Rudolf Schwarzkogler realised only six actions between 1965 and 1966. After that, until his untimely death in June 1969, he worked exclusively on the conceptual level. In doing so, he took a highly individual path within Vienna Actionism by assigning a fundamentally different role to the viewer, a role that foreshadowed much that would become virulent in international art in the 1970s.

In drawings and texts, he created what he called “conscious situations” in which elementary sensual experiences are offered in a form that is “formally clarified” by the artist’s selection and composition. They appeal to all the senses and encompass a wide range of life expressions and bodily functions. The role of the receptor coincides with that of the actor, which is how Schwarzkogler brought about a radical rethink in relation to his fellow artists.