Over the past five years, Omer Krieger, Artistic  Director of "Under the Mountain" and his partner, Dana Yahalomi, have been at the forefront of the "public movement", a group that explores the potential for political and aesthetic activity within a group of people acting together; invents and reenacts moments in the life of individuals, communities, social institutions, peoples, states and humanity; leads marches and, together with the band of artists that belong to the movement, sheds new light on artistic events that take place in the public space. During the Jerusalem Season of Culture 2011, Kreiger provided a range of options for re-experiencing public spaces and locations throughout the city as the Artistic Director for "Under the Mountain". 

"We succeeded in mixing life and art", wrote Krieger at the end of the festival. "We offered alternative interpretations and possibilities for the concept of art in a public space which will continue to reverberate here and in the world as a whole. We produced art that is politics and politics that is art." In the run up to the 2012 Season, Krieger talks to Rotem Rozental about his experiences in Sweden, examines possibilities for the establishment of new artistic institutions and offers new insight into the meaning of new public art.

Omer Krieger in his natural habitat

R.R: So tell us, what have you been up to recently? You spent some time in Stockholm no?

O.K.: Yes I just spent a good few months in Sweden's capital. In the summer the sun only goes down at 11 there and rises again at 2am in the morning. A week after Under the Mountain ended, which was full of amazing Jerusalem experiences, I flew to Sweden to direct a workshop on the public movement in Stockholm together with my partner, Dana Yahalomi, in a place called Weld, a small arts center for dance, performance art, arts, cultural and white wine.

It was a really interesting week, and I got to know the city with some of the people who live in it, I walked the streets, studied maps and observed different behavioral phenomena in public that I felt exhibited elements of performance and had political significance.

Watch the Heidlberg Police greets Public Movement for its fifth anniversary 

R.R: Like what? What kind of phenomena?

O.K.: OK, for example, kids who just finished high school and set out on a crazy road trip in an open truck full of poultry and beer, whistles, house music blasting out of giant speakers and hardly any clothes. A kind of festive rite of passage, a mobile mesibat shihrur (party that celebrates a discharge from the IDF) in which the passion of youth is squashed into a big trunk on wheels and driven around the city.

Just before they have to start thinking about their future and whether they should register for business studies, young men and women take part in a performance of joy, solidarity and youthfulness as "class" breaks up for the last time, travelling around the city like a ticking bomb, roaring drunkenly in the middle of the day.

This is what it looks like up close:

R.R: So you see this "moment of release' as some kind of statement? Would you define this as a socio-political reaction to the life changes they are about to undergo?

O.K.: No, this is not a conscious attempt to make a specific statement, and it is also not part of an ongoing political dialogue. It is a ritual. It is a sign, a symptom, a cultural phenomenon. Maybe the political question here is, why doesn't it happen every day?  The problem with a carnival is that it always out of the ordinary, an exceptional event that is not part of people's day-to-day existence, a violation of the social order (which must remain intact).

It also characterizes youthfulness, what it means to be young, a high school student, and explains why all the trucks look the same, the choreography is pre-determined. There is a strange tension between the "performance" of joy and intoxication and the container they are travelling around in. It is a form of protest.

R.R: Why do you see it as a form of protest?

O.K.: This is maybe not the most interesting phenomena and certainly not the key element of my research but it is definitely a form of protest—despite the fact that it has no placards with specific demands. A protest can be a million different things and can be carried out in a million different ways, and by the way, this is one of the demands being made by artists at this historic juncture, that the demonstrations currently sweeping the world be re-designed.

With regard to Stockholm, this is a form of collective performance art in which many people take part, a new tradition. The questions that arise are who invented it, why is it significant, and what does it say about the social needs of the high school students and how they understand public space? They see it as a place to hold a party, to make a statement about themselves and their own sense of individuality. A place to have fun, to break out of a routine, to go wild now that they have completed their matriculation and are just about move from youthfulness to adulthood. However, there is a question here as to the level of their consciousness. Do they view this as a political act? I am not sure. What cannot be ignored is that political significance can be drawn from the performance itself. The energy and organizational framework are defiantly raw materials that we can work with.  

R.R: It is interesting for me to hear you talk about this in this way, especially when I think of the "public movement," I have always thought of you as someone who is trying to make order in some way. Of course, your movement is much more complex than that and for you a violation of order can definitely be seen as some form of structuring for a public space, whether it is breaking out into an orchestrated dance at the crossing at Sderot ben Zion in Tel Aviv, the creation of fictional acts of hatred, leading public marches, it all complies with an internal logic of activism and lawfulness.  

O.K.: In the public movement we play with the concept of order and its violation, in other words, we create a new order using existing behavioral and social tools. We are drawn to conflict (be it overt or covert). In the case of the trucks, I always ask myself what would have happened if the truck had stopped and blocked the road, where else could it have gone, what else could we do with this energy, what is the meaning of this ceremonial act and what else could have happened, what other kind of behavior could we imagine for this group of people.

