Professional Documents
Culture Documents
C UR ATING
CU R ATING
cuLTURE(S
PaulO'Neill
THECULTUREOF CURATING
ANDTHECURATING
OF CULTURE(S}
Paul O'Neill
Cambridge,Massachusetts London,England
O 2 0 1 2 Pa u lO' Ne ill
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproducedin
any form by any electronicor mechanicalmeans
(includingphotocopying,recording,or informationstorage
and retrieval)without permissionin writing from the
publisher.
MIT Pressbooksmay be purchasedat specialquantity
discountsfor businessor sales promotionaluse. For
information,pleaseemailspecialsales@mitpress.mit.edu.
This book was set in Helveticaby the MIT Press. Printed
Libraryof CongressCataloging-in-publication
Data
O'Neill,Paul, 1970The cultureof curatingand the curatingof culture(s)/ paul
O,Neill.
pagescm
Includesbibliographical
referencesand index.
fsBN 978-0-262-01772-5
(hadcover: alk. paper)1. Art-Exhibition techniques.
2. An and sociery.I. Ti1e.
N4396.O542012
7O7.5-4c23
2011051325
109876543
FOR IN S TA N C E ,
CONTENTS,
LISTOF ILLUSTRATIONSrx
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSxi
INTRODUCTION
1
THEEMERGENCE
OF CURATORIAL
DISCOURSE
FROMTHE LATE1960s
TOTHE PRESENT9
BIENNIAL
CULTURE
AND THEEMERGENCE
OF A GLOBALIZED
CURATORIAL
DISCOURSE:
CURATINclN THE CONTEXTOF BIENNIALS
AND LARGE-SCALE
EXHIBITIONS
SINCE.1989 51
INDEX 169
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS'
'
by MollyNesbit,Hans
seatingdesignfor "UtopiaStation;'co-curated
3.11 LiamGillick's
VeniceBiennale,2003. 118
UlrichObrist,and RirkritTiravanija,50th
and Design,"curatedby MariaLind,
3.12 "Whatlf: Art on the Vergeof Architecture
2000. tts
3.13 "Thisls the Galleryand the Galleryls ManyThings,"curatedby GavinWade,
2008. 121
a projectby AntonVidokle,2006' 125
3.14 unitednationsplaza,
3.15 Maria Lindin MadridIn,a/,by AntonVidokleand TirdadZolghadr,stillfrom a film
by Hila Peleg,2007.125
Listof lllustrations
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS'
Fortheirconsiderable
inputand critiqueat importantstagesof the writingprocessand
for theirinvaluable
adviceand robusteditorialsuggestions,
I am indebtedto Dr. Mick
Wilson,DaveBeech,MarkHutchinson,
and MaryAnneStaniszewski.
For her excellent
researchassistanceand help in collatingthis publication,
I wish to thank Vanessa
Vasi6-Janekovii.
My gratitudeextendsto manyfriendsand colleagues
for theirencouragementand support:LucyBadrocke,DavidA. Bailey,AdelaideBannerman,
AA Bronson, Hilde de Bruijn,Vaari Claffey,RonnieClose, Paul Domela,JeannetteDoyle,
CharlesEsche,BruceW. Ferguson,
AnnieFletcher,Tom van Gestel,AnthonyGross,
BarbaraHolub, Sophie Hope, Toby Huddlestone,Joasia Krysa, Lisa Lefeuvre,Cyril
Lepetlte, Frances Loeffler, Ronan McCrea, Jonathan Mosley, Danae Mossman,
AnnetteO'Neill,LisaPanting,AndreaPhillips,
AndrewRenton,Brigittevan der Sande,
Savage,EdgarSchmitz,LindsaySeers,Spike lsland,and Jen Wu. For makingthis
book possible,and for their patiencethroughoutthe process,I wish to thank Roger
Conover,MatthewAbbate,MichaelLacoy,Anar Badalov,SusanClark,Yasuyolguchi,
and all at the MIT Press.Thanksto DavidBlameyfor his epigraphin this book.For
their advice,suggestions,and invaluableknow-howat differentstagesin this project,I
am very gratefulto Julie Ault, CarlosBasualdo,AA Bronson,Gerard Byrne,Barnaby
Drabble,AnnieFletcher,LiamGillick,Matt Keegan,Hans UlrichObrist,SarahPierce,
Mary Anne Staniszewski,SallyTallant,GrantWatson,and to many participantsof the
de Appel CuratorialProgramme,the staff and studentsof the MFA Curatingat Goldsmiths,and those from FineArt at the Universityof the West of Englandwhom I have
had the joy of workingwith.I wishto thankAnn Demeesterand de AppelFoundation,
Acknowledgments
6 .i * .:,..s!'* r y,
I NT RO DUCT I O N
To studythe practiceof curatingis to revealthe ways in which art has been displayed,
mediated,and discussedas part of our historiesof exhibitionmaking.To write about
any aspectof the curatorialis to thinkabout how the exhibitionof art has oecomepart
of a developmentalprocess,of conceptualizing
ways in which art and its contextsare
understood.To analyzehow these presentations
are initiatedand organizedis to think
about how art is framed, how it ls spoken about, and how it is expressedby those
responsiblefor their conceptualizationand production.This book is essentiallya
detailedanalysisof the emergenceof contemporarycuratorialdiscoursesincethe late
1980s,a periodthat has seen the adventof independentcuratorship.lt will show how
the great change in the understandingof curatorshipduring this periodwas brought
about by a curator-centered
discourse.lt will also show that there is now sufficientevidence to consider curatorshipas a distinct practice of mediation,a development
broughtabout by artists,curators,artist-curators,
and curatorialcollectiveswho have
continuedto questionthe limitsand boundariesof the work of art, as well as ro reconfigureour understanding
of the multipleactorsand agenciesat work withinthe field of
culturalproduction.
curatorial practiceand discourseare dialecticallyentwined,a consequenceof a
recodingof practiceas discourseduringthe last twenty-fiveyears. Duringthis period,
the groupexhibitionlhas becomethe dominantmodeof curatingcontemporary
art, ancl
curatorshiphas begunto be understoodas a constellation
of creativeactivities,akin to
artistic praxis. In this process,the figure of the curator has moved from being a
caretakerof collections-a behind-the-scenes
organizerand arbiter of taste_to an
*
ij
*
*
$
:
s
*:i
i;*.
I
:,i
*:it
3
s
se
*
$
*
x
*g
*ai
*
*
3a
i
ri:.
{
*
I
:i:
::
*
i
$
*
j
il
t!
:
t
*
$
the
independentlymotivated practitionerwith a more centralizedposition within
discussion
period
under
The
parallel
commentaries.
contemporaryart world and its
also registersas a time when art and its primaryexperiencebecamerecenteredaround
the temporalityof the eventof the exhibitionratherthan the artworkson display'
the evolutionof curatorialdiscoursefrom the 1960s'
While takinginto consideration
from
this studyis centeredon the key changesthat havetakenplacewithincuratorship
point
year
starting
as
a
this
1987to the present.Thereare a numberof reasonsfor taking
for detailedstudy.First,1987was the yearthat the arts centerLe Magasinin Grenoble,
France,launchedthe first postgraduatecuratorialtrainingprogramin Europe,called
Studieselement
l,Ecoledu Magasin.'Second,it was in 1987thatthe Art History/Museum
and Critical
Curatorial
(lSP)"
was
renamed
of the WhitneyIndependentStudy Program
that
studies,with theoreticianHal Fosterappointedas senior instructor,on the basis
thusframingthe "lSPas a
"exhibitions
shouldembodytheoreticaland criticalarguments,"
curatorialforms,to
alternative
possible
to
develop
chanceto experimentand see if it was
programsat Le
nine-month
Eachof the eight-or
conventions.""
challengethe established
Magasinand the whitney lsP-which served as templatesfor the now innumerable
postgraduatecurating courses throughout Europe and North America-have the
productionof a group exhibitionas their main outcome,which each year's intakeof
1987
studentsworksupontogether,from initialproposalto final installation'In this way,
of curatorship,from vocational
representsa significantdeparturein the understanding
potentially
independent,critically
a
to
contexts
in
institutional
work with collections
practice.
In
shon, the practiceof
form of exhibition-making
engagedand experimental
professionalcareer
as
a
much
curatingbecamea possiblearea of academicstudy as
of contemporary
choice.The periodthusbegunis alsonotableas the timeof an escalation
for
curators'
market
new
up
a
opened
has
which
global
scale,
at a
art exhibitions
The book exploresthe reasonsfor curatorship'semergenceas a distinctmode of
production.
discourse,and the ways in whichcuratorshavecontributedto its discursive
of
The interpretiveliteraturesurroundingcuratorialdiscourseyields a particularfield
position'
inquiry that tends to overstatethe significanceof the individualcuratorial
in the
interest
by
an
motivated
to
be
Discussionfrom within the art field continues
cultural
to
individual
accompanyingauthoritythat enunciateddiscoursecan bring
practice.Yet while the seeminglyunendingargumentsaround curatorialdiscourse
the
have, at times, seemed tediouslyself-regarding,it is very importantto reassert
of
sense
coherent
a
least
bolstering,
at
or
potency of this speech in establishing,
curatorial
that
find
we
agency in contemporaryarI production.With this in mind,
in
discoursehas fostered frameworksfor greater interactionwith other disciplines,
and
recognitionof the fact that critical cultural practiceis always moving between
beyondthe boundariesof its field.
not
Unlikemanycurrentpublicationson curating,this book is intendedto investigate
been
what has been realizedunderthe rubricof individualpractice,but ratherwhat has
:,
{
!
lntroduction
Introduction
and
resides in documentation'catalogs'
the exhibitionprojects under discussion
given
contradiction'
this book is not without
reviews.,oAs the work of a curator-writer,
my own
understandmy chosen practice'Therefore
that it representsan attemptto
po s i ti o n c a n n e v e ro e v a | u e -fre e,duetoi tsi nvestmenti nthefi el dofi nqui ry,butIhope
**
a
*
I
It:
*
:
I
:
:r
t:
::
.':
:
:
:
:
:,
I
i:
;
*
I
:
!
i
i
i
1
1
1
i1
j
I:
{
*
:
*:
*
I
j
:
:
1
;
It
lntroduction
Introduction
Introduction
rI
fl
T
x
tr
$
F
F
i
I
i
to engage with
:-: doubt-to expose it to criticaland responsibleinterrogation,
:-'"torial discourseas a creativeand as a regulatedpractice.- As should become
: :ar. curating,as a discoursespecific to the field of contemporaryarl, is often
::"tradictory, perhapsdoomedto be retroactive,yet somehowremainsa generative
':':e for a progressiveview of art. The pasttwo decadeshave seen curatorshipas we
.,.!r,v it experiencinga definitivediscursiveformation-shaped significantlyby an
:-semble of authorizedstatementsfrom withinthe curatorialfield.Althoughthere,is
-c,,vevidenceof a great pluralityof curatorialstyles and positions-articulatedwithin
and publishedproceedingsfrom summits-curatorshave
I scussions,anthologies,
a
self-asserting
declarative
approachto theirfield as a methodof
applied
3enerally
practice
whole,withthe first-person
theirown
withinthe curatorial
narrative
cositioning
being predominantmodes of address.As will become
and curatorself-positioning
apparent,this has broughtabouta form of curatorialknowledgewith relativelyunstable
foundations.
historical
selecting,planning,organizing,structuring,
Throughthe processof researching,
framing,and curatinggroupexhibitions
as an artistor curator,one beginsto understand
how.the curatorialconstructsideas about art. The act of curatingeach and every
of these ideas as much as it actively
exhibitioncontributesto a greaterunderstanding
questioning
producesand consolidates
In
how and what types of knowledges
them.
have been producedand enabledfrom withinthe curatorialfield,
and epistemologies
and organizedart world
this book only beginsto unravelhow a highlyadministered
resultedin the formationof a cultureof curatingthat continuesto determineand
reinventitself.
lntroduction
,1
THE EMERGENCEOF CURATORIALDISCOURSE
FROM THE LATE 1960STO THE PRESENT
C H APT ER
C H APT ER
From the late 1940s onward,new forms of installationart-such as Lucio Fontana'sAmbienteNero (1949), RichardHamilton'san Exhibit(1957),Yves Klein'sLe
Vlde (1958),Arman'sLe Plein (1960),Allan Kaprow'shappeningsand environments
(1959-late1960s),H6lioOiticica'sGrand Nucleus(Grandentrcleo)(1960-1966),and
ClaesOldenburg's
lhe Sfore(1961-1962)-brought
the site-bound
and spatialnature
of exhibitionsto the fore as "thevery materialof the artwork.""In the case of an Exhibit,
for example,Hamiltonworkedwith artistVictorPasmoreand curatorLawrenceAlloway
(membersof the IndependentGroup)to producea mobile-likeinstallationof a labyriLrth
of transparentand colorfulpanels.an Exhibitwas a stand-aloneartworkas well as a
collectivelyproducedexhibitionform resultingin a spatiovisualstructurethat dissected
and transformedthe viewer's vision into a three-dimensional
exoerienceof soaces
made up of intersectinghorizontaland verticalsurfaces.'oWith their emphasison both
the participatory
contextof the work of art and its site-boundnature,many of theseafiists pushedfor greatercontrolover the receptionof theirwork.Artistsaimedto restrict
the mediatingfunctionof art institutions,
organizers,and curatorsalike.In this way, the
exhibitionspacecame to functionas the main contextof, and the primarymediumfor,
the realizationof the artworkand, at the same time,as the site in whichthe work of art
was adaptedand modifiedin responseto each specificexhibitioncontext.ll
In the early twentiethcentury,a numberof influentialmuseumdirectorsinitiated
innovativedisplayswith artists,designers,and architects,transformingthe museum
from a repositoryof historicalart into a place for exhibitionsthat showcasedthe contemporaryart of the time-a movethat implicitlyreconfigured
the museumas an extension of the social world outside.For example,in the 1920sAlexanderDornerat the
Landesmuseum,
Hannover,beganto show non-artobjectsalongsideartworksin installationsthat were arrangedthematicallyratherthan by period.He also invitedaftiststo
provide componentsof the museum display, for example commissioningL6szl6
Moholy-Nagy
to designseating.GraphicdesignerWillemSandberg,directorof the StedelijkMuseum,Amsterdam,
from 1945to 1962,expandedthe museum'scollection
to
includeindustrialdesign,print, photography,and everydaymaterial.Critic Lawrence
Alloway,a memberof the IndependentGroup who becameassistantdirectorof the
Instituteof ContemporaryArts, London,in 1955,co-organized
the celebrated"This ls
Tomorrow"exhibitionat WhitechapelGalleryin 1956,employingan innovativeinteractive designtechniquethat establishedthe exhibitionas a kind of communlcationnetwork in which popular culture, movies, advertising,graphics,product design, and
fashionwere integratedinto the overalldisplay,ratherthan beingsegregatedfrom the
supposedlyhigherentityof artworks.CuratorPontusHult6n,foundingdirectorof Moderna Museet,Stockholm,in the 1950s,achievednotorietywith the 1968 exhibition
"She-A Cathedral."This was a deliberatelysensationalshow,enactedwith artistsNiki
de SaintPhalle,JeanTinguely,and Per Olof Ultvedt,whichtook placeinsidea 10O-footlongsculptureof a supinewoman,betweenwhoselegs the publicwas invitedto enter.
