We clearly distance ourselves from the behaviors that have been displayed within this discourse by all those directly involved.
First of all: We understand the reactions to the stories and remarks of the artist Duygu Krämer on Instagram. It is right and important to take the accusations brought forth there as seriously as possible and to stand in solidarity with victims of sexism and violence.
As a result of this and other representations of the artist, as well as the pick up of this information by third parties, we have been asked in recent days to make an immediate statement in relation to the incidents between the artists Duygu Krämer, Crok and Tim Krämer. We have deliberately held back on this until now, in order to first obtain and evaluate all the facts available to us. In addition, we have sought personal discussion with both Duygu Krämer and Crok on several occasions, which was important for us before we go public with an official statement. One of the main actors, Tim Krämer, has neither taken a public position nor declared his willingness to enter into a personal dialogue.
It is important to us in this statement to give context to the content shared. The state of facts for us is as follows: There have been tensions between the artists Crok and Tim Krämer for quite some time, which are known in the graffiti scene and have been acted out there so far. These tensions escalated about three weeks ago after Tim Krämer clearly crossed borders within the discART project. He placed pieces both in the exhibition hall and on another surface of the outer wall in such a way that obviously at least two works of art were impaired in their appearance. As a result, the already existing conflict between the artists Tim Krämer and Crok flared up again. After several mutual provocations by both artists, Crok showed up at Tim Krämer's front door. Due to the shared living situation of Tim Krämer and Duygu Krämer, she also became involved in the incident. Duygu Krämer filmed this situation and shared this video publicly in her Instagram story. She then received a message from Crok in which he called her a "bitch."
Here, it is important to clearly separate two incidents:
The “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) between Crok and Tim Krämer, which consisted of mutual provocations and ultimately ended on Tim Krämer's doorstep.
The insult, which was pronounced by Crok in the context of the “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) during the house visit in the direction of Duygu Krämer.
In response to this incident, about three weeks ago, both Tim Krämer and Crok were excluded from the art project discART – Kunst bis zum Ende. The measures agreed with both artists, which included that both are no longer allowed to enter the premises and interfere with the artistic design, were disregarded by Crok.
Here we have to admit the mistake of not having sufficiently enforced the measures agreed upon with the artists after their exclusion from the project. We would like to apologize to all persons - and especially Duygu Krämer - for whom this has led to a renewed violation and a very understandable anger. Furthermore, we as organizers of DiscART condemn Crok's behavior regarding the massive threat to Tim Krämer and Duygu Krämer as well as the sexist statement in the subsequent message to Duygu Krämer. Even though the threat was originally directed at Tim Krämer, Duygu Krämer also became a victim of threats and violence as a result.
This resulted in the aforementioned depictions of the situation in Duygu Krämer's Instagram story. Here she takes up both the incident about three weeks ago, as well as the lack of implementation of the measures agreed with both artists by the organizers. In the following night from Saturday to Sunday, the joint artwork of the artists Duygu Krämer and Tim Krämer was smeared with paint. We are appalled and disappointed that a discourse is carried out in this way. We strongly condemn the damage to the artwork, especially in the context of the aforementioned incidents.
At the same time, we are shocked by the dynamic that has developed in response to Duygu Krämer's accusations. The shared content is partly misleading and does not illuminate the entire context of the situation. In third-party statements, for example, Crok's assault of Tim Krämer has been interpreted as a sexist assault on Duygu Krämer. It was stated that Crok had deliberately chosen Duygu Krämer's address in order to attack her. In our view, this does not correspond to the facts. Even if we can understand that the content presented in Duygu Krämer's story made you angry and sad and moved you to show solidarity with her, it is problematic from our point of view when third parties take up and spread content without knowing or including the overall context and publicly accuse people on this basis. All the more so because we, as the organizers of discART, have at all times offered a personal conversation for anyone who was and is rightly moved, irritated or angry by what Duygu Krämer describes on her Instagram page. In doing so, we wanted to pre-empt precisely this dynamic that has now arisen and give everyone the chance to evaluate the situation based on the context and all the associated facts.
As a result of this, Crok was called a "misogynist" and a "sexist," among other things. This is an interpretation of his behaviors. Furthermore, Crok was publicly condemned for having smeared the artwork of Duygu and Tim Krämer - without any proof. We clearly distance ourselves from this form of defamation (üble Nachrede). Even if the incident happened in temporal proximity to the accusations against Crok: Without sufficient evidence, the presumption of innocence applies.
The epicenter of the situation described is thus found in the “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) of two men whose conflict escalated and resulted in a massive crossing of boundaries by one of the two parties. The fact that a FLINTA* person also suffers massively from this toxic-male way of acting illuminates a structural problem with which we as organizers, the two artists involved as well as an entire scene have to deal.
Censorship of art is out of the question for us in this context. For us, this is a massive encroachment on the freedom of art, which is not justified from our point of view on the basis of the situation described above.
discART – Kunst bis zum Ende
Statement on the current events in the context of the project discART – Kunst bis zum Ende
Auf Deutsch lesen →We clearly distance ourselves from the behaviors that have been displayed within this discourse by all those directly involved.