Public Movement also dances in the streets

Polumbo Gate

R.R: Explain

O.K.: A state artist could be a new kind of state institution, like the State Comptroller, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, or maybe the city engineer. It would be somebody who is responsible during their term of office, for the creation of artistic actions and works that derive from the fabric of Israeli society in cooperation with various state agencies. He/she would have complete artistic freedom, access to endless resources and would re-define through his/her work the role of art.

R.R: In other words, an artist in the service of the state?

O.K.: Yes, a public representative, an artist as civil servant.

R.R: How can we differentiate between the role of a public servant and state emissary? Or maybe there is no such division? Would you be willing to do this job?

O.K.: Part of the concept is that the state is in effect a utilitarian institution, a tool that serves the public and functions under the assumption that there is no human culture without art, that no democratic state cannot exist without artistic freedom, and that cultural research is clearly in the public interest. I believe that every artist serves the state because he/she works in the public domain to promote culture, to do something on behalf his/her fellow citizens, to expose something new or express something that is relevant to all. I think that progressive art does not necessarily have to be oppositional and the challenge for this generation is to try to become the state. The politics and the design of the public domain is not something politicians or older adults do, this is our job and artists have a great dealt to contribute to this. This is a huge undertaking with great potential from an artistic and general perspective.

R.R: In your opinion can a "state" artist, like new public art, exist in any real sense, or is this just an experiment being carried out alongside the general functioning of the state? And where do the museums fit in to this picture? And the galleries? If this is an example of new art what is the fate of institutional art?

O.K.: Contemporary art will change with time and will become a historical exhibit—a period piece. An important exhibit nonetheless but something that is unmistakably associated with the past. We are witnessing the development of non-material-based art which is expressed through relationships, live events, and things that are impossible to imagine. The demise of the object is a long process that began in the 1960s and is currently reaching its peak. Knowledge/information and communications are a huge industry today. The belief in spirituality and the movement away from materialism is strengthening. The world financial crisis undermined the concept of traditional artwork. The state needs information/knowledge, research and services. These are products that artists provide. A law defining what constitutes a "state" artist can be easily legislated and the institution formalized. Museums will become a meeting place in which people exchange ideas and artistic services: a local parliament of beauty, form, story-telling and social interaction.

R.R: Give us a typical Jerusalem scene, a telling moment in your relationship with the city.

O.K.: A visit during Pesach with my good friend Dudu who was studying at Bezalel. We walked until we reached an ultra-orthodox neighborhood where, out of nowhere, somebody standing by a door asked if we had already eaten. We said no and he asked us to come in. Inside sat a women next to a table wrapped in nylon who served us lunch. I also remember wandering around the city with Dudu duringSimchat Torah and watching elderly rabbis who were dancing with Torah scrolls and handing out kugal to their followers. Long lines of yeshiva students were chanting prayers—it was amazing. Every visit to the Western Wall is highly emotional for me. 

R.R: What is your favorite place in Jerusalem and why?

O.K.: The Knesset (Israel's parliament). I have visited it a number of times in both a professional capacity and as a citizen. I was always impressed by the opulence of its interior design (Dora Gad), Danny Karvan's embossed artwork and the Polumbo Gate which was designed by an  important artist who was killed in an motorcycle accident.

R.R: What do you think of the Jerusalem art scene? How is Jerusalem doing in your opinion?

O.K.: There are many interesting and strange people in this world. This helps. Jerusalem is not doing so well but we are working on it. It is a beautiful city that inspires the contemplation of beauty. It is the world's wound like a giant bleeding flower.

R.R.: What have you done recently, culturally?

O.K.: The (Kach) Kahana Chai conference in Jerusalem. A poetry reading by Yonatan Levy while standing on a bar. I have been re-listening to Marcel Broodthaers - Interview With A Cat. I have also been watching Sa'ar Skali every now and then, he is a member of the public movement and is currently part of the Big Brother reality show

O.K.: 79.89.09—an illustrated article in the form of a newspaper which considers two extremes, communism in the twentieth century and Islam in the 21^st century.  It raises the possibility of Polish-Iranian solidarity and examines anew the 1979 and 1989 revolutions as a means of understanding the influence of the current Middle Eastern revolutions (commonly known as the Arab Spring) which are occurring right now from Magrab to Iran.

R.R: What is your favorite application?

O.K.: Soundrop. My nephews love it.

R.R: Who would you invite to lunch if you were paying?

O.K.: Jack Frascian, curator and founder of the Al Mamal, an art center in East Jerusalem. Frascian was the artistic director for the biennale in the Gulf States, and was fired last April for exhibiting an inappropriate artwork. He is an international curator who works with some of my favorite artists and he lives in Jerusalem.