TheEmergence
Discourse
fromthe Late1960sto the Present
of Curatorial
C H APT EF
'1i67;os7
*
a-
sgirited
*tbftfin
srcil
bi.luql
of th 56at16
:*ilis
tum
955,0(!
b \areter
.,
spEmbP
rt
lbpard
ru$els
6 b dber
art gall.lX/
fo.
tf coritimporarff
at SF g@itle
5 1969; wnsim
1970'
*t
mua*m
tttld
ga4ey
cataLgue
the
aa!d.
bav6 be6n aatdad to thlq
Eho.
gBaltt
psjocts
al,ier.d
aorer &rtlst'E
shorlngr
?gto
(J srusis
terc
adilsit ln Vecouver),
1
for Veo@rB
blbuogEpbyr
1llst
ot fft1st6
oattd, 2 addlttomt
lltle
I for the laDdart
f1b,
6 lnstalll,! Yuoouyor,
rboE
ghotr of g6attler
ufortwtely
lncoEplctg,
ailon
Ietio i.ha rct*s
shom ou!Ao6ta.t!d:
ln regal{
leulsfly
rlthout
lhoY could @t have bs@ ooDpL.tea
Tt6 gettlo
coopeFilon
o! Ane
lrockc. Il
Ulgmt
sd
llt
tha atdcat
p@plq, rcl
to tbank tha tolloYln
l1t6
addttlorr
f rculd
Jlr ltanoud.s'
Bert OaBar,
ackwlcdged;
Irvlously
John DeM,
VltgtDla
Robrt Dootgonr
IbTtd
lirghbark8,
ana for
}loven.
frtabt,
trsls
!!sd
t.chBloaL
Iru6 to vsaihcr,
trmb1qa alal Le rs dsflDbl
pl'se
v6! rot
*ecuted
b gaaH6luor'a
!utu!,
Xlcba1
go1 bytii'!
ald Jm Dlbbi8'
x.!e mt
ooepLoted;
ttlsr
lnstruotlon6
xrfo
Dlsaa(l
namge'8
Eatrt
Csrl Aodrers
tholly
vsra mt
dcutd
ln
eDi tbe pleoss
utdsrElmd
rlshgs.
wt
rltb
ths
drltstrr
Rlohatrd
ErErs
ao6rd
efflv.
illd rct
ln tlr".
t3
t:,
ii:
il
It
I
I
I
:t
:,
I
to
C H APT EF
T-1.3 "WhenAttitudesBecomeForm:Works,
Concepts,Processes,Situations,Information,"
curatedby HaraldSzeemann,KunsthalleBern,
Bern.
Bern,1969.Courtesyof Kunsthalle
1.4 "January5-31 , 1969,"curatedby Seth
Siegelaub,SethSiegelaubGallery,New York,
1969.Courtesyof Seth Siegelaub.
l8
C H APT EF
It
I
I
The Emergence
of Curatorial
Discourse
fromthe Late1960sto the Present
ff
:r:
WM
'
2A
C H APT F R
:unctioned
as a sign bothof certification
thatthe work existedand of authentication
of
ihe exchangevalueof the work,in lieuof any actualobject.ot
The exhibition
of the work
of aft was, therefore,split betweenBarry'sephemeralaction,of which he made an
audiorecording,
and siegelaub'svlsualpublicmanifestation
in the form of a text on a
poster,whichmadethe exhibition
of the artwork,in AlexanderAlberro'swords,"accessibleto the publicsolelyin the formof advertising,
as puresign."oo
The materialrepresentationand the intrinsicelementsof the artworkwere part of the same exhibitiora,
beingbothdistinctfrom,and yet dependenton, one another.
In 1969,siegelaubnotedhow art had movedfrom the ideathat,when someone
painteda painting,whathad beendoneand whatyou saw werethe samething,to one
wherethe "artwas a differentthingto how information
aboutit was provided."ot
Thus,it
was now possibleto splitthe artworkinto"primaryinformation"-that
is, thatwhichwas
the "essenceof the piece"-and "secondary
information,"
whichwas the materialinformationusedto makeone awareof the pieceand its "formof presentation,"aG
Changesin the curatorship
of ar1involvednotonlythe detachedapplication
of new
techniques
of distribution
and displaybut also an influencein, or evena determination
of, the meansof presentation,
whichbecamean inseparable
componentof the workof
art itself.In this way, the productionof the work of art and its mediationin a oublic
exhibitioncontextwere inteftwined.
A new kind of postformalist
aestheticemergedin
whichart now lookedto systemstheories,linguistics,
sitespecificity,
and art'senvironmentaldimension,ratherthanthe traditional
aestheticform.-'In an unpublished
essay
from 1968,siegelaubstatesthat,by the late 1950sand early 1960s,"the contention
that the framingconventionof a work of art was implicitwas accepteda prioriby the
majority"
of artists,withmoretraditional
object-based
art beingrejected.ot
In thisacceptanceof logicalart historical
progression,
therewas an implication
of the objectand its
relationto its physicalcontext(walls,floors,ceilings,and the roomitself).In the same
year, Dan Grahamalso notedthat "the show is done for a specificplace,,,on
further
highlighting
an understanding
of the placeof exhibition
and the placeof the workof art
as inextricably
linked.
Those responsiblefor providingthe mediatingcontextof aft were, therefore,
almostas centralto the production
of art as the artiststhemselves.
At the sametime,
artistsseemedto be lookingfor sympathetic
exhibitionorganizerswho couldprovide
waysto exhibittheirdematerialized
work as well as for thosewho had a fundamental
understanding
of whatactuallyconstituted
the workof art and its exhibition.
As Weiner
stated,"[Curators]
builttheirstructureon beingableto legitimately
and correcflyshow,
whichmeantunderstanding,
a cerlainbody of work that did not havea precedent.
At
leastin my own case,I knowthatfor sure,and,in the majorityof othercases,I feltthat
the anistswerelookingfor curatorswho at leastunderstood
whattheydid.Theydidn,i
evenhaveto agreewithit;theyjusthadto understand
it so that,whenit was presented,
it wasn'tmisrepresented.""
C I- ,l APT ER 1
II
CAAL
ANART
R$STRT
BARRY
0$u&Les
HUrBlrn
J$SNPH
KCI$UT$|
$OLLTWITT
ROBERT
MORRIS
LAWRENCT
V|TInTN
Firii ldilion
106
neramller I tffi
Cogyrightlslh $iegelaubrnd Irhn W. Wendtrr tt6g. Atr Rrghi*rs5erued.No pifl of ihis hst may
k rep.d*ed in ?ny torn. vilhout permiaron in writiry lrom tbe pub,isher.printd in ths UnitarJ
9aa1$of Ameri.a.
Sieglsublwsndlr.
. Ne! york, N. y.
23
{SW:LK
1967.Courtesyof GwenAllen
1.7 "Aspen5+6,"curatedby BrianO'Doherty,
C H APT EB
seriesof principles
and possibilities."ut
Emphasison the framingand mediationof art,
ratherthan its production,also createda new degreeof visibilityfor the individual
agencyinvolvedin the framingof thesepractices-thatis,for the curator.
Burgeoning
recognition
go-between,
for the roleplayedby the organizer,
and interproduction,
mediaryin the conceptualization,
and mediation
of contemporary
art exhibitionswas,in part,begunas a responseto the changingconditions
underwhichart was
beingproduced.But it was alsopartof a deliberate
attemptto questionsuchconditions
by devisingnewformatsthroughwhichartistscouldpresenttheirworkas publiclyavailable information.
As Siegelaubstatedof his workingrelationship
with artistsBarry,
Huebler,Kosuth,and Weiner:
My interests
wereverycloselyalliedto working
withthemto deviseexhibition
structures
andconditions
thatwereableto showtheirwork,whichwouldreflectwhattheirwork
was about.In otherwords,it becameclearto me that,fin seekinga] solution
to the
problems
thatwereposedby the natureof theirworkandthejdeasbehindit . . . a gallerywasnotnecessarily
themostidealenvironment
to showit . . . my'lob,"so to speak,
was to findthoseformats,to findthosenew structures
and conditions
to be ableto
showtheirwork.se
'f
{
C IAPT EF
C IAPT ER
C !APT ER
Echoingthe way in which the word "art" beganto be considereda kind of verb in
shiftaway
the 1960s,the periodfromthe late 1980sonwardhas seena paradigmatic
museumfunction,
withits linksto a traditional
of the noun"curator,"
fromthe application
towardthe use of the verb "curating,"whichimpliesa practiceof constructingnarratives
The appearanceof the verb"to curate"betweenaftworks.eo
throughcorrespondences
whereoncetherewas just the noun,"curator''-implicatedthe curatorin the generative
processesof artisticproduction.As curatorAlex Farquharsonwrites:"newwbrds,after
bastardizedas the verb 'to curate'(worsestillthe
all, especiallyones as grammatically
persistent
needto identifya
community's
emergefroma linguistic
adjective'curatorial'),
oointof discussion."'u
for overall
of the notionof the curatoras an agentresponsible
This amplification
phrase
now-ubiquitous
usage
of
the
the
established
narrative
structureand
exhibition
press
releases,and catalogs).As a
"curatedby" (in the contextof exhibitioninvitations,
autho"curatedby" articulates
a semiautonomous
normativeattributeto all exhibitions,
rial rolefor the curator.Curatingin the contextof groupexhibitions-theexhibitionform
that mostclearlybroughtthe curatorto the fore and helpedto establishthe "curatedby"
credential-made evidentthe idea that there is an agencyotherthan the artistat work
vocabularywith its
and that the exhibitionis a form of curatorial
withinall exhibitions,
of thisideaof the group
stated,"thedevelopment
As NicolasBourriaud
own grammar.tu
the biggerand the moreimporas a languageand of coursethen,indirectly,
exhibition
tant aspectsin any exhibition,even a solo show,is [now]decodedin the sameway" as
and the wayswe readit.nt
languageof a groupexhibition
the curatorial
in the 1960sto Visibilityin the 1980sto Supervisibilityof
From Demystification
the Curatorin the 1990s
As we haveseen,the lateryearsof boththe 1960sand the'1980swere momentsof
conjuncturein extendingthe boundariesof what constitutedthe role of the curator,the
nexusof curatorialpraxis,and the field in which they operated.As a historicalpreceas one of the
dent, Siegelaubinadvertentlyidentifiedthe conceptof demystification
as JoshuaDecter'sstatementillusmostpertinentissuesin latercuratorialdiscourse,
and museumswould preferthat the 'invisible'forcesof
trates:"Culturalinstitutions
contemporaryart exhibitionsremain preciselythat-invisible. So much of what happens inside. . . culturalinstitutions
remainshiddenfrom the public'sview,and,often,
evenfromthe eyes of the specializedart crowd."" "Visibility"is, to Decter,what demystificationwas to Siegelaub-an urgentneedto exposethe processesbehindthe exhibiting of art, by makingcuratorialproceduresmore visible.The exposureof the various
what
are produceddemonstrates
processes
throughwhichexhibitions
decision-making
is disseminatedas art and how informationaboutart is mediated.en
32
C H APT EB
its meanlngs
of the artisticprocessin the 1960s;it is activebecause
to the mystification
a n d v a | u e s a re s u s ta i n e d i n i tsw i despreadcontemporaneoususeW i thi ncuratori a| di shas effectively
into the dominantculture,demystification
course.In beingassimilated
for the curatorialposition'
and dilutedas "visibility"
reinterpreted,
been incorporated,
T h e me ri ts o fd i s a p p e a ri n g ,m aki nganonymous,orco| l apsi ngthese| f.presentati ona|
fo rm w a s i g n o re d a s a p o te n tia| l yva| i dmodeofpracti cei ni tse| f.D emysti fi cati onhad
e v e n b e c o me a p ri m a ry p ra c t i cefors-ome' sucnasO' D oherty' w hodescri bedi tas" a
positionhas
work."'otsincethe late 1960s,the curatorial
mediumin whichwe currently
and genformed
"effectively
while
that,
shiftedfrombeingan activelyresidualelement
e ra te d i n th e p a s t,...rs s ti l l a cti vei nthecu| tura| process,noton| yandoftennotata| |
e|ementof the present.,,.ou
as an e|ementof the past,but as an effective
D e m y s ti fi c a ti o n | Sn o w wi de| yacceptedw i thi ncuratori a| di scourseasamethodof
d e fi n i n g a n d re p re s e n ti n g a curatori a| posi ti on.Thi si stosaythat,today,theconcepts
o fa u th o rs h i p ,s e | f-p o s i ti o ni ng,andthecreati veva| ueofthecuratoraretakenfor
of his
Char|esEsche,sarticu|ation
grantedWithinthe soctaland cu|tura|fie|d of art'
implicitin this
this: "l thinkwe shouldadmitto a real creativity
positiondemonstrates
of contexts
creation
the
and
production
in
new termof curator.. . . Nowwe,reinvolved
a n d o p p o rtu n i ti e s ,a | | o fw h ichhaveacreati veel ement' ..acuratorhasaposi ti on...I
likeRem Koolhaas'you askfor Rem
havemy own position.l-ike,if you wanta building
posiin RobertStorr'sstatementon his own curatorial
This is reiterated
Oooinuur."ttt
.,|
is a crucia|part.Nowthereare differentways of doing
tion: thinkthe demystification
i t,a n d th e re a re d i ffe re n to p portuni ti esormomentsfori t....| fyouw orki ni nsi i tuti ons'
y o u ,re i n a So me w h a td i ffe rentS i tuati oni nasmuchaS yourbestbet,basi ca| | y,i sto
p|aces
and thenbe as candidas possib|eaboutthe
createthe maximumtransparency,
"
whereoPacitYis necessarY
of the role of the curatorhas cometo signifya
Thus the idea of ihe demystification
c o mb i n a ti o n o f,o n th e o n e hand,anoti onofmaxi mumtransparency,asameansof
a rti c u | a ti n g a n d d e ti n i n g a s peci fi cposi ti onforthecurator,and,ontheotherhand' w hat
""' We now assume'
"supervisibility
curatorAnnieFletchercalleda levelof mediated
the curator,s
Fietcher,
been curated.For
ratherthan question,that an exhibitionhas
"as an inherentpart of the
the processof demystification
statedremitnow Incorporates
C H APT ER
way of self-critique
from the groupon whetherthesechangeshad achievedanything
produciive
for art or for culturemorewidely. The contradictions
Fletcherhad identified,
betweendemystification
of the curatorialpositionand its beingmadevisible,can be seenin manyof the criticalresponses
to
initiatives.