First of all: We understand the reactions to the stories and remarks of the artist Duygu Krämer on Instagram. It is right and important to take the accusations brought forth there as seriously as possible and to stand in solidarity with victims of sexism and violence.
As a result of this and other representations of the artist, as well as the pick up of this information by third parties, we have been asked in recent days to make an immediate statement in relation to the incidents between the artists Duygu Krämer, Crok and Tim Krämer. We have deliberately held back on this until now, in order to first obtain and evaluate all the facts available to us. In addition, we have sought personal discussion with both Duygu Krämer and Crok on several occasions, which was important for us before we go public with an official statement. One of the main actors, Tim Krämer, has neither taken a public position nor declared his willingness to enter into a personal dialogue.
It is important to us in this statement to give context to the content shared. The state of facts for us is as follows: There have been tensions between the artists Crok and Tim Krämer for quite some time, which are known in the graffiti scene and have been acted out there so far. These tensions escalated about three weeks ago after Tim Krämer clearly crossed borders within the discART project. He placed pieces both in the exhibition hall and on another surface of the outer wall in such a way that obviously at least two works of art were impaired in their appearance. As a result, the already existing conflict between the artists Tim Krämer and Crok flared up again. After several mutual provocations by both artists, Crok showed up at Tim Krämer's front door. Due to the shared living situation of Tim Krämer and Duygu Krämer, she also became involved in the incident. Duygu Krämer filmed this situation and shared this video publicly in her Instagram story. She then received a message from Crok in which he called her a "bitch."
Here, it is important to clearly separate two incidents:
The “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) between Crok and Tim Krämer, which consisted of mutual provocations and ultimately ended on Tim Krämer's doorstep.
The insult, which was pronounced by Crok in the context of the “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) during the house visit in the direction of Duygu Krämer.
In response to this incident, about three weeks ago, both Tim Krämer and Crok were excluded from the art project discART – Kunst bis zum Ende. The measures agreed with both artists, which included that both are no longer allowed to enter the premises and interfere with the artistic design, were disregarded by Crok.
Here we have to admit the mistake of not having sufficiently enforced the measures agreed upon with the artists after their exclusion from the project. We would like to apologize to all persons - and especially Duygu Krämer - for whom this has led to a renewed violation and a very understandable anger. Furthermore, we as organizers of DiscART condemn Crok's behavior regarding the massive threat to Tim Krämer and Duygu Krämer as well as the sexist statement in the subsequent message to Duygu Krämer. Even though the threat was originally directed at Tim Krämer, Duygu Krämer also became a victim of threats and violence as a result.
This resulted in the aforementioned depictions of the situation in Duygu Krämer's Instagram story. Here she takes up both the incident about three weeks ago, as well as the lack of implementation of the measures agreed with both artists by the organizers. In the following night from Saturday to Sunday, the joint artwork of the artists Duygu Krämer and Tim Krämer was smeared with paint. We are appalled and disappointed that a discourse is carried out in this way. We strongly condemn the damage to the artwork, especially in the context of the aforementioned incidents.
At the same time, we are shocked by the dynamic that has developed in response to Duygu Krämer's accusations. The shared content is partly misleading and does not illuminate the entire context of the situation. In third-party statements, for example, Crok's assault of Tim Krämer has been interpreted as a sexist assault on Duygu Krämer. It was stated that Crok had deliberately chosen Duygu Krämer's address in order to attack her. In our view, this does not correspond to the facts. Even if we can understand that the content presented in Duygu Krämer's story made you angry and sad and moved you to show solidarity with her, it is problematic from our point of view when third parties take up and spread content without knowing or including the overall context and publicly accuse people on this basis. All the more so because we, as the organizers of discART, have at all times offered a personal conversation for anyone who was and is rightly moved, irritated or angry by what Duygu Krämer describes on her Instagram page. In doing so, we wanted to pre-empt precisely this dynamic that has now arisen and give everyone the chance to evaluate the situation based on the context and all the associated facts.
As a result of this, Crok was called a "misogynist" and a "sexist," among other things. This is an interpretation of his behaviors. Furthermore, Crok was publicly condemned for having smeared the artwork of Duygu and Tim Krämer - without any proof. We clearly distance ourselves from this form of defamation (üble Nachrede). Even if the incident happened in temporal proximity to the accusations against Crok: Without sufficient evidence, the presumption of innocence applies.
The epicenter of the situation described is thus found in the “bad guy behaviour” (Mackergehabe) of two men whose conflict escalated and resulted in a massive crossing of boundaries by one of the two parties. The fact that a FLINTA* person also suffers massively from this toxic-male way of acting illuminates a structural problem with which we as organizers, the two artists involved as well as an entire scene have to deal.
Censorship of art is out of the question for us in this context. For us, this is a massive encroachment on the freedom of art, which is not justified from our point of view on the basis of the situation described above.
discART – Kunst bis zum Ende