Es zeichnet sich seit den 1990er-Jahren die Tendenz ab, dass sich viele Künstler/innen verstärkt mit Subjekten statt mit Objekten beschäftigen. Hinzu kommt eine zunehmende „Kollektivierung und Theatralisierung der einst auf Singularität und Präsenz setzenden Performance“. In diesem Zusammenhang sind auch immer mehr künstlerische Arbeiten zu registrieren, die mit Prozessionen und Paraden eine Vielzahl von Menschen auf die Straße bringen und in Bewegung versetzen. Dies spiegelt sich auch in einer immer größer werdenden Zahl thematischer Ausstellungen wider, die sich diesen Arbeiten widmen. Bereits 2004 konstatierte Pablo Lafuente in seinem Essay „Art on Parade“ in Art Monthly: „That ability of the parade to create subjectivity is where the artist’s political aspiration lies.“ Die künstlerisch-ästhetischen Praktiken von Francis Alÿs, Matthew Barney, Mierle Laderman Ukeles und Jeremy Deller, die Gegenstand der vorliegenden Untersuchung sind, könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. Ihre Gemeinsamkeit liegt in der performativen Verwendung eines sehr alten traditionellen Handlungsmusters, das den meisten Menschen vertraut ist. Die Prozession ist eine ritualisierte Handlung, die in unseren Breiten zuallererst mit der christlichen beziehungsweise der katholischen Liturgie in Zusammenhang gebracht wird. Die Grundbedeutung des Begriffs (von lat. processio = Zug, Geleit) als ein zielgerichtetes, geordnetes, gemeinsames Gehen, das den Raum gliedert und ihm dabei Bedeutung verleiht, umfasst jedoch den kultischen ebenso wie den profanen Umzug. So begegnen uns Prozessionen in vielen Bereichen des kulturellen Lebens. Dementsprechend beschäftigt sich diese Dissertation mit Prozessionen, Paraden und Karnevalsumzügen, deren Grundmotiv das gemeinsame, öffentliche, oftmals um einen Gegenstand herum organisierte Gehen, also die Prozession in ihrem allgemeinen Sinne ist. / Ever since the 90s, the tendency of many artists increasingly dealing with subjects instead of objects has become apparent. In this context, more and more artistic works that take a multitude of people to the streets or set them in motion as part of a procession or parade can be registered. This is also reflected in a growing number of themed exhibitions exploring these works. The artistic-aesthetic practice of Francis Alÿs, Matthew Barney, Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Jeremy Deller could hardly be more different. Their common ground can be found in the performative use of a very old traditional pattern of action that most people are familiar with. The procession is a ritualised act, which - in this part of the world – is first and foremost implicated in Christian respectively Catholic liturgy. The basic meaning of this term (derived from Latin processio – progression/cortege) as a purposeful, orderly, collective walk structuring and thus giving meaning to a certain space comprises, however, the sacral as well as the profane procession. This is way we can encounter processions in many parts of cultural life (and in almost every culture). This dissertation accordingly explores processions, (carnival) parades and demonstrations which all share the basic motif of a collective, public organised walk, often around an object, i.e. a procession in its general sense.

This dissertation draws upon Western literature in critical theory, aesthetics, art theory, and art history to explore how lying can foster aesthetic experience and the sociopolitical effects of this experience. It nominates the idea of pseudology—lying as an art—and outlines its distinguishing features from the dawn of postmodernism to contemporary practices. This study demonstrates an analysis of lying premised on an understanding of aesthetics as caught up in the wider issues of public pedagogy and everyday politics. Taking as case studies specific works of Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, VALIE EXPORT, and Carol Duncan, this dissertation argues for the narrative framing of artwork as paramount for its reception. As well, by examining the artistic mystifications of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Coco Fusco, Joshua Schwebel, and Iris Häussler, this dissertation analyzes the use of pseudology in institutional critique. The study finds that perfidious practices can point to the importance of the relational boundary between what is real/unreal, highlight the social construction of this boundary’s aesthetic aspects, and reveal the ways in which each of us are active in the construction of a shared reality. Ultimately, our active framing of everyday life and the affective nature of our construction of a shared reality has been problematized by a contemporary prevalence of lying in the realms of public culture and politics. Pseudology reveals the power of narrative framing. The pseudological artworks discussed here expose, as models for the political aesthetic of lying, the need to debate the very tenets of reality constantly and continually—an essential civic action in the ethical, communal relationships of a democracy. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / An analysis of the use of lying as an artistic technique.