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. These areas are all characterized by combinations of different art forms, primarily text-image constellations.

Artworks by members of the Brazilian “Noigandres” group and Italian visual poetry occupy a central position in the ANS. The term “intermedia” was coined in 1965 by the American Fluxus artist Dick Higgins. He used it to denote art forms that transcend the traditional dividing lines between the various genres (media). Higgins’s work Poema d’aria / Luftsymphonie may be considered a prime example of what is meant by intermedia or multimedia, for it combines text, color, sound, and light in three dimensions to create an all-surrounding experience.

The exhibition Intermedia deliberately goes beyond image-text hybrids. Around 200 works by some 70 artists are on view. In addition to examples of visual and conceptual music, art is also shown that represents a transition to forms involving sound or performance. Experimental films and videos created in parallel with the works in the archive are screened in the Dan Graham Pavilion. Higgins’s concept is thus interpreted here in its broadest sense. An important aim of the exhibition is to provide a historical context for the works featured, being all politically motivated.