Best known for creating the concept of Auto-destructive art, Gustav Metzger was born to Polish-Jewish parents in 1926 in Nuremberg, Germany. Metzger came to Britain as a refugee when he was 12-years-old though his parents and much of family perished in the war. Undoubtedly, these tragic experiences early in life inspired his work activist artist endeavour as well as his political engagement. He participated in the original part-performance-art-part-political-rally ‘Happenings’ and was involved in political movements like Art Strike.

For Sharjah Biennial 8, Metzger was finally able to realise Project Stockholm, June (Phase 1), originally conceived in 1972 for the first UN Conference on the Human Environment and part of his auto destructive activity. It comprised 120 cars parked around the perimeter of a square frame sealed in plastic. Engines switched on, the cars exhaust fumes filled the structure in what was envisaged as the first phase of the project. Phase 2 which was not realised in Sharjah, prescribes that the cars are then to be encased in the structure, engines still running, until they inevitably overheated and burst into flames.  

Metzger’s most recent project or rather campaign was initiated following a reaction to Art Basel in 2006. RAF / Reduce Art Flights which deliberately resonates with both the Royal Airforce and Red Army Faction acronyms comprises of a series of leaflets distributed at significant art events and exhibitions in an attempt to awaken the art world into considering alternative travel options.

The campaign made its first appearance at Skulptur Projekte Münster, in 2007 - the year of the ‘Grand Tour’ for the art world, a collective marketing strategy launched to highlight the other must see and monumental art events opening within a matter of days of each other; namely Documenta 12, 52^nd Venice Biennale and Art Basel.

Since Münster, a further version of the campaign has appeared at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin on the occasion of Greenwashing curated by Latitudes (Max Andrews and Mariana Canépa Luna). However, rather than rallying for this campaign, Metzger prefers instead to develop his work as an artist and let others take ownership of the campaign.

www.reduceartflights.com