F.A. Budapest Museum is a performance artist that took place in the Fine Art Museum in Budapest, August, 2006. Back to that time, the entrance to the permanent exhibition in the Museum was for free. Although, taking pictures would require buying a ticket (Photo Ticket) and using it in the chest in order to the museum vigilant (keeper) recognize it instantly.

The Action is accomplished in two acts:

In the first act (pictures on the left), the artist buys the Photo Ticket and decides to photograph the museum keepers instead of photograph the academic paintings hanged on the walls.

In the second act (pictures on the right), the action is repeated, but the artist hides the Photo Ticket in her skirt pocket. A “infiltrate spectator” is capturing the action behind the artist.

The project discusses the relations between power and gaze, conveyed by a real-time, ephemeral action, capture by the photographic medium. The artist appropriates the academic museum as “public space” questions its boundaries and the social-political regimes of visibility, namely its regulations.

MEGHívÓ

Venue: Budapest City Gallery

Hungary, 2006.

Development, concept and production: Patrícia J. Reis