Almost Aged Actionists Anonymous

Instructions and manuals, make-up tips, cooking classes – heaps of instructional videos can be found online. Yet, what if a woman of 40+ is looking for a tutorial video on how to recapture the ever-narrowing private and public space? This is when AAA! springs into action…

A video by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist shows her smashing a car window with a flower. A policewoman walks by, saluting her in a friendly manner. This is the kind of ‘actionism’ that pops to the minds of AAA! when planning their interventions: effective on a small scale, doable on their own, witty in detail, and effective in the outcome. With the production of short instructional and explanatory videos, the group AAA! brings momentum to the debate on how women aged 40+ can act politically – single-handedly.

After all, there are endless clichés about women over 40: unattractive figures of fun who are less able to act but agitated instead, yet harmless by and large. With their work, AAA! seeks to break up this image. Their instructional videos are intended to help overcome the individual’s powerlessness with artistic means and to thus recapture both private and public space in a feminist tradition. Even alone, one can leave subtle messages or accomplish an aesthetically valuable act of sabotage – be it in a parking lot, the beauty salon, or on the well-monitored Internet!

Those interested are invited to Florianihof for an evening of collective video-viewing, drinking coffee and/or spritzers, and to chat about how simple and equally radical actions can be realised and disseminated through short educational videos. Bring mobile devices for screening!

WITH

Denice Bourbon

Amina Handke

Michaela Schwentner

Anat Stainberg and guests.