For
Manifesta
4
in
2002
curators'
example,
was declaredby its curatorslaraBoubnova,
NuriaEnguitaMayo,and St6phanie
Moisdon-tobe a curatorial
system
of "radicaltransparency,"
withthe intentionof creatingorganicprocesses,
centeredon
dialogue,exchange,
and new genreart models,withthe co-curators
assuming"therole
ratherthancurator-superstars.""'
But,by drawingattention
of facilitators
to theiralleged
transparency,
the curatorsensuredthat discussion
surrounding
the exhibition
focused
primarilyon theircuratorialstatementratherthan the artworksthey selected."tSirilarly,when FrancescoBonamiattemptedto make the 2003 VeniceBiennalea more
project,by invitingelevencuratorsto form"zones"withinthe exhicollective
exhibition
bitionas a whole,"t reviewsmainlyfocusedon eachof the individual
curatorialstatements and Bonami was even criticizedfor not curatingthe exhibitionenough."n
Perhapsmost bombasticof all were the avoidancetacticsdemonstrated
aroundthe
LyonBiennialin 2007,for whichObristand Moisdon"curatedcuratorscuratingartists"
by invitingroughlyfiftycuratorsto presentone artisteachalongside
theirown selection
of artists.
In a polemicon the subjectof his own practice,curatorAndrewRentonexpressed
his desireto retainan elementof complexity
in his curatorial
thinking:
I am quitea strongbeliever
thatpartof the job of curatingis to makethe showselfexplanatory,
andpeopleaskwhatthatwouldbe andI wouldsaythatwhatyou haveis
yourworkbutactually
nota catalog
thatexplained
theworksexplained
eachother,and
thenyou'vereallygotan integrated
Whatdemystification
exhibition.
doesn'tquiteallow
for arenotionsof complexity-andwe livein an agewhereadworksdo notconformto a
singlegenreand are, by theirinherentnature,complex
l'm quiteinterested
in
demystifying
theprocess
of experiencing
art,butI'minterested
in simultaneously
retainingthepossibility
withinthat.-"
of complexity
Rentonappearsto yearnfor a certainmystiquesurrounding
the experience
of art,as a
possiblefunctionof the complexity
of art and curatorial
decisions.
The wishfor the artworksto explaineachotherseemsto reinforce
the notionof an abstractmediating
faculty integralto art. His positionalso carrieswith it a beliefin the capacityof curatorial
intent,wherebymeaningis producedmerelyby virtueof a curator'sdecisionto juxtaposecertainworksas an adequateformof self-explanation.
Therehavebeenotherattemptsto counteract
the demystification
of the roleof the
curator,motivatedby a desireto preservea distancefor the curatorfromthe institution
of art, such as Storr'sjudicioususe of opacityin the face of increasedtransparency.
However,any perceivedoppositionality
must take accountof the fact that one of the
C H APT ER
JI
to
processes,
thenthereare manyotherissuesthat remainperipheral
decision-making
economicadvantages
others,issuesof celebrity,
currentdominantdiscourses-among
for artistfriends,and
advancement
career
profession
curatorship,
of
gainedthroughthe
decisions'
of the an marketon curatorial
the influence
stepstakentowarda demysti{icaIn summary,the 1960ssaw the firstsignificant
formats,suchas publiclysitedexhibirole,throughnewexhibition
tionof the mediator's
A secondparadigmshiftin the
events.
transient
publications,
and
tions,art magazines,
of
while
linkedto the curatorship
ob.iects;
1980ssaw a returnto curatingwith discrete
previous
from
the
differedsubstantially
this latterdevelopment
art museumcollections,
being
with exhibitions
statements,
curatorial
as individual
one by regardingexhibitions
convenhistorical
with
the
in
a
break
thematic
narrative
or
concept
allocateda unifying
have in common,though,is the degreeto
tions of display.What these conjunctures
whichthe curatorbecameprominent,as both the subjectand objectof study,within
of art.As we shallsee,the reconthe exhibition
and debatessurrounding
discussions
entered
art commentaries
contemporary
within
node
central
as
a
figurationof curating
stageby the 1990s.
its proliferate
curatorialAnthologiesand the Emergenceof a Historyof Exhibitions
discourseand an academic
as a historical
remainsto be fullyesiablished
Curatorship
However,in the Enfieldof inquiry,in partdue to its stateof perpetualself-production'
was the emerworldduringthe 1990s,one of the maindevelopments
glish-speaking
history
of exhibitions'
the
examined
specifically
publications
that
of
genceof a range
potential
to
an evolving
links
past,
and
their
the
from
and models
innovations
curatorial
"age
of curatoperiod
the
couldbe called
this
practice.
to JuliaBryan-Wilson,
According
basisof art is takenas a given,andthe marketing
in whichthe "institutional
rialstudies,"
focusof inquiryfor thouhas
becomea specialized
ad
of coniemporary
and packaging
centeredon
for
discussions
provision
was
made
Duringthistime,
Sandsof students."''o
concurrently
beganto take shape
curators,and a processof historicization
individual
praxis.As HelmutDraxlerargued
curatorial
in contemporary
with majortransformations
as a periodof "institutionalizarecognized
were
years
ihe
decade
of
in 1992,the early
trainingprogramsfollowof
curatorial
flourishing
function,withthe
tion,,of the curatorial
shift"in the courseof the 1960s,whenthe curatorbecamea
ing an initial"institutional
of the functionof the curatorwas only the
figure.t"This institutionalization
centrifugal
curatorialdiscourse;it was accomconiemporary
new
of
a
first stagein the emergence
which
was beingled by, and for, a
publishing
industry,
paniedby the aforementioned
publications'
of curatorswho had accessto such
new generation
in 1996,BruceFerguIoThinkingaboutExhibitions
introduction
ln theirpredictive
to become"theemerwhat
was
highlighted
Nairne
and
Sandy
son, ReesaGreenberg,
statedtheirintention
and
exhibitions"
art
on
of a newdiscourse
oenceandconsolidation
C I]APT ER
--
C F IAPIER
Whatthisamnesiahascausedis thatpeopletalkaboutcurating
in verygenerar
rerms.
PeoplelikeDorneror Szeemann
arealwayspulledout if one is in needof a historical
figurewithregardto thecurrentformsof curating.
Szeemann
wasnotat all interested
in
beingmassively
self-reflexive
abouthisownpractice
or curating
in generaland Dorner
is a verydifficult
casein my opinion.
Thereisjustso littleknownabouthisworkandyet
peoplealwaysreferto himas a pioneer
of curating.
. . I thinkwhatis evenworsethan
thisisthattodaypeoplealready
do notremember
curators
fromtheearly1990sthat,for
somereasonor other,havenot hadthatmuchvlsibility
overthe recentyearsbut did
groundbreaking
showsonlytento fifteenyearsago.
So, priorto the 1990s,the practiceof curatingand its specificdiscourseshad
focusedon contemporary
arI, with littleto no recourseto exhibitionhistoriesand a
recurringfocuson the mostrecenttrends.In responseto this discursive
gap,contemporaneouscuratorialdiscussions
identifieda certainhistoricalamnesiain a driveto
formulatea new bodyof curatorialknowledgeratherthanfillingthe much-needed
dispractices
cursivegap.Curatingwas becominga matrixof discursive
thatcan be identified as a body of knowledge.There are rules,games of true and false,and, more
generally,what Foucaulthas called "formsof veridictionin these discursivepractices."tou
That is to say, thereremainsa needto morethoroughlyexaminehow these
rules,structures,
and modalities
haveenableda curator-led
discourse.
Whileneglecting
consideration
of itsown timeperiod,thiscontemporary
rhetoricof
a forgottenpast beganto configurea type of exhibitionin termsof individual
curators
gesture.At the sametime,curatorsand artistshavereactedto, and
and the curatorial
engagedwith,this"neocriticality"
by exiendingthe parameters
of the curatorial
spaceto
incorporate
more discursiveforms,from conversational
modesof exchangeto largescale geopolitical
statements,centeredon the ambit of the exhibitionas a framing
device.Despitenumerousclaimsto the contrary,
fromHoffmannto Obrist,prioritization
of the contemporary
and the curatorialgesturehas createda particularmodelof discoursethat remainsself-referential,
curator-centered,
and curator-led,
with unstable
historical
foundations.
CuratorialDiscoursesince the Late1990s
Alreadyin 1989,BenjaminBuchlohhad arguedthattherewas an urgentneedto articpositionas partof art discourse.In his opinion,practiceas "doing"
ulatethe curatorial
"curating"
necessitated
or
a discourseas "speaking"
or "writing"in orderfor the curatols functionto be acknowledged
as partof the institutional
superstructure:
The curatorobserveshis/heroperationwithinthe institutional
apoaratusof art: most
prominently
the procedure
of abstraction
andcentralisation
thatseemsto be an inescapableconsequence
of thework'sentryintothesuperstructure
apparatus,
itstransformation
C H APT EF
superstructure.
to
Some time later,in Dave Beechand GavinWade'sspeculativeintroduction
possible
posit
discourseas a
form of
Curatingin the 21st Century(2000),the authors
if you are saying
especially
practice.They statethat "eventalkingis doingsomething,
somethingworthwhile.Doingand saying,then, are forms of actingon the world."'uo
true,it is a truismthat can be appliedto markedlydifferent
Whilethis is undoubtedly
of Beechand Wade'sstatementis that sayingcan be a critical
ends.lf the implication
actionvis-d-visdominantcuratorialdiscourse,it can also be used to justifythe conof the dominantdiscourseitself.In otherwords,Beechand
structionand maintenance
By contrast,Mick Wilson
Wade might be somewhatoptimisticin their speculation.
part
of the stockassumparguesthat the productivepowersof languagehave been
This
art practicesand attendantcommentary.
tions of a wide rangeof experimental
momentin
tendencyhas beengivenfurtherimpetusby what he callsthe "Foucauldian
as a word
appealof the term'discourse'
art of the lasttwo decades,and the ubiquitous
to conjureand performpower,"to the pointwhere"eventalkingis doingsomething."'u'
on curastandsin the placeof "doing"withindiscourses
At thisextreme,the discursive
torialoractice.
curating,the ascendancy
of the
of contemporary
Alongsidethe professionalization
potential
as a
nexusfor
curatorialgesturein the 1990sbeganto establishcuratorship
critique,and debate,in whichthe evacuatedroleof the criticin parallelculdiscussion,
spaceof curating.As LiamGillickwrote:
turaldiscoursewas usurpedby the neocritical
whena semi-autonospaceis a legacyof whathappened
in thecritical
My involvement
of
the
reasons
thathappened
was
one
weak,
and
voice
started
to
become
critical
mous
people
you
might
who
process.
havemetbefore, in
So
becamea dynamic
thatcurating
peopleget involved
in
smartest
Thebrightest,
the pastwerecriticswerenowcurators.
producer,
interface
andneo-critic.
lt is arguable
activity
of beingmediator,
thismultiple
that the mostimportantessaysaboutart overthe lastten yearshavenot beenin art
produced
aroundgalandothermaterial
magazines
buttheyhavebeenin.catalogues
leries.artcentresandexhibitions.'"'
discussions
Exhibitions(whicheverform they adopt) and their complementary
demarcatea place where informationand ideas aboui art are performed,stored,and
publication
histories,
of curatorial
criticalanalysis
passedon. In parallelto the increased
past
years,
twenty
which
hasdone
grown
in
the
exponentially
has
of curatedexhibitions
Thisrespectability,
in
of the practiceof curating.
the respectability
muchto helpestablish
turn, helpsto reinforcethe meritof curatorialpracticeas a subjectworthyof study.As
Greenberg
et al. noiedin theirassessment
of a shiftin art criticism
towardwritingabout
exhibitionsfrom the curatorialperspective,"Thistactic may either be a compensatory
device,a politicizedattemptto considerworksof art as interrelatedratherthan as individualentities,
or a textualresponse
to changesin the aft worlditself."153
As alreadyafticulated,
the selection,coproduction,
display,and dissernination
of
art are beingmadeperceptible
by curatorsthrougha focuson the uniqueness
of their
own practice.Throughpublicdiscussions,
conferences,
and publications
aboutcurating,thosewho curatehigh-profile
exhibitions
attemptto conveya senseof "commonality" and "connectivity"
in order to situatetheir individualpositionswithin a broader
discourse
and insertthemselves
intoa hierarchy.tuo
Thus,"commonality"
consistsof the
self-positioning
individual
of
curatorsalongsidelike-minded
people,connectingeach
curatorto similarformsof practice.t"
As documentarytools, catalogsalso serve curatorsas representational
forms of
mediationafterthe effect.They survivelongafterthe exhibitionhas finishedand,with
so many exhibitions
vyingfor attention,the productionof a catalogoftenguarantees
thatthe exhibition
continuesto liveafterthe event.Whileprovidingliteralextensions
to
the exhibition,
catalogsallowcuratorsto demonstrate
positionthat clarian intellectual
fies theircuratorial
endeavoras a whole.Whilethey providea resourcefor documenting and interpreting
arl, catalogshave also become,as BruceFergusonargues,the
most"privileged
fetishof curators."'uu
The prominence
of the figureof the curatorsince
the 1990shas abettedthis catalog-driven
discourse,in whichtext is oftenprivileged
overthe experience
of art,andthe curatorial
thesisoverridesthe intentionof the exhibitedartworkand its relationship
to otherfieldsof inquiry.
