Bitte Liebt Österreich. Christoph Schlingensief y la inmunidad del espectador

Abstract

In analysing Christoph Schlingensief’s Viennese performance action Bitte Liebt Österreich, this article discusses the (national) immune mechanisms that construct a particular type of gaze that objectifies the ‘Other’. Such a gaze imbues the Austrian people with the ability to decide on the (effective) lives of ‘others’, in this case, foreign refugees. Through a controversial performance in a public space (similar to the Big Brother), where the boundaries between real and fictional life have been diluted, the German author highlights the ways in which Austrian people (as well as other communities) generate their sense of belonging and their national identity.