01 Artworks can obviously be seen in many ways, and each of their potential "views" allows a different approach to their presen-tation. The traditionally advanced claim to the autonomy of a work of art guards against "anti­artistic" appropriation ­­ as decoration does, for instance ­­ but it also places the art within the confines of its potential aura and thus cuts off other possible means of accessing the work. As a rule, "classical" exhibitions in most institutions and galleries call for a neutral environment and the mutually distinct presentation of the artworks. This fosters an isolated gaze and also limits the relationship between subject and object, between viewer and work. The emphasis on the exclusivity of the single work of art does not, in my mind, invigorate relations among works of art, but rather obstructs the revelation of possible semantic affinities and ­­ more importantly ­­ prevents the poten-tial development of tension that is essential to the experience of art. Art's inherent potential thus often falls by the wayside: namely, the possibility of creating a metaphorical reality in the mind through the mutual association of hitherto unrelated elements, which in turn generates new content and enables viewers to reposition the work of art in their idea of the world. Julia Scher Don't worry August 23 - October 2, 1994, Kölnischer Kunstverein photo credit: Ingrid Mehmel		02A It is this metaphorical reality, the world inhabited by a work of art, that must be addressed and explored. The concepts of "world" and "aura" are not congruent inasmuch as the aura iso-lates while the world unites. This pinpoints the central issue: the time has come, I think, to subordinate the aura of artworks to their atmospheric properties. This does not mean that the two concepts should be pitted against each other but rather that they should be combined to yield and indeed stage an atmospherically colored space that becomes a metaphor for real places and spaces. The strength of this approach lies in its ability to convey an immediate insight into the whole, that is, to transmit to viewers the essence of an exhibition at one glance ­­ and basically without verbal mediation. This "reality" is not entirely foreign to viewers, for it tends to coincide more or less with their own worlds.The situation created for viewers by the "director of the show" ­­ the artist or curator ­­ is characterized by an openness derived from making provisions for the interpretation of individual works that cannot be achieved by their singular presentation.		02B The accumulation of art by one or more artists should be lent coherence by a metaphorical idea; the works should be gathered together and staged to produce a collectively identifiable event. The goal, as I see it, is to unite the objects in an exhibition in an ensemble, oriented towards one overall pictorial proposition and thereby assigning a new identity to the respective venue. This identity is actually inherent in the individual artwork and coalesces in accumulation. This is precisely what mitigates the autonomous thrust of the individual works, yet without alienating their original artistic, creative intentions. On the contrary, the works make a concerted effort to do justice to their own immanence through the closure and the aesthetic of the pictorial proposition. The status of the works of art is not assailed; they are not violated but rather intensified through the acceptance of their semantic offering so that it may converge into a world of external conditions. This allows an entirely new approach to the individual work, a chance to establish a shared frame of reference containing not only details, but the relations between them that ultimately generate meaning.
	On Kawara (left) Erscheinen- Verschwinden Aug. 26 ­ Oct. 8, 1995, Kölnischer Kunstverein David Reed (right) January 28 ­ March 19,1995, Kölnischer Kunstverein >

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