CHASOS was a satirical art activism project, launched 2011 by

Andreas Heusser Andreas Heusser (born 1976) is a Swiss conceptual artist and curator based in Zurich and Johannesburg. Education After completing an intermediate diploma in psychology in 2001, Andreas Heusser studied philosophy and German literature at the ...

. It consisted in creation of the fictitious charity organization "Christian Humanitarian Asylum Self-Aid Organization Switzerland" (CHASOS) and several actions performed by its president, pastor Wilfried Stocher.

Art vs. Politics

The project was performed 2011 in the context of the political debates on the feared "waves of refugees" to Switzerland due to the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...

. Although Switzerland has a long humanitarian tradition and is still one of the richest countries in the world, many Swiss politicians and Christian church representatives were not concerned about how to help, but how to avoid the refugees. "Switzerland is bursting at all seams. We cannot accept and nanny thousands of North Africans. That would be state support for asylum abuse." (

Lukas Reimann Lukas Reimann (born 18 September 1982) is a conservative Swiss politician. Reimann is a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) and a National Council. He resides in Wil in the Canton St. Gallen. In 2004, at the age of 21 years, he was electe ...

, SVP). The satirical project was aimed to question the moral status of these arguments by means of

subversive affirmation Subversive affirmation is an artistic performance that overemphasizes prevailing ideologies and thereby calls them into question.Inke Arns and Sylvia SasseSubversive Affirmation. On Mimesis as Strategy of Resistance. In: IRWIN: East Art Map, London ...

and

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

Prevention campaign for foreigners

The project started with the publication of a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

video where a pastor addresses potential "waves of refugees" and tries to deter them from "rolling" into Switzerland. The video was a satire on a previous deterrence TV spot produced by the Swiss Government which was aimed at potential

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

from Africa.

Petition for art relocation

The pastor launched also an online petition which demanded that all funds for artists and cultural institutions should be suspended, and that their funds and spaces should be used for refugee aid. The

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...

triggered many outraged reactions, especially among artists.

Refugee camp hall 32

During the

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

, a bleak refugee camp only equipped with the bare essentials was installed in hall Nr. 32. It was electronically secured with a high barbed wire and video monitored. Its main function was obviously not to give shelter to refugees, but to protect the Swiss population from them. According to the artist, it was the original intention to have it populated with "real" refugees during the duration of the Art Basel, but the prospect participants left before the start of the project so that the camp remained empty.

Reception

The project was controversially discussed in the media and gave rise to the question of how far political art can or must go to gain attention.''Provokation oder Offenheit der Kunst''
ARD Tagesthemen, 16 June 2011

External links

Website of Andreas Heusser

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CHASOS Political art Swiss political satire Performance art Contemporary works of art Culture jamming Culture jamming techniques Propaganda art Swiss art