The central offering of S.Y.L.A.H.Q is S.Y.L.A. (Support Your Local Art). It offers nondiscriminate support for local artists in the form of space, organization and publication. Since April 2012, the project has been managed by DEMECO & PASQUALE.
§1 Every person, animal, thing and community have a right to S.Y.L.A. (Support Your Local Art). §2 Once a S.Y.L.A.PPLICATION has been submitted, a temporary right to reside is granted. §3 There is no obligation to reside. §4 Nos. 1 through 3 apply, under consideration of the freedom of art as set forth in the German Basic Law, Art. 5, Paragraph 3.
Guided by the motto, "ART NEEDS ART", S.Y.L.A.H.Q. has developed unique and different curatorial and artistic strategies.
The disputable practice of selection in art, beginning in the academies and continuing in galleries and art institutions, is diametrically opposed to the concept of art, which was decisively shaped by the radical positions of Duchamps, Warhol, Beuys, and today by Meese.
The Geman Basic Law, which was enacted in 1949, states in Art. 5, Paragraph 3 that the, "Arts...shall be free." This statement appears to be more forward-thinking than the contemporary art enterprise.
"To act in the interest of art" is the motivation for this project. Since it is obviously impossible to make a universally valid judgment on what is art and what isn't, S.Y.L.A.H.Q. instead assumes the responsibility to nondiscriminately make art public.
After 5 years the quantitative balance of S.Y.L.A.H.Q. can be listed as follows:
104 persons, hereinafter referred to as "S.Y.L.ARTISTS", were provided exhibition space free of charge.
78 events, mostly art exhibitions, but also concerts, readings and film screenings, took place.
In addition, the works of nearly all S.Y.L.ARTISTS were presented to a larger audience at art fairs in Germany and abroad.
The S.Y.L.A.H.Q. collection currently includes 80 works.
With the issue of S.Y.L.A.SHARES, S.Y.L.A.H.Q. further expanded on its concept of "acting in the interest of art."
Curatorial practice
The "curatorial practice" consists solely of accepting each of the S.Y.L.A.PPLICATIONS and determining the duration of residence. No further form of selection is undertaken by my person or others, either in the acceptance of S.Y.L.A.PPLICATIONS or in the selection of the exhibited works.
Strategies and Terms In order to implement this concept in a coherent way new strategies had to be developed for emerging issues. Questions were: how is the concept financed? What is the registration process? Which agreements are necessary? Who sells the works? Should there be a commission? The strategies are often similar to those of a commercial gallery, producer gallery or art institution and yet fundamentally different. For this purpose, different terms are used and new ones coined, as compared to the usual terms in an exhibition context:
- Artists - S.Y.L.ARTIST
- Exhibition title - APPLICATION (or REQUEST or PETITION)
- Medium - ORIGIN
- Vernissage - ARRIVAL
- Finissage - DEPARTURE
- Exhibition duration - DURATION OF RESIDENCE
- Place - PLACE OF RESIDENCE