Lars Cuzner

Situation Report (2021)
Video series

Each week of the festival program is accompanied by uniquely performative video reports from the streets and environs of Graz. They are not “coverage” in the traditional sense, but rather artistic and intellectual projects, complementing the festival’s other situations.

In the first week, artist Lars “Jesus” Cuzner hits the streets and squares of Graz with a unique mission, namely to promote his newest work, a self-help confessional and potential blockbuster. Appearing as an erstwhile messiah (hence the nickname), he reveals that it is all one big deceit, even coded into his name—Cuzner comes from cozener, an obsolete word found in Shakespeare that means “liar,” “trickster,” and “confidence artist.” Now Cuzner finally wants to come clean. After a life as a con man (which included visits to the Styrian capital promoting a highly ambivalent political movement), he is revealing the tricks of his trade and telling them to anyone who will listen. But can he sell the idea of his book to people in Graz? Won’t they see right through him?


Bio
Lars Cuzner (1974, Södertälje, Sweden) is an artist working in performance, installation, and film. Using assumed identities and soft provocations, his work has often sparked controversy, addressing uncomfortable topics such as racism, Nordic nationalism, and the rise of right-wing populism all over Europe. For the last year, Cuzner has operated his own online-television project and studio in Oslo, where he lives.

6.–14.9

In the streets of Graz and online

In English

Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ʼ21

With the generous support of Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA)