Dictionary
Viennese Actionism

Viennese Actionism was an independent form of Action art. The key representatives of Viennese Actionism were Günter Brus (born 1938), Otto Muehl (born 1925), Hermann Nitsch (born 1938) and Rudolf Schwarzkogler (1940-69).
Their work constituted a radical rejection of established aesthetics, as well as Church and State. The Viennese Actionists initially created Action paintings, which they made by pouring and splashing paint onto canvas. The group subsequently focussed on Action art (performance), which was influenced by the Happenings.
The Actions themselves were choreographed and written down in the "Action Scores". Although the Viennese Actionists each developed their own form of expression, their work was unified by an excessive, sometimes brutal use of the human body, which blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction.
In his "Material Actions", Otto Muehl shook paint and other materials over primarily female bodies. The themes of procreation and sexuality played an important role in his work. Günter Brus and Rudolf Schwarzkogler devoted themselves to a broad spectrum of topics and artistic approaches, from painting their bodies, to carrying out supposed or actual acts of self-harm.
Hermann Nitsch’s key contribution to Viennese Action art was his Gesamtkunstwerk, the "Orgien-Mysterien-Theater". This event was characterised by the acting out of extreme rituals and use of materials regarded as blasphemous, including blood, animal cadavers, faeces and entrails. It was intended to represent the reduction of aggression, and express sensuality and cathartic cleansing. The Viennese Actionists period of activity was confined to the 1960s, although Hermann Nitsch continued to stage the "Orgien-Mysterien-Theater" at Schloss Prinzendorf in the Weinviertel in Lower Austria until 1998.