As an efficientcuratorial
form in themselves,
catalogsalsotake on an encyclopedic dimension
withinthe contextof biennialexhibitions,
inasmuchas curatorsutilizethe
bumper-sized
companionpublication
to makeextendedcuratorial
statements,
through
textscommissioned
alongsidetheirown.As arlistDanielBurenclaims,this has taken
on manyguisesin the recentpast,in particular
for Documentas
9 to 11:
The organisers/authors/artists
of large-scaleexhibitionsprovideresultswe atreaoy
know:Documenta
transformed
into a circus(Jan Hoet)or evenas a platformfor the
promotion
of curators
whoprofitfromtheoccasion
in orderto publish
theirownthesisin
theformof a catalogue
essay(Catherine
David)or as a tribuneinfavourof thedeveloping-politically-correct
world(OkwuiEnwezor)
or otherexhibitions
by organiser-authors
tryingto providenew merchandise
to the evervoracious
westernmarketfor art consumption,
which,likeall markets,
mustceaselessly
andrapidlyrenewitselfin ordernot
to succumb.'ut
Alongsidethe exponential
printedmaterial,
increasein curatorial
curatorial
symposia havecenteredon the personresponsible
for large-scale
exhibitions
at an internationallevel;suchmobilizations
nowoccuron a widerscalethaneverbefore.As Thomas
C !APT ER
art world
3outouxhas argued,it was throughoutthe'1990sthat the contemporary
to reinventitself,led by the art world's
as an opportunity
embracedthis phenomenon
impressedby the sizeand powerof emergentworldwidecirculation
nain protagonists,
of this new world,focusingon globalcoherenceand
and the "pervasiveraggedness
previously
considered
marintegrate
sitesof artislicproduction
leverage
to
ng
it
as
a
us
ginalto Westernmodernism."tuu
and the adventof
Alongsidecheaperair travel,greatermobilityof populations,
were affordedgreateraccessto places,peoart professionals
Iniernettechnologies,
itselffroma universeprincipally
ples,and cultures.The art world"radically
transformed
whichvirtuallyexcluded
organizedarounda few Westerncentersand metropolises,"
(artists,
fromthe Americurators,critics,and historians)
of individuals
the contributions
web of institutions
within
cas, Asia, or Africa,"intoa remarkablydense international
professionals
nations
all
move
about,
work,
and
and
almost
from
all
continents
which
debatethe roleof art in the largerworld.''un
of a new global
This art worldmigrationcame aboutnot only as a consequence
of bothcuratorial
and artistic
but alsoas the resultof the professionalization
condition,
practice.'uo
of a discourseis in starkcontrastto the 1980sgeneration,
Thisglobalization
for example,RoberlStorr,
career-consider,
whicharrivedat curatingas an accidental
or Ute MetaBauer,who was an artist-activistwho beganas an aftist-cum-art-handler,
As Catherinede Zeghersuggestedin her comparimusicianbeforeturningto curating.
generation
the late1970sand 1980s:
her
ownworkingthroughout
with
of
the
current
son
practice
lt usedto be amahasbecomeprofessionalized.
Thekeyshiftis thatcuratorial
professionalized
the
amateur
and
generation
in
between
belongs
teur in a way. My
We all studiedart history,but werenotworkingwithhistoryonly;we were
approach.
and,at thestart,nobodyreallyknewwhereto placeus,because
workingwithactuality
so we
art as suchdidn'tthenexistas a study,let aloneas a practice,
coniemporary
you
you
were
a
lawyer,
were
a
lawyer,
a
when
Forexample,
closelylivedthattransition.
. " . I havethe impression
a profession.
professional;
now,beingan adistis considered
at thesametimeas intotheprofesof curatoroccurred
thatthestepintotheprofession
sionof beingan arttst^'
had begunto appear-whichtendedto arise
anthologies
By the 1990s,curatorial
as partof curatorial
summits,symposia,
curators
meetings
between
from international
Meta 2: The
Beginningwith Ute Meta Bauels influential
seminars,and conferences.
New Spiritin Curating(1992),a kindof trendwas establishedwherebycuratorssat at a
thatwouldlaterbe
enactinga discussion
in frontof an audience,
iablewithmicrophones
publications
placed
publication.
theiremphathese
Without
exception,
in a
documented
practice,
and self-positioning,
as articnarratives,
first-person
curatorial
sis on individual
re-presentation".'u'
and exhibition
Oth",
statements,
ulatedthroughprimaryinterviews,
oublications.such as MIB-Men in Black: Handbookof CuratorialPractice (2004),
C H APT ER
3alE
l l - i a fl \'l
on contemporary
art and howit is
conference
international
1.10 'A NewSpiritin Curating,"
Stuttgart,24-26 Januaty1992,with
conveyed,organizedby Ute MetaBauer,Kunstlerhaus
JohnMiller,HansUlrichObrist,Philippe
ColinDe Land,HelmutDraxler,
speakersincluding
Thomas,and Ute MetaBauer.lmagecourtesyof Ute MetaBauer.
1.11 "TheBergenBiennialConference,"
Bergen,2009.Courtesyof the BergenBiennial
C H APT ER
2
O FA G L O B A L I Z E D
A NDTHEE ME RG E NCE
B IE NNIACULTURE
L
lN T HECO NT E X O
TF
CURA
T I NG
:
CURA TORIADIS
L COURS E
S I NCE1 9 8 9
A ND LA RG E -S CA LEEX HI B I T I O NS
B IE NNIA LS
C H APT EF
the past,formulating
the presentas an inescapable
stateof belongingto one,sown
time.As that whichis situatedwithinpostmodernism
and thereafter,
contemporaneity
stressesits breakwithWestern-centric
modelsof continuity
tied up with modernityand
linearprogression.
contemporaneity
is conceivedas communal-a pluralistbelonging
to the same historical
time"As such,contemporaneity
is conceivedas havingradical
potentialitywithina field of electiveforcesthat attemptto eradicateor rejectthe past."
The biennialmodelhascontributed
to thesediscourses
whilefocusingon all things
new and novelin the hereand now. Biennialsoftenend up promotingthe conceptof
the contemporary,less as a rejectionof the past than as a vehiclefor art's co-ootion
into the marketplace.
Everybiennialcuratoris underpressureto be dynamic,charismatic,and capableof identifying
newartists,artworks,
and art worldsfor theirexhibition
content.Equally,the administrative
and politicalagenciesbehindmostbiennialsasoire
to be morecontemporary
and to havegreaterglobalreachthantheircounterparts.
This
oftenresultsin a hyperbolic
culturein whichnewart is firstoverexposed
in the windows
of biennials
beforebeingsanctioned
by the art market-fromVeniceen routeto Basel.''
"Les Magiciensde la Terre"and the Curatoras GlobalAuthor
By the mid to late 1990s,the anthropological
turn in the contemporaryart world-first
afliculatedby Hal Foster(who coinedthe term "artist-as-ethnographe/,in
1996 to
describean all-encompassing
paradigmin whichfieldworkmethodologies
traditionally
associatedwith anthropological
researchwere being utilizedby arlists)-was generally
acknowledged
by art criticsand anthropolists
alike,and elaboratedby writersfromJames
cliffordto Alexcoles,MiwonKwon,JamesMeyer,and ArndSchneider.
culturesbegan
to be treatedas objectsof study,understoodas entitiesthat couldbe selectedand reorganizedby the researcher,
who then conceivedand presenteda projectbasedon his or
her findings.'3For Foster,the artisfas-ethnographer
was typicallya sanctionedinternationalvisitorcomingfromoutsideof the localculturewithwhichhe or she was engagrng.
while producingtheir (self-)representation
from the outside,Fosterargues,,,thequasianthropological
role set up for the artistcan promotea presumingas much as a questioning of ethnographicauthority."'o
MirroringFoster'sobservations,
curatorsalso
responded
to thisanthropological
turnby lookingto "theother,"as definedby the dominant culture,for their researchfocus. As Miwon Kwon argues, culturaldifferences
becameobjectifiedonce again in order to satisfy"the contemporarylust for authentic
historiesand identities."tt
This "lust"is also evidentin a sense of self-aggrandizement
enactedby curators.
Forexample,Francesco
Bonamiadmitted,
in 2001,that,1heroleof
the curatortodayinvolvessuchenormousgeographical
diversitythatthe curatoris now a
kindof visualanthropologist-nolongerjust a tastemaker,but a culturalanalyst.,"u
In lookingat the ethnographic
turn throughkey exhibitions,
it is worthtracingthis
phenomenonback a littlefurtheras a means of problematizing
the role playedby
C H APT ER
representation
of non-Westernart-one
a decontextualized
curatorsin establishing
specifics.
An earconcernsratherthansociocultural
thatlookedto formaland aesthetic
"Primitivism
in 20thCenturyArt"at the
lierlandmarkis providedby the 1985exhibition
Museumof ModernArt, NewYork.Curatedby WilliamRubinand KirkVarnedoe,with
its subtitle"Affinityof the Tribaland the Modern"makingits intentionclear,the show
its inspiration
fromtribalart. In
an aspectof Westernmodernism:
aspiredto illuminate
tribalartifactsfromAfricawereselectedbecauseof theirformalqualities,
the exhibition,
and shown as subordinatereferentsalongsideWesternmodernart. These obiects
aroundformalinterrelationships-such
as an
and classified
werearranged,organized,
was roundlycritilgboyam masknextto a paintingof a faceby Picasso.The exhibition
for the curaentailedby the conceptof "affinities";
cizedfor its erasureof all differences
partly
(beyond
due to a lack of contextualization
of objects,
tors' overaestheticization
and
the nameof the lender,therewas an absenceof authors,titles,dates,provenance,
for the displayedaftwork);and for the genericuse of the term
historicalbackground
"tribal"in referenceto all non-Western
objects,servingto positionthem as beingof
lesservaluethan the "actual,"Westernart on display.By'l 989,therewas an awarein 20thCenturyArt."In fact,in the
directedat "Primitivism
nessof manyof the criticisms
catdlogof, and subsequentstatementson, "Les Magiciensde la terre,"the curators,
as a directcritiqueof "Primitivism."
Servthe exhibition
Martinand Francis,positioned
positioning,
non-Western
artiststo
this
they invitedcontemporary
ing to substantiate
show with artistsstemmingfrom Westerncentersof artisticproductionand moved
demonstrated
distinction.As we shallsee,the exhibition
awayfromthe art-and-artifact
of whichwere inherentto the overallcurato'
someof the flawsof "Primitivism"-many
rialapproachtowardnon-Westernart.
"Les Magiciensde la terre"was originallyorganizedas a substitutefor the traditionalbiennialformaton the occasionof Martinbecomingdirectorof the ParisBiennale
fromeachof
beingselectedby culturalrepresentatives
in 1985.Insteadof contributions
proposed
that the
had beenthe case,Martin
countries,
as previously
the participating
exhibitionwould explorethe practicesof artistsin Asia, Africa,and Latin America,
worksfromthe UnitedStatesand WesternEurope.Although
alongsidecontemporary
interthe exhibitionwas co-curated,some of the earliestresponsessympathetically
BenjaminBuchloh,who christenedit
pretedit as the achievement
of one individual.
"TheWholeEarlhShow"in his interview
with Martin,invokedan understanding
of "Les
author,and laidthe onuson Martin
as a singletext,realizedby an individual
Magiciens"
in a textpublished
the
Delissechoedthisperspective
Cl6mentine
as its soleproducer.'u
"Jean-Hubert
"Les
as
Martin'sinternaMagiciens"
sameyear,in whichshe described
tional-exhibition-to-end-all-international-exhibitions,
[which]led visitorsfromone worldRarelyfocusingon the artworks,Buchloh's
and
of art,to another."'n
view,one definiiion
Deliss'scommentsconsideredthe frameworkof the exhibitionas an independent
as the mainsubjectof theircritique.For his paft,
objectfor study,withMaftinprioritized
C N APT EF
contents,"a claimthat
who made definiteclaimsof authorshipover theirexhibitions'
insofaras it
the expecteddenials-thelocusof artisticenunciation
challenged-despite
project
gathering
worksto the very
of their
in an
displacedthe focusof the individual
of the shiftof powerfromcritic
observation
Thiswas mirroredin Enwezor's
exhibition."26
of the prolifto curatorin the 1990s,which,he argued,was not only "a consequence"
and biennials,
buta resultof "theproliferaexhibitions,
erationof museums,blockbuster
have becomelegitimatemediums
Exhibitions
tion of otherformsof megaexhibitions.
for art as ihe novelhas beenfor fiction."
the curatorialapproachof "Les Magiciensde la terre"from later
In distinguishing
of "otherness."
The former
exhibitions.it is imoortantto considerrepresentations
"pluralism"
postmodernist
time,
of
the
while
the
later
approaches
appliedthe rhetoricof
of CarlosBasualdo,
Ute MetaBauer,CatherineDavid,CharlesEsche,OkwuiEnwezor,
In't985, Hal
lvo Mesquita,and GilaneTawadroscould be definedas postcolonial.
societyno longerreliedon processesof standardizaFosterarguedthat latecapitalist
instead,postmodernpluralism,in the guise of
tion in orderto functionsuccessfully;
fittedwell with an expandingglobalmarketbecauseit
heterogeneity
and difference,
placedemphasison a widerautonomyof choiceand the freedomof the consumerto
For Foster,pluralism
was
numberof availablecommodities.'u
selectfroman increasing
popular,
posited
difference
within
a celebration
of
consumer
a sham,inasmuchas it
and
culture,whileallowingincreasednetworks,spaces,and objectsfor capitalization
was
Fosterwas arguingagainstthe idea that postmodernism
culturalconsumption.
as a breakdownof distinction
betweenhigh
againstits celebration
simplyproductive,
postmodernism,
which
Foster
criticizes,
is often
viewof
and low cultures.The reductive
for freedomand its expression
the possibility
and placing
takento involvemaximizing
greatvalueon the heterogeneous,
the recognition
of differenicultures,peoespecially
ples,and societies.In this context,the curatorscouldbe seen to haveapplieda topart as a way of providing"multipleforms of
down pluralism,employingnon-Western
. . . raceand class,temporal
in subjectivity
othernessas they emergefromdifferences
geographic
locations
spatial
and dislocations."-"
On
of
sensibility]
and
[configurations
the one hand,the curatorialgesturecouldbe seen as openingup a radicalprospect,
on the otherhand,it
of the lack of visibilityof otherness;
throughan acknowledgment
could be seen as ultimatelyreifyingcertainpowerrelations,by failingto articulatea
politicalcontextthat would make more meaningfulthe variousforms of otherness
alludedto withinthe exhibition.
culturaldifferof the time that non-Western
It was a oostmodernist
commonplace
As a viewpoint,it "tellsus
from a Westernperspective.
enceswere incomprehensible
andthe cacophony
of voicesthrough
notonlyto acceptbutto revelin the f ragmentation
This was exemplified
by
whichthe dilemmasof the modernworld are understood."""
postmodernist
preoccupation
"the
with
impenetrability
of
DavidHarvey'scritiqueof the
the other"as simply"overtcomplicitywith the fact of fetishismand of indifference
As such,Martin'sarticulation
of culturalpluralism
towardunderlying
socialmeanings."t'
fragments
was deemeda slipperybasisfor his inclusiveapproach,usingunconnected
"objects
sensual
which
of visualand
experience,"
are heldto
of otherculturesas the
In
background
unnecessary.t'
havean inherentaestheticvaluethat makescontextual
fact, this lookingfrom afar impliesa positionof hegemonicpower,even if only at a
postmodernist
viewpoint,which
microsymbolic
level.This is a troubling,irresponsible,
"immediately
shuts
those
and
off
regardsall difference(s)
as equivalent,
[other]voices
them with an opaque
from accessto more universalsourcesof powerby ghettoizing
the specificity
of thisor that languagegame.""
otherness,
that Martintried to incorporateinto his
corrections
Despiteall the self-reflexive
declaringhis "ethnocentric"
his
own
limitations,
visionan
methodology,
he did accept
approach;in the
side effectof his own distant,pluralistic
inevitableand inescapable
His perspective
appearsto be consistentwith
end, he couldonly look from without.to
of disparate
worldswithinmany
the superimposition
the way in whichHarveydescribes
"worlds
'other
postmodernist
which
incommunicative
between
an
novels:these are
"Les
Magiciensde la terre,"the ethnoIn
ness'prevailsin a spaceof coexistenc"."tu
graphicvoice of the curatoris heardthe loudest,overridingany seriousattemptat
elements,
and he goesto greatlengthsto decontexthe heterogeneous
contextualizing
works
for
the
sake of his own rhetoricalcuratorial
tualizethe culturaloriginsof the
narrative.
