Artists who wish to exhibit videos in public spaces have to pay a fee to the road authorities for using the airspace, the so-called AIR TAX. This is a paradox, as they should be compensated for their work in public spaces, rather than be charged additional fees that strain their already tight budgets. 

Jean Baudrillard’s sentence from Simulacra and Simulation – We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning – shows that public space is becoming a simulation of values and order. The relationship between TEUER (expensive) and STEUER (tax) becomes an allegory of the contemporary city, where every movement, every light, every breath is measured and controlled – until meaning itself vanishes.

2024, installation, Kräftner | Photos © k.ada / robert sauerbrey