Lyotardis a crisisof narratives,
in whichthere
Postmodernism
d la Jean-FranEois
of grand narrativesand their self-legitimating
is a necessarycall for the devaluation
discourses.Maftin'sstatementevokesLyotard'sview of the postmodernas a place
"wherethere can be no differencebetweentruth,authorityand rhetoricalseductiveAt its
ness;he who has the smoothesttongue,or the racieststory has the power."tu
for Lyotardis an expression
of increduthe postmodern
most reductiveand simplistic,
lt is not enoughmerelyto refocus
lity towardthe totalizingeffectsof metanarratives.of whatis to be lookedat; rather,we shouldquestionwho is
and extendthe parameters
throughtheir
doingthe viewing,how they are doingit, and what is beinglegitimated
oroductionof new kindsof relativisticand rhetoricalmetanarratives.
"LesMagiciens
of the biennial
de la terre"had pavedthe way for an understanding
as a contestedpoliticalagent,throughwhichcuratorswereseento be enactingforms
Thi" exhibition
or evenactivism.tu
standsin relaof socialcritique,globalcommentary,
to the selection,
responses
display,and narration
of
to later,postcolonial
tiveopposition
in
which
cultures
are
derelativized.
For
example,
othernessthroughexhibitionmaking,
postmodernist
tacticof "relativizing
historical
Enwezorarguedagainstthe overarching
of rhetoricalgrand narraand contestingthe lapsesand prejudices"
transformations
soughtto "sublateand
approachto "postcoloniality"
tives.ttInstead,his epistemological
grand
new
ethical
demands
on
modes
of historicai
internarratives
through
replaceall
pretation."oo
This distinction
is mostevidentin Enwezolsanalvsisof his own curatorial
C F ]APT ER 2
approachwithDocumenta11.Whileacknowledging
"LesMagiciens"
as a breakthrough
momentin achievinga more expansiveand transnational
exhibitionmodel,he distancedhimselffromMartin'sethnographic
and colonialist
approach,
whichhe perceived
as an activityof framingthe problematics
of transnationalism
throughexhibition
making
ratherthan unravelingwhat those problemsare or what the solutionmight be. He
states:
"LesMagiciens
de la Terre"in a wayopenedup a spacefor reallyarticulating
the relationship
between
theworksmadein thewest andnon-west.However,
theproblemof
"LesMagiciens
de la Terre"was thatit was stillpredjcated
on a very redundant
viewof
whoshouldbe an artistin this"othel'space.. . . lt hada newcolonialist
eye.. . . l don,t
thinkDocumenta
11 and"LesMagiciens
de la Terre"shareanything
at all in termsof
methodology,
intermsof curatorial
interests,
in termsof intellectual
interests,
in termsof
questions,
historical
beyondthefactthatwewerereallyinterested
in thewidestpossible
notionof whereartis made.o'
For Enwezor,postcolonialism
is not a discourseof distinction
betweenelsewhere
and here,but an entirelynew way of readingthe globalentanglement
as beingpostcolonialin its very nature-it is a startingpointratherthan an end pointfromwhichto
considerour currentglobalcondition.
Thus,the "postcolonial
constellation"
is seenas a
vast rangeof artisticpracticesthat expandthe definitionof what constitutesconremporary culture.For Enwezor,the main pointof historicalintersection
withinthis arrayof
practicesis their alignmentin oppositionto the "hegemonicimperatives
of imperial
discourses."o'
Similarly,
CatherineDavid,curatorof Documenta10, understood
"Les Magiciens,,
as a reinforcement
of a mistakendivisionbetweencentraland peripheral
modernitiesthe latterperceivedas somethingexotic,archaic,or antimodern.ot
An exampleof this
was Marlin'sfocuson the "cultured"
objectseenthrougha Westernaesthetic
gaze,with
littleof the sociopolitical
providedfor the viewerand littleattention
contextof production
givento the potentially
neocolonialist
subiextof the curatorial
statement.
Whilerecognizingthat, withoutthe margins,there is no centerand vice versa,"Les Magiciens',
assumednot only that an ethnocentric
and hegemoniccriterionfor the selectionof
practitioners
from outsidethe West was inevitablebut also that such limitations
were
acceptableat that time. Martinclaimedthat an "objective,unacculturated"
perspective
pointof viewwas impossible
or a "decentered"
and,in any case,unhelpful.
Instead,he
arguedthat lookingat the culturedobjectfromthe relativepositionof the Westwould
incorporate
positionintoa transhistorical
a criticalanthropological
view.Thispositionis
representative
of the generalized
pluralism,
contemporaneous
ideaof
in whichthe lack
of any agreed-upon
criteriafor the judgmentof art or the aestheticis compensated
for
by a moraljudgment.This is Martin'sdefense,makinghim a spiritual,ethnographic
explorerinvolvedin a self-moralizing
archaeology
of the Westernized
other.oo
t
As argued,Martin'stranscultural
curatorialapproacharrivedat a time in which
postmodernist
theoristswerepreoccupied
witha notionof culturalpluralism,
usingrelativismas a meansof contesting
the so-calledgrandnarratives
of Westernmodernism
ratherthanseeingmodernismas havingany emancipatory
potential;05
Enwezorcalled
this "western postmodernism's
rhetoricalpretensionsto plurality.',oo
The properties
FredricJamesonattributesto postmodernism-"notas a style,but ratheras a cultural
dominant:a conceptionwhichallowsfor the presenceand coexistence
of a rangeof
very different,yet subordinate,features"aT-s1sperceived by Enwezor as having
affordedMartina manipulative
methodof entryinto heterogeneous
zones.predicated
mainly on "very different,yet subordinatefeatures,',early postmoderntranscultural
approaches
to the peripheryallowedboth "presence"
and ,,coexistence,,
withinglobal
exhibitions,
but onlywhenthe otheris "grantedaudiencein orderto speakthe essential
truthsof theirexistence."ot
Martin'scuratorial
methodology
fell intothistrap of showing
culturescoexistingas "randomdifference,"on
with "Les Magiciens,,
proposedto be as
muchaboutbringingthe peculiarities
and particularities
of non-Western
art into a universalrelationship
with a Westernizednotionof the aesthetic,the spiritual,and the
qualitative,
as it was about rewritingrecentarl history.As GerardoMosquerahas
argued,therewill alwaysbe an asymmetrical
relationship
between"curatingcultures,,
and "curatedcultures."uo
Thisis to saythattranscultural
curatingcan alwaysbe usedas
a politicaltool, to integratecuratedculturesinto the establishedWesterncanon-a
processon the groundsof westernprinciples
totalizing
and valuesvstems.
Biennialsand GlobalCuratingfrom the 1990sOnward
In carol Duncan'sanalysisof the museumsetting,she argues that sucn spaces
achievea ritualizing
effectthroughtheirmarked-off,
liminalzonesof spaceand time,in
whichvisitorsare invitedto perlorma scriptor scenariothat has beendictatedto them
by the museum'ssetting,its architectural
symbolism,and its displaydynamics.ttAll
exhibitionsare "ritualstructures,"u'
she argues;they prescribeformalizedways of
behavingto parlicipants,viewers, and visitors alike, through the utilizationof
sequenced
spaces,lighting,
and the arrangements
of objects.The privileging
of curatorial subjectivity
in such casesconfiguresa relationship
betweendifferentworks.Any
individuality
left in the viewingexperienceis convertedinto the commonand amelioratedexperience
of a semiconstructed
communityof viewers.The pointis to avoidany
potentialcriticalpositionsoutsideof the constructednarrativeand its constructed
viewing.
The maintenance
of a givenset of powerrelationsbetweenart and its displayand
receptionis particularly
relevantto the largesurveyexhibitions
thatemergedduringthe
1990s.Biennials
tendto incorporate
suchpowerrelationsas anachronistic
elementswhat John Millercalls"surplusfrustration
as a ritualin its own right.,,"However,anv
60
C IAPT ER
re
dissentthismightimplyis safelyrecuperated
as partof the totalityof the event.In such
exhibitions,
thereis a "cycleof raisedexpectations
and quickdisillusionment,"to
which
predictable
is both
and overdetermined.
We are alwaysto remaindisappointed.
Miller
arguesthatthe socialexperience
of an, as an organized,
spectacular
event,servesas
a methodnot onlyof tellingthe viewerwhatis goingon but alsoof directingthe experiencein a way that is self-implicated
in the international
spectacle.
lt is supportedby an
overarching
curatorial
statement,
whichpurportsto offera newway of seeingthingg.
Millerarguesthat biennials,
on accountof theirscaleand populariiy,
are ideological institutions;
reifyingthe socialrelationsbetweenartworksand spectators
is one of
theirinescapable
objectives.
As the explicitpurposeof thiskindof exhibition
is to offera
comprehensive,
demographic
surveyof artworks,its termsof discourseare predetermined,they precludethe possibility
of being"transformed
in the courseof art productionand thereforesubjectto contradiction
and conflict."ut
According
to Miller,to critique
theseexhibitions
on the basisof individualcuratorialchoices,made withinan establishedframework,
is to ignorethe ideologies
underpinning
suchinstitutions
or eventhe
coniemporary
ad industryas a whole-a field of operationsrestrictedby its closely
monitoredglobalnetworks,markets,and evaluativeeconomies.
This is an industryin
which individualsorientthemselveswithin culturaleconomiesthat value reoutation
vyingfor positionthroughcultural-political
highly,with individuals
maneuverings.'u
When Millersuggestedthat the organizersof exhibitions,
such as Jan Hoet at
Documenta
I (1992),viewaudiences
as a unifiedand uncontested
socialconstituency,
he correctlyimpliedthattheydo so withoutany senseof differentiation
in the myriadof
ulteriorsubjects,constituencies,
or counterpublics.
ln the process,the institution
of the
grandexhibition
privileges
the curator'spositionas the leadingauthority,
withthe resultant exhibitionappearingas an organicinevitability.
In other words,the institutional
frameworkbehindbiennials
supportsan illusionof an overarching
curatorial
inspiration,
or evengenius,whichis presented
to imaginedand realpublicsas a faitaccompli.ut
By
contrast,the public(as people,places,or a mobilizing
concept)can be understood
not
only as a concreteentityto be deconstructed
or pluralized,
but as able to produceor
constituteitself.To see the publicas beingunderconstruction,
in turn, providesthe
exhibition
withagencythatcan affectthe social-specifically,
the kindsof publicspaces
in whichwe soclalizeand are socialized.ut
Large-scale
exhibitions
institutean assumption that there is a commonand collectiveexperienceat work, when in fact this is
broughtaboutthroughan unspokencollusionbetweenthe well-oiled
art-eventmachine
and its attendantaudiences,
madeall the morepossibleby the carnivalatmosphere
of
a grandiosegatheringof globalart worldobservers,
whichis parlicularly
evidentduring
the openingspectacleof the privateview.
In the absenceof any alternative
narrativeor substantial
opposition,
the curator
becomesthe subjectmostconspicuously
responsible
for the production
and mediation
of biennials.Embeddedin the institutional
mechanisms,the curatorbecomesthe
producerof exhibitions
of art as statementson globalculture.The presentation
of a
unifiedand unperturbed
curatorial
spaceobscuresthe vastamountof realand immateriallaboron the partof numerousindividuals,
administrators,
and assistants
withinthe
organizational
structureof the large-scalebiennialexhibitionmodel.tnAs Charlotte
Bydleracknowledged,
a moreconnectedglobalart worldplaces,,hardpressureon the
labor marketfor culturalworkers,"as evidencedby the expansionof the biennial
model.uo
The biennialcurator'scapacityto extenda worldview leadsto the biennial
beingthe type of culiuraleventthat is in tune with capitalism's
colonialexpansionin
pursuitof new labormarkets.u'
Globalismin the contextof the grand exhibitionu'appearsvia the ar1.
world-an
ostensiblyunifiedplace in which creativeand culturaldifferences
can be integrated
while retaininga diversityof coexistingidentities.In many cases,the biennialmodel
,,process
seeminglybolstersa definition
of globalization
as a benign,accelerated
which
embodiesa transformation
in the spatialorganization
of socialrelations. . . generattng
transcontinental
or interregional
flowsand networks."ut
Exemplifying
this process,the
biennialis presented
as an inevitable
productof the contemporary
globalcondition.
The biennialformulates
the worldas an amalgamation
of differentcultures,times,
and places,all broughttogetheras a combinedrepresentation
of what DavidHarvey
calls"timeand spacecompression."uo
Harey describeshow,whenthe time it takesto
travel between disparatelocationsdecreasesas dramaticallyas it has, there is a
speeding-up
of humaninterrelations.
This effectiveshrinkageof geographical
distance
and the speedingup of temporalities
of communication
has reachedthe pointwhere
"the presentis all ihere is."uu
,,accelerBiennialssupportideasof ,,globalintegration,,,
ated interdependence,"
"consciousness
raisingof the global condition,,,
and ,,interregionalpowerrelations.""o
Here,culturalworkersand artistsfromall overthe worldare
assembledand their work is displayedinsidethe frameworkof a globalexhibitionevent,as one way of mediating
an expandedand inclusive
overviewof the wholeworld
to an audienceat one place/location/city/time.
As criticThomasBoutouxidentified,
throughoutthe 1990sthe contemporaryarr
worldembraced"theglobal"as a coherentphenomenon
thatcouldbe usedto integrate
artisticproductionpreviouslyconsideredbeyondthe Westernart historical
"unon.ut
Curatingin the contextof biennialsassumedthe uniquepositionof both"reflecting
globalismas a realityand adoptingit as an ideaor theme.',uu
Despiteany curatorialselfreflexivitytowardthe globaleffectsof biennialization,
the peripherycontinuedto follow
the discourseof the center.In the caseof biennials,
the peripherycomesto the center
in searchof legitimation
and,in turn,acceptsthe conditions
of thislegitimacy.un
charles
Eschesuggested
thatthe globalization
of art withinlarge-scale
exhibitions
has,through
a processof standardization,
absorbedthe differencebetweencenterand periphery.
Accordingto Esche,the "centerfirst"modelof globalart, largelybegunin 1989,still
holdsswayovermuchmuseumand biennialculture.lt requires"thekev institutions
of
C H APT EF
contemporary
cultureofficially
to sanctionthe 'periphery'
in orderto subsumeit intothe
canonof innovative
visualart."' Eventhoughmanyof the arlistsin eachexhibition
may
havedevelopedtheirpracticeon the fringesof the recognizedart world,theirwork is
validatedand consumedby the centerand,therefore,
the relationship
betweenrim and
hub remainsin place.ttConsistent
withthe meansof operationof globalization,
biennials occasionally
are to the economicbenefitof the patronized,
but "rarelyin the interestsof maintaining
theirautonomyand sustainability."
Althoughbiennialcuratorsacknowledgethe impossibility
of presentinga total
worldview,they also appearto considerthis limitation
productive
as a fundamentally
aspectof the globalconditionat their disposal.As CharlesEscheand Vasif Kortun,
curatorsof the 9th International
lstanbulBiennial(2005),claimed,biennials
since1989
havebecomethe vehicleon the international
art circuitthroughwhichmuchart is valipost,whichplaysa moreptvdatedand acquiresits value.t3Unlikea fixedinstitutional
otal role in the localcontext,curatorialvisionwithinbiennialscan shapethe ways in
which we form an understanding
of globalculture.Here, biennialsbecomedevices
throughwhichafi can interpretthe worldfor its viewers.Equally,suchexhibitions
demonstratehow diversecreativeactivitiescan coexistwith the modalitiesof differentcultureJs,
represented
togetherin one siteof display,akinto an organicglobalcooperation.
As well-traveled
curatorHou Hanruhas stated:
What I triedto do in exhibitions
like "Citieson the Move,"and especially
"Zoneof
Urgency,"
wasto createa klndof overlapping
of different
systems,
whichrepresented
different
speeds,different
spatialities
in the world.In someparts,you can see some
quietcornersand, in others,thereare morespeedyspaces,whileothersare more
implicit
andallthesethingshaveto be woventogether
likean organicbody.to
This porlrayalof an exhibition,
as an "organicbody"of "overlapping"
differences,
accordswithMichaelHardtand AntonioNegri'sdescription
of globalization
as an "inexprocess
orableand irreversible"
of economicand culturalregulation
o1exchangethatis
assignedto the new,sovereignglobalpowerthattheycall"Empire."'"
Accordingto one
of theircentralarguments
aboutthisglobalcondition,
in "contrast
to imperialism,
Empire
establishes
no territorial
centerof powerand doesnot relyon fixedboundaries
or barriers."76
lnstead,it has "materialized"
as "a decenteredanddeterritoriatizing
apparatusof
rule that expressively
incorporates
the entireglobalrealmwithinits open,expanding
frontiers."To counteract
this,Hardtand Negripositthe emergence
of the plural"multitude" of "productive,creativesubjectivitiesof globalization"
that have learnedto "form
constellations
of singularities
and eventsthat imposecontinualglobalreconfigurations
of the system."'u
The "multitude"
is put forwardby Hardtand Negrias a "political
subject,as posse,"that beginsto appearon the worldsceneas a "biopolitical
self-organizaIion,"made up of cooperativeand convergentsubjectswho are takingresponsibility
for directingand managing"immaterial"
modesof production,
socialwork,and creative
C H APT EF
group of
action.tnThe "multitude"reimaginesworkingclassesas a heterogeneous
migrantculturalworkers,socioculturalmovements,and cooperativenetworks,offering
resistanceto the global hegemonicpower of Empire.
some forms of collaborative
is achievedby virtueof its abilityto perAccordingto Hardtand Negri,this resistance
petuallymobilizeitselfgeographically
In the processof creatingnew
and ontologically.
populations,
and throughits abilityto be conand socialconstituencies,
subjectivities,
tinuallyin motion,the creativemovementof the multitudeproducesnew "modulations
For Hardtand Negriand iheir
of form and processesof mixtureand hybridization."so
globalcurator{ollowers,
as a network:an openand
the "multitude"
can be "conceived
expansivenetworkin which all differencescan be expressedfreelyand equally,a netso thatwe can workand livein common."tt
workthat providesthe meansof encounter
perpetual
foreverin flux, fluid,while beingseen as
means
it
remains
movement
Its
it has a slippery
bordersof the nation-state;
the geographical
capableof transcending
characteras outlinedin moredetailbelow.
and malleable
and its ultiHardtand Negri'sconceptof multitudeis notablefor its ambivalence
potentiality
productive
its
limits
as
a
or
matelyaffirmativeand optimisticstance,which
Their multitudehas an apparent
antagonisticforce accordingto certaincommentators.
which,for some,resultsin its beinga faceless,voiceless,and alwaysmarop'enness,
ginalentity.For PaoloVirno,for example,the multitudeis a by-productof the postFordist productionprocess,which is ultimatelydefined by the bourgeoisnotion of
throughwhichwork is directedtowardthe creation,administrafreedomof circulation,
As by-product
of this
of meaningratherthan materialproduction.
tion,and distribution
politiremainunableto achievecollective
willalways,therefore,
condition,
the multitude
political
of
the
sphere,
undifferenhumanistic
concept
cal agency.Instead,it remainsa
tiated by class, with its power lying in its refusalto become government.In Virno's
words,the multitudeis always"deprived""in the judicialsense of being extraneousto
potentialconnotingmasses,the multitude's
the sphereof commonaffairs."u'Although
individual
to
experiences
rather
ity as a collectiveforce remainsoutsideand confined
expressedas an
than being a constituentpower;it is "condemnedto impotence,"
JacquesRannone of whichaspiresto becomea majority.ut
ensembleof minorities,
'good'or'true' multitudes?"uo
"Areall multitudes
For him,
cidrehas askedrhetorically:
given
problematic
it
is
because
an
all-too-positive
outHardtand Negri'smultitudeis
groundedin beingin common,never
look,with littleroomfor dissensusor antagonism,
egalitarianpresupconstitutingitselfas oppositionalbecauseof its self-congratulatory,
"burdenof blowingapartall barriersand of
position.In turn,it is giventhe unenviable
perceptible
whichis madeall the more
community,"
itselfin the formof a
accomplishing
"mustbecomethe contentof whichthe Empireis
imoossiblebecausethe multitudes
the container."tu
flexibleworkforce,has
The situationof the creativemultitude,as a post-Fordist,
The
multitude
is seen as a kind of
been adoptedby the biennialto varyingdegrees.
globalassemblage
of immaterial
labor-the laborthatproducesandfacilitates
the informationaland culturalcontentof the commodity,
whetherof artistic,cultural,or reputationalvalue.As sociologist
and art criticPascalGielenhas argued,the biennialis a
postinstitution
for immaterial
laborand the arrivalof the artisticmultitude,
in whichcurators,artists,and audiences,regardless
of theirsincerity,mustretaina degreeof cynicismand opportunism
so as to get by in a hierarchical
globalart system:"cynicismand
opportunism
are now a structuralcomponentof our globalizedsociety"and, as such,
have becomenecessarymodesof operationwithinthe contemporaryart world and its
labormarkets.tu
This fault line, identifiedby Gielen,is consistentwith virno's assessmeniof the
ways in whichopportunism
has emergedin recentyears,in relationto the post-Fordist
multitudeof curatorsas assemblers,
arrangers,mediators,
and communicators.
Here,
reputational
economiesharnessopportunism
as a negativeforce,signifying
the acceptance of forms of domination,
hierarchical
structures,
and even corruptionwithinthe
field.This is a by-product
of the economization
of the culturalfield.For Virno,as mucn
as for Gielen,the insurrections
of the multitude,
and the strugglesfor liberation
of the
multitude,are commencedby a desirefor the possible.This strugglecreatesdistinct
opportunitiesfor the multitudeto flourishratherthan opportunismfor the promotedself,
which is seekingways to extinguishpowerratherthan to conquerit.stAlthoughVirno
advancesan ideaof the multitude
as unstableand self-destructive-because
of itsconstant,narcissistic
self-reflection,
alwaysin a state of losingits equilibrium-heonly
barelyacknowledges
its darkerside,whichis surelythe pointfrom whicha rrue confrontation
withthe hegemonyof Empirecan surface.Againstthis,however,it couldbe
arguedthat biennialculture,on the whole,has adoptedthe figureof the conremporary
multitude
as an inherently
benevolent
and creativeforcefor the good.t'
In the contextof the globalbiennialof the pastdecadesor so, art originating
from
differentculturesand globalinformation
networksis suggestively
put forwardas a kind
of critical"multitude,"
expressed
as a centrally
organized
and globallyconnected
sphere
of operations
appropriate
to the modusoperandiof large-scale
international
exhibitions.
As carlos Basualdohas stated,biennialscan be "seenas an opportunity
for a wider
reflectionin which,of course,art is a very significantcomponent";tn
in caseswnere
globalart mightbe "thepointof departureor the pointof arrival-youare reallydealing
withmuchmorecomplexsystem[s]in whichyou are alsotryingto dealwiththe connection,the dialoguebetweenthe artsand otheraspectsof culturalproduction."no
The biennialexpansionoverthe pasttwo decadessupporteda visionof globalism
as an inevitableproductof our times.For example,Documenta1o (1997)was perceivedby itsdirectorcatherineDavidas an attemptto proposean enlarged,
expansive,
and recentralized
viewof arl historyand the art world,throughwhich"theextremeheterogeneityof contemporaryaestheticpracticesand mediums-matchedby a plurality
of contemporaryexhibitionspaces"-would be used to "provide a multiplicity,,
C H APT EB
rc
Bergen,2009
and HansUlrichObristat "TheBergenBiennialConference,"
2.2CarlosBasualdo
Courtesyof the BergenBiennial.
thathave"becomemanifestwiththe processof
the shiftsand redefiniiions
representing
globalisation."n'
In a similarmanner,Ute MetaBauerconceivesof the spaceof Documenta 11 (2002) as a bringingtogetherof artworksand ideas as connected"fraglikea "rhizomethat branchesintoa wholethat is not immediately
ments,"interrelated
of forms of exchange. . emphasizesthe
perceptible"
and in which "a stratification
By contrast,
the 50th
of multiplicit6;'"principleof manifoldconnections
. . . of diversity,
of the Viewer"(2003),was
The Dictatorship
VeniceBiennale,"Dreamsand Conflicts:
of "glomanticism,"
an amalgamof
Bonamias an expression
seenby curatorFrancesco
within
information
finally
intersect
and
economics
"Globalityand Romanticism,
where
Bonamidescribed
the resultsof
identityand emotions."'of an individual
the complexity
in which"a polyphony
art as a globalexhibition
hisanalysisof the stateof contemporary
"a new networkof culturalexpressions,
of voicesand ideas"cametogetherto represent
the nomadicEuropeanbienLikewise,
more
spiritual."to
whichare less dogmaticand
the biennialsof Berlin,Tirana,Lyon,and lstanbul;and many of the
nial, Manifesta;
established
acrossthe globe
and quadrennials
triennials,
biennials,
smallerperipheral
withlocalartistic
approach,
duringthe 1990s,haveall tendedto employa transnational
production
beingtakenas the mainpointof departurelinkedto globalnetworksof artistic production
witha handfulof rovingcuratorsat the helm.""
one can imaginewhat curatorGerardoMosqueracalled"a planetin which all
pointsare interconnected
in a reticularnetwork."nu
By bringingdiverseculturestogether
in one globalexhibition,
the curator,or curators,exhibitwhatJamesCliffordhas called
an "interpretive
anthropology,"
whereinculturesare proposedas ,,assemblages
of
texts,"intendedto challenge"ethnographic
authority"by settingup more ,,discursive
paradigmsof dialogueand polyphony"
withinone maintext,namely,thatof the exhibition.ntSucha methodology
invokesPierreBourdieu's
challengeto the structuralist
versionof the textualmodel,with its capacityto reduce"socialrelationsto communicative
relationsand, more precisely,
to decodingoperations."nt
when a particularcuratorial
narrative,or art worldview,is transposedonto diversepractices,a "recodingof practice
as discourse"nn
occrrs,withthe exhibition
as the principal
textandthe curator(s)
providing the most prominentnarrativethroughwhich alignmentscan be made between
selectedworks.lf, then,the exhibition
itselfis a mediumas muchas a text,whatarethe
conditions
and possibilities
for artisticproduction
to be distributed
at thisgloballevel?
part
As
of
a
dominant
western
European
and
American
internationalism,
an
.
expanding
networkof biennials
haseffectively
embracedarl and artistsfromthe peripheries.However,as JessicaBradleyargues,theseexhibitions
functionas a spectacular
meansof distribution
that can efficiently
meetthe accelerated
rateof exchangeand consumption
parallelto
theglobalflowof capitalandinformation
today.. . . Whilecuratorial
aspirations
arefrequently
concerned
withaddressing
cultures
in fluxandeschew[ing]
cultural
nationalism,
the motivesfor establishing
theseeventsmay nevertheless
residein a desrreto promoteandvalidate
local,culturally
production
specific
withina globalnetwork.t00
As previouslymentioned,
the interrelations
betweencultureand locationare the
most obviouslymarketableaspectsof the globaltourismon which biennialsdepend.
Locality-embodied
in the promotionof touristspots,localspecialties,
sites,cultures,
and produce-is the most reliablegeneratorof economicrevenuefor manyprovincial
towns.Equally,as GilaneTawadroshas stated,art has becomepart of a "globalized
economywith the necessityfor new markets,with the growthof new marketsto sell
work,but alsoof new products,
to continueto fueland invigorate
existingmarkets,not
to mentionall the regeneration
of citiesand the way that art is beingused and biennalesin particular,
and festivalsof art,are usedas a formof accumulating
culturalcapital,as a strategyfor cities."'o'
In considering
the characterof biennialsas commodities
withina touristeconomy,Hou Hanruarguesthat suchdependence
on a touristeconomy causesa lossof what FredricJamesonidentified
as a necessary"distanceof critique."to'lvo Mesquitaalso arguesthat,duringthesetimesof ,,culture
as spectacle,,,
aftistic productionacts as a catalyst for globalizedculture, attractingfinancial
68
C I- l APT ER 2
rc
C H APT ER
E_--
C H APT ER
spectacu
rar events
andextrao
rdina
ryo,"r,""llilfffi;fl ffffi:JT;T::,11t11
menton the partof the
74
C H APT EF
while presentingan
of a fragmentedidea of globalization,
viewership,representative
market'1u1
with
the
free
flow
world
in
the
art
organizedsenseof
The biennialhas becomea ratifyingdevicefor the upperechelonsof the contempoof a more general
ary arl world,for artistsand curatorsalike,which is characteristic
by annual"best
rankingswithinthe arl world.Thisis paralleled
trendtowardestablishing
magazines
such
as Artforum
to
by
year's
previous
adhered
activity,
of" surveysof the
"hierarchical
pointed
is furarrangement"
out,this
andfrieze"tu'AsEivindFurnesvikhas
of prizes-a practicecommonto most biennials.'u'
ther confirmedby the distribution
Similarto variousbooks,such as Cream,FreshCream,Creamier,Artof Today,andArt
the current
at the Turnof the Millennium,the biennialassistsin formingor corroborating
role
emptiedof
curatorial
are
value in art and the critical
"hot list."The "contemporary"
trend.This
and easilyconsumable
any politicalchargeand reducedto a commodified
project"Biennale!,"
curated
exhibition
by theself-organized
demonstrated
was knowingly
in London
by artist Anthony Gross in a warehousecalled temporarycontemporary
invitinginternational
curatorsand a
(2005),for whichhe organizeda one-offexhibition,
film or videowork by one of theirfavoriteartpanelof expertsto selecta single-channel
as a lo{i versionof the biennialmodel,with
ists.The resultwas a seriesof minipavilions
plinths,and withheadphones.
monitors,
allworksshownon equivalent
C H APIER
re
Moisdonand HansUlrichObrist,Lyon,2OO7.
2.5 gth LyonBiennial,
curatedbySt6phanie
Courtesvof the LvonBiennial.
conference
to considerthe impactof the biennialphenomenon
to date.as well as to
identifyand exploreexisting"biennialknowledge"
from differentregionsof the world
and,in turn,to reflecton the historyof biennials,
theirsociopolitical
and economicconpractices.156
texts,and theirimpacton artisticand curatorial
But Bergenrepresentsa rare momentof respitefrom the overproduction
of the
previoustwentyor so years,and,by focusingon practice,it highlighted
the heterogene"mega-exhibitions."
ity of recentinternational
Becauseof this, it also made apparent
how biennialshad enhancedopportunities
for a handfulof the 1990sgenerationof
curatorswithina growingglobalexhibitionmarket.Such figuresas CarlosBasualdo,
Ute Meta Bauer,FrancescoBonami,CarolynChristov-Bakargiev,
Okwui Enwezor,
CharlesEsche,Yuko Hasegawa,Hou Hanru,Vasif Kortun,Rosa Martinez,lvo Mesquita, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Adriano Pedrosa,Apinan Poshyananda,and Barbara
Vanderlinden
are amongthosewho havecurateda largenumberof international
biennials;theyare representative
of whatThomasBoutouxhascalled"thenew globalism
of
the art world."'5t
The Late 1990sand the MovetowardCollectiveCurating:ThreeApproaches
As we haveseen,sincethe late 1990sthe majorityof large-scale
exhibitions
have,on
powerrelationsbetweenthe selectorand the
one level,acknowledged
the hierarchical
selected.This includesOkwuiEnwezor's2nd Johannesburg
Biennial,"TradeRoutes,
Historyand Geography"(1997),and his Documenta11 (2002);FrancescoBonami,s
VeniceBiennale(2003);CatherineDavid'sDocumenta10 (1997);CharlesEscheand
Vasif Kortun'slstanbulBiennial(2005);and successiveManifestas.
These projects
pointedto a growingrecognition
of the limitations
of the singlyauthoredexhibition,
the
exhibitionmomentas a hermeticcuratorialentity,and the exhibitionas a fixed,durationalevent.
A briefglanceat recentdevelopments
withinlarge-scale
international
exhibitions
revealsa morecollaborative
approachio curating.Co-curating
or groupcuratinghas
continuedto evolveas the dominantworkingmodelfor most recurrentexhibitions,
including,
as examples,
biennials
in lstanbul(2005and2009),Tirana(2006),Sdo paulo
(2006),Berlin(2006),and the multiplecomponents
of Manifesta8 (2010).Suchgroup
workis notwithoutits problems,butthe approachhasdemonstrated
the advantages
of
poolingknowledge,
resources,
networks,and opinions,as wellas prefacing
the exhibitionswith an impliedcritiqueof the figureof the individualcurator.Pragmatically
and
ideologically,
thereare as manyreasonsfor thisshiftas thereare differentmodels,but
it is worthconsidering
at leastthreedivergentapproaches
to groupcuratingin more
detailhere:the directionof an enforcedcuratorial
team,as in Documenta11;the Manifestamodelof collaborative
curating;and curatingthe curators,as with Bonami'ssoth
V en i c eB i e n n a l e .
C H APT F R
C H APT ER
Curatingbeyondthe ExhibitionFrame
natureof the exhibition
CatherineDavid had alreadyextendedthe spatiotemporal
guest
per
"l00 Days-'|00 Guests"-one
day,takingparl in disformatby organizing
cussions,debates,and events-overthe courseof Documenta10 (1997).In addition,
paramespace,whichbreachedthe conventional
the catalogwas usedas a discursive
invited
At
texts
by
writers.
the
turn
of the
to
include
ters of exhibitiondocumentation
histhe catalogueexaminedfour emblematicdatesin contemporary
new millennium,
curatorVasif Kortun,
tory: 1945, 1967,1978,and 1989. Similarly,lstanbul-based
workingwith CharlesEsche,relocatedthe gth lstanbulBiennial(2005)to a modern
touristsite,and published
a readerof
partof the cityof lstanbul,awayfromits historical
criticalwritings,Art,City and Politicsin an ExpandedWorld,insieadof the now-stancatalog.'ttAlongwith Bonami,David,and Enwezor,Kortunand Esche
dardexhibition
extendedthe reachof such curatorialprojectsby going beyondthe parametersof the
exhibitionas a singlenarrativeand by mobilizinga field of publicinquirybeyondthe
lectures,publications,
events,perforindividualcuratorialposition,with discussions,
and attention.
mances,and off-siteprojectsbeinggivenaddedimportance
of the curatorialspace,
This relativelyrecenttrend,for the "extraterritorialization"
prerequisite
exhibitions
as
they
attemptto reflecton
within
such
has alreadybecomea
produced,
wherebydifferent
cultural
underwhichtheyare
the globaland localconditions
practitioners
integrated
underthe sameexhibfromthe worldof an are interdependently
events,workshops,
educational
activities,
interdisciplinary
Conferences,
itingconditions.
projects.
public
these
increasingly
important
elements
of
havebecome
discussions
and
now exemplifies
the approachof bienbeyondthe siteof the exhibition
This expansion
of worksof art.Forexammorethanthe merepresentation
encompassing
nialcurators,
ple,the curatorial
What,How and for Whom(WHW)organized"WhatKeeps
collective
lstanbulBiennial(2009)-whichwas accompaMankindAlive?"-the11thInternational
nied by The Texts,a readerthat not only lookedat the ways in whichthe meansof productionhave been capturedby the curatorsas part of their researchprocess,but also
of Brechtian
Marxismon theirthinkthe influence
employedtextas a meansof exploring
program,
parallel
education
as wellas its maga12's
aft
Documenta
ing and content.'to
with differentfocusesfrom aroundthe world
zine project-for which ninetypublications
were invitedto think collectivelyabout the motifs and themes of Documenta12
(2007)t'u-were intendedto act as navigationfor readersand visitors.Theseare but a
are "nowunderstood
as vehiclesfor
few examplesof the emergentviewthat biennials
oftenhave"globaldebate."Suchbiennials
and intellectual
the production
of knowledge
the ideological
underpinnings
of the
ization"as their main theme,while questioning
that is restrictedto the grandexhibitionas its
event itselfas a productof globalization
primaryoutput.176
Returningto the exemplaryDocumenta11, emphasiswas placedon contemporary documentaryfilm, and discursivespaceswere producedwithinthe exhibition.
Thesestrategies
combinedto shiftthe emphasisawayfrom a possiblefetishization
of
collectedobjectsfrom exoticplaces,towardan inlerdependent
relationshipbetweenart
and globalpolitical/cultural/economic
discourse."'Accordingto lrit Rogoff,the building
of criticaldiscoursearoundglobaltendencies,
beginning
withthe Platforms
and discussions,meantthat Enwezor'sprojectmanagedto dislodge"theopticalregimesof identity = v;s;5;1;1U,
of thoseprovidingstereotypical
characterizations
of 'elsewheres,'
of the
easytranslations
throughwhichthe West readseverywhere
outsideof itself,"and the
ways in whichthe art worldcontinuously
reproducesitselfas a boundedterritoriality.
For Rogoff,this Documenta"erodedsomeof thoseboundaries,
eschewedthe 'reporting from overthere'and made it abundantly
clear,in radiantvisualcacophony,
that it
was alwaysalready'overhere."'ttu
It is apparentin Rogoff'sidea-of the collapseof the classicbinaryopposition
of
"here"and "elsewhere,"
in the notionof "alreadyover here"-that thereis a common
frameof reference
betweenthe Westand non-Westwithinpostcolonial
geopolitical
discourse.She appearsto arguefor Documenta11 as a successful
deterritorialization
of
thisdiscourse,
with neitherthe time nor the placeof the exhibition
spacesin the cityof
Kasseloperatingas the territorial
nodefor thesediscussions.
By makingprovisionfor
fivediscursive
Platforms
and usingthesedomainsas the foundation
of Documenta11,
Enwezorcertainlyhad ambitionsto transcendany fixed notionof location.He later
"thepostcolonial
statedthathe was very interested
in utilizing
dimension
of Documenta
11, and [in]the mostexpansiveway thai one couldunderstandit. The postcolonial
is
notsimplythe elsewhere,
overthere,and [to considerthat]overheremeans_
something
else,butto see the entireglobalentanglement
as postcolonial
in its shape."'"
Documenta11 presentedpracticeand discourseas dialectically
entwined,with
thesis,antithesis,
and synthesisoverlapping.
The thesiswas presentedas that of a
globalart world,embodiedin shiftingbordersand abstractions
of language,
space,and
time.The ways in whichtheseabstractions
are actuallyexperienced
in social,political,
and culturallife are the antithesis,
with the synthesisbeingthe ways in whichartists
representthe thesisand antithesis
throughthe production
of art. For Enwezorand his
posf
six invitedcurators,Documenta,
as a historical
art institution
and a manufactured
colonialspace,becamea utopianplacefor intersecting
criticaldiscoursesthat transcendedterritorialization-a
meetingplacein and of itselfwith no prescribed
formsof
closure.lt becamea specific(symbolic
and actual)spacefor displacement,
dislocation,
and fragmentation.
One of the DocumentacuratorsunderEnwezor,Ute Meta Bauer,
"adoptedcountry"for intellectual
calledthisa temporarily
diasporas
fromdiverseorigins
and disciplines,
whereart functionedas "a spaceof refuge-an in-between
spaceof
transitionand of diasporicpassage."'uo
Baue,calledthis a "thirdspace,"
pertainingto
EdwardSoja's notionof thirdspaceas a meetingplace,a hybrid,multisited,and
C H APT ER
contradictory
territory.For Bauer,thirdspaceopensup a multilayered
conceptof the
where"theinevitable
exhibtionas a siteof resistance,
struggle,and liberation,
discrepthatcomewithit are notonlyretainedas a structurebut moreover
anciesand irritations
that can be developed-perare insertedas catalystsfor new forms of understanding
perhapsin fruitfulconfrontation
haps as productivemisunderstandings,
of different
methods,waysof thinking,and languages.""'
But do all roadslead to Kassel?Althoughthe Platformdiscussions
were subsequentlydisseminated
in the form of textspublishedafterthe events,the final Platform
(theexhibition)
stilltook placein Kassel,withartistsbeingimpoftedintoa physicaland
lt was still Documenta,with its culturalrelevance
discursivespace of coexistence.
globalart market.ls the
withinthe Westernart historical
canonand the contemporary
periphery
in beingvalidatedby an estababsorbedby the center,as Eschesuggested,
lishedWesterninstitution
suchas Documenta?
On a primarylevel,both Rogoff'spointand Enwezor'sintentionsare undoneby
the inescapability
of the conditions
of Documenta
itselfand the factthatthe mediumof
the exhibitionoverridesall else as the a priorilegitimating
culturalform underthese
conditions.'u'On
a secondarylevel,the reverseof both Rogoff'sand Enwezor'srationatureof the extraterritorialized
nalesare alsotrue.The discursive
and lessformalized
Platformsreinforced
the ideathattalkingcouldhappenelsewhere,
whilethe moreconcrete,real,and formalizedexperienceof art would happenover here-to use Rogoff's
term-at the art historicalsite of exhibitionthat is Kassel.On a third and final level,
perhapsthe legacyof Enwezor's
contribution
was the consciousness-raising
movethat
momentarily
shiftedthe emphasisaway from the exhibition,
both symbolically
and in
actuality,
by extendingthe parameters
beyondits exhibition
framework.lt was an attribute that continuedwith the curatingof Documenta12 and many other subsequent
gatheringsbeyondKassel
biennialprolects.'ut
By endeavoring
to organizesignificant
proposed
modelwas
underthe Documenta
umbrella,
an alternative
alongwitha clearly
position,whichtranscended
articulated
curatorial
the fixityof the exhibition
formas the
primarysite of art and its relateddiscourse.The implicitquestionsunderlyingDocumenta11 and its shiftingdiscursiveterritoriesremain:ls Kasselstillthe rightsite for
Documenta?
ls Documenta,
the rightplacefor a new geopolitical
as an institution,
disthe rightplacefor the legitimacoursearoundglobalized
art and culture?ls Documenta
tion of this discoursewithincontemporary
art and curatorialpractice?Suchquestions
couldequallybe askedof all otherestablished
and emergingbiennials.
queries
For Bauer,such
are addressedby considering
the relevanceof the art
historicalcanon,representedby Documenta,as an institutionthat consolidatesart hisplacedby Enwezoron the Platforms
tory.tuo
This was mostevidentin the significance
and the prevalence
of lengthytime-basedwork,whichmade it impossible
to view the
wholeexhibition
in a singlevisit.Kassel,as the historical
sile of Documenta,
and Documenta as a major legitimatingforce within afi history,broughta predominantly
geopolitical
discourseto Kassel,initiallyby askinghow and from
non-Westernized
the canon
where a new canoncould be read. Documenta11 entailedreconfiguring
practice
that
were
selected.
As
Enwezor
stated,
Docuthroughthe kindsof discursive
menta11 was "aboutwherethe canonwas goingto be readfrom . . . for us the question was: how do we read the map of contemporaryart from Kassel?And that meant
emerged.
to thesevectors,whichis howthe Platforms
that Kasselhadto be connected
We
wanted
canon.
to
look
at
different
ways of
look
the
notion
of
the
. . We wantedto
at
This realignmentof the point from which historyand art can be read
working."'uu
issuesof biennialprojectssince1989.As curatorCarlos
remainsone of the outstanding
effectsof thesetypesof exhibitionstrategiesare
Basualdohas said,"The ideological
of
an
artistic
canonand ihereforethe stagingof a series
known:
the
consolidation
well
Giventhe
of inclusionand exclusionthat assuresits permanence."'""
of mechanisms
enormousnumberof artists,curators,and culturalproducersacrossthe globe who
smallnumber
haveneverbeeninvolvedin a biennial,measuredagainstthe relatively
participated
of
so
many
biennials,
it wouldbe
been
in
charge
and
of thosewho have
of the effectsof the biennialmodelon expandingour
wrongto assumeany universality
notionof the art world,nevermindthe worldat large.The aft worldis a multicentered
placeas muchas it is multicultural,
and its globalspreadmakesdifferentiation
between
past
years
that
have
Given
the
twenty
iterations
increasingly
difficult.
its numerous
genreof exhibitionhas
affordedus so many differentmodels,this no-longer-so-new
togetherso manycontradictory
of gathering
shownboththe potentialandthe difficulties
of biennials
The proliferation
occurredat a moment
representations
at a singlelocation.
field
that
went beyondmere
an
expanded
out
to
become
opened
at whichcuratorship
to take accountof the discursiveand distributional
displayand materialproduction,
what we know and the
modesof exchangewhileactingas a catalystfor challenging
ways in which it becomesknown.Althoughthe expansionof the biennialexhibition
modelis both a symptomand a conditionof our globallynetworkedage, its myriad
dissensus,
antagonism,
and counformshaveprovidedsmallmomentsof resistance,
in relationto the grandnarrativesof art history,consumerculture,mass
terspectacle
forcesof globalcapitalism.
hegemonic
and the market-driven
entenainment,
By Way of a Summary
of the art world,allowinga viewof
On the whole,biennialshaveeffecteda realignment
have
established
a widerintedacebetween
more
iranscultural.
Curators
theworldthatis
Inclusiveness
has
art and audiences,local and global,nationaland international.
becomeone of theirmainmotivations.
of biennialshave entrenchedcuratingin the
and consolidation
The proliferation
globalmarket.From "Les Magiciensde la terre"onward,attemptshave been made to
of the curator;
viewof the globalaft worldfromthe perspective
createa lessWesternized
C H APT ER
r-*."I
85
.3
CURA TING
A S A M E DI UMO F A RT I S T I C
P RA CT T CE
:
T HE
CONV E RGE NCOEF A RTA ND CURA T O RI APLRA CT I CE
SINCETHE 1990s
In chapter1, we saw how the late 1960switnesseda shiftf romthe ideaof curatingas
a caring,meditative,administrative
activitytowardone of a mediatingand performative
activityakin to aftisticpractice.while many metaphorswere fleetinglyappliedto the
roleof the curatorthroughout
period,the conceptof the "curator-asthistransformative
artist"was the most persistent.This suggeststhat the curatorialact is equivalentto
artisticpractice,with the distinction
betweenwhat and who constitutes
the exhibitionas-medium
and the exhibition-as-form
beingcentralto thesedebates.
As we have seen, many artists have adoptedthe practiceof curatorshipas a
mediumof production
in its own right.In turn,sincethe 1ggos,thishas impliedthe ,,dis,
solutionof categoriesinsteadof the exchangeof roles,"twhichhas resultedin a convergence of anistic and curatorial practice. This convergence necessitatesan
examinationof how curatorialcriticismhas contributedto certainconceptsof agency,
production,
and authorship,
and mostspecifically
how the boundaries
betweencurarorialand artisticpracticesare disputed.The act of curatingis implicated
in what pierre
Bourdieucallsthe "cultural
production
of the valueof the artistand of art,"in thatexhibitionsare morethanpublicmanifestations
of subjective
opinion.'Curatorship
is linkedto
processesof producing,constituting,
and instituting
art. yet, whetherit is monetary,
aesthetic,
ethical,or social,artisticvaluehas beentraditionally
conceivedof as greater
thanthat of any curatorial
role.Art is the basicrequirement
in the circulation
of cultural
capitalin the fieldof art, whetherit takesa material,conceptual,
discursive,
or other
form.Ultimately,
the production
of an exhibitionis an attemptat converting
subjective
valueand personalchoiceinto socialand culturalcapitalthroughthe arrangement
of
C IAPT EF
wouldbe appliedto
oppositional
agents.In thisschema,differentconceptsof technique
party.
would
fhe
internal
of
the
work
of
art
traditionally
each
organization
be enactedby
the artist,whilethe techniqueof the cultureindustryis concernedwilh externalorganireproduction,
mediation,
zation,throughdifferentmodesof distribution,
and administrathe divisionbetweenthe artist,
tion.tThus,Adorno'sargumentcan be seento reinforce
producer,
or mediator,
and author,on the one hand,and the organizer,
on the other.'
Yet there has been evidence,more recently,of resistanceto this inclination
to
privilegethe creativeand autonomous
sideof the technicalequationat the expenseof
tendencies.
Nowadays,
the organizer's
externalizing
andcontrolling
curatorship
may be
various
category,encompassing
organizational
forms,
conceivedas a far-reaching
withincontemporary
cooperative
models,and collaborative
structures
culturalpractice
that accommodatethe generativepropertiestraditionallyattributedto artisticproductransformative,
and speculative
tion.Thisframesthe curatorial
as a durational,
activity,
indeterminate,
mobile,
in
between,
crossingover and
a way of keepingthingsin flow,
certainideasto cometo the forein
and things,encouraging
betweenpeople,identities,
process,whichpermitsmuchmorefreedomthanAdorno's
an emergentcommunicative
Whilethisshiftin operatingmodeshas beenacknowledged
conception
of organization.
it remainsan isolatedunderstanding,
and much discourse
by cerlaincommentators,'
aroundcuratorship
continuesto operatein the shadowof Adorno'sseparation
between
practices.
art and its administrators,
betweenartisticand curatorial
As Adornoand Horkheimer
outlined,masscultureis oftenexplainedin technologiparties"'o
These"interested
cal terms by those involvedin its production.
oftenclaim
processes
in it and thatcertainreproduction
that,because"millionsparticipate
are necso that accesscan be increased
essary,"highlevelsof mediationmustbe maintained
placesof consumption."
A" u technological
to serviceinnumerable
term that is often
"medium"
refers
to
the
linkedto masscommunication,
both
technological
devicesused
in the transferof information
to largeraudiences-suchas newspapers,
radio,and telelinkedto powerand the rationale
vision-and to the coerciveideological
apparatuses
of
domination.''Insteadof readingmediumin Adornianterms,the exhibitioncan be
understood
as a mediumin the senseof a particularmethodof determining
material
practices.
use of the term"medium"as "someThisacknowledges
RaymondWilliams's
thing with its own specificand determimngproperties,"with an a prioriversionof its
takingpriorityoveranythingactuallysaid,written,or shown.'tThis is to
understanding
it has specificqualitiesthat are
say that a mediumis bothstableand transformative;
from othermediinheritedover time whileit continually
determinesits distinctiveness
action,the term has also becomecompatiblewith a social
ums. As communicative
are seenas agencies
senseof media,in whicha set of practicesand theirinstitutions
In
this
the
exhibition-as-medium
sense,
has become
of mediationin and of themselves.
understood
as a primaryagencybothfor reifyingextantsocial,spatial,and art historical
practicesto enablea rethinking
practicesand lor generatingnew institutional
of these
realities.The exhibitionis thus a subjectivevector.As HaraldSzeemannacknowledged:"My lifehas beenat the serviceof a medium,and this mediumis notthe image,
whichis realityin itself,butthe exhibition
that presentsreality."'o
The Exhibition-as-Medium
Accordingto Bruce Ferguson,exhibitionsare always rhetorical,ideologicalmedia,
regardless
of their particular
form.'uBy this rationale,exhibitions
are part of the consciousness
industry,complextoolsof persuasion
that aim to prescribea set of values
"
and socialrelationsto theiraudiences.
lt followsthat,as a strategicsystemof representation,
an exhibition
is organizedin orderto bestexploitits inherentproperties,
fromits architecture
whichis alwayspolitical,
to its wallcolorings
whicharealwayspsychologically
meaningful,
to its labelswhichare alwaysdidactic
. . . to its artisticexclusionswhicharealwayspowerfully
ideological
andstructural
in theirlimitedadmissions,
to its lightingwhichalwaysdramatizes
. . . to its securitysystemswhichare alwaysa
formof socialcollateral. . . to its curatorialpremises,
whichare alwaysprofessionally
dogmatic,
to its brochures
and catalogues
andvideoswhichare alwaysliterary-specific
andpedagogically
directional,
to its aesthetics
whicharealwayshistorically
specific.
producebothgeneraland specificformsof communiThus,for Ferguson,exhibitions
cation.tu
Here,communication
liesat the hearlof exhibitions,
wherebythe communicative mediumis not a neutraltransmission
of information
but something
thatcontributes
to the positioning
and controlling
of the spectatorin a spaceof display.It followsthat
public-formpartof the political
exhibitions-astextsthat maketheirprivateintentions
economyof culturalproduction.
In particular,
the temporaryarl exhibition
has become
the ultimatemediumin the distribution
and reception
of art and is, therefore,
"theprincipal agencyin the debatesand criticismaroundany aspectof the visualarts."1e
In the introduction
to their agenda-setting
anthology,Ferguson,Greenberg,and
Nairnestatethat "exhibitions
havebecomefhe mediumthroughwhichmostan becomes
known."'oBy stressingthe definitivearlicle,they emphasizethat the exhibition,
as a specific culturalform, is the foremostintermediary
throughwhich ideas and knowledge
aroundart are now producedand disseminated.
In his individual
essayfor this publication,Fergusonswitchesthe emphasisfromthe definitearticleto the nounwhenhe writes,
"Exhibitions
can be understoodthen as the mediumof contemporary
art in the senseof
beingits mainagencyof communication-thebodyand voicefromwhichan authoritative
characteremerges.Exhibitions
are the centralspeakingsubjectsin the standardstories
aboutart whichinstitutions
and curatorsoftentellto themselvesand to us."''
Ferguson's
emphasison the exhibition
as the primarymediumthroughwhichcontemporaryart is disseminated
relieson the ideaof the transitory
exhibition
as a mediating eventthroughwhich art discoursesare producedand transformed.
As Florence
90
C !APT ER
T_
collectivelyproduceits own genreof ar1in which ideas,artworks,^objects,
and zonesof
philosophically,
interpretation
intersect,
sensorially,
and spatially.-'
A latter-day
illustration
of Lyotard'sideais the exhibition
"SanthalFamily:Posiiions
aroundan IndianSculpture"
(2008)at MuHKA,curatedby Grantwatson in collaboration with SumanGopinathand AnshumanDasgupta.A broadrangeof contemporary
practitioners
were invitedto respondto the sculptureSanthalFamily(1938)by Ramkinkar Baij-widely consideredthe first public modernistsculpturein India. Artist
GoshkaMacugadesignedthe layoutfor the show,and provideda numberof routesfor
viewersto navigatethroughthe exhibition.
Meanwhile,the otherartworkswere variously installed around the Santhal Family sculpture. Different artistic positions
coalescedin the resultant
exhibition
form,providing
myriadspatial,formal,and conceptual interrelations
broughtaboutby theirconnections
witha singleartwork.
In an attemptto comprehend
the spatiality
of exhibitions,
an understanding
of landscapeas an experiential
relationship
to the naturaland builtenvironment
is usefulas it
proposesa metaphorfor graspingthe properties
that couldmakeup the exhibition-asform.ForSusanStewart,"ourmostfundamental
relationto the giganticis articulated
in
our relationto landscape,
our immediateand livedrelationto natureas it 'surrounds'
us."'uAs a questionof scale,landscape
is thatwhichenclosesus visuallyand spatially,
"expressedmostoftenthroughan abstractprojectionof the body"on the world.2n
As *e
can only interactwith the worldin pari,and as it does not movethroughus, we must
movethroughit. The metaphorof the exhibition-as-landscape
is a meansof establishing a formalstructuring
device,responsive
to what I willcallthreeplanesof interaction:
the background,
the middleground
and the foreground.
lt alsoacknowledges
the spatial
world as a displayspace.ApplyingStewart'sunderstanding
of landscape(and the
gigantic)as a "containelof both objectsand mobileviewingsubjects'o
to our expenenceof the exhibition-asthat whichsurroundsus and whichwe can only know partially-one can deducea rejectionof the notionof the autonomous
objectsof an being
the primarymediumthroughwhichthe ritualized
and ritualizing
experience
of art takes
place.Thisperception
is thenreplacedby a desirefor an understanding
of theserituals
at the levelof the spaceof exhibition(s).
phenomena,exhibitionseach have their own aestheticform,
As spatiotemporal
whichis visual,haptic,and corporealby nature.An exhibition
is a temporary,
architecpossesses
potential
planes
tonic structurethat
of interaction
for the viewer,which I
woulddescribeas: (1) surrounding
the viewerwho movesthroughit, (2) interacting
only
partlywiththe viewer,and (3) containing
the viewerin its spaceof display.
The terms background,
middleground,
and foregroundare prescriptive
poinisof
reference
for thinkingabouthow exhibitions
are constructed.
Thesespatialcoordinaies
representorganizational
strategies
as muchas planesof interaction
throughwhichthe
gathersits formand is experienced.
exhibition
C H APT EF
n_i-:
The background
is the architecture
of the exhibition
space,the primarylayerof the
exhibition.
The whitewallsof eachgalleryremainintact,or are paftlypainted,covered,
or pastedoverand converted
frombeinga blankspaceintoa dominantaesthetic
experience.In this way, the neutraleffectsof the "whitecube"are eitheremphasizedor
reducedto a minimumand replacedby a visualbackground.
The middleground
is an areawith whichaudiencesare paftiallyintendedto interact. lt is shapedby the mannerin whichthe exhibitiondesignand the layoutof the
exhibitionspaceare arranged-priorto the placementof artistsand theirworks-and
the waysin whichsuchelementsfunctionwithinthe overallorganizational
frameworkof
a group exhibition.Displaystructures,lighting,galleryfurniture,seating,and overall
exhibitiondesignare consideredpriorio the exhibitioninstallation,
with the middlegroundutilizedas a meansof conditioning
and mobilizingthe viewerin prescribed
ways.Theseelementsare ofteneitheradapiedfor the exhibition-frompreexisting
artworks-or commissioned
as noveldisplaysystems,designedin collaboration
with an
artistor designer.
represents
in whichthe viewertakespart
The foreground
a spaceof containment,
in a subject-to-object
relationship
with those artifacts,images,and works of art that
cbuldbe categorized
as autonomous
objectsfor studyin theirown right.Theseworkssuchas videowork,sculpture,
and paintings,
eachof whichrequirescertainconditions
of display-arrivein theircompleteformand remainintactafterthe eventof the exhibiintervention.
tion,unchanged
by curatorial
Thesethreeorganizational
categoriesnot onlyfacilitatethe selectionof worksfor
exhibition
but can alsobe seento coherein the finalexhibition
form.The overlaoof the
variouscontestations,
threedimensionsoffersa meansof representing
conflicts,and
pointsof agreement
possiblethat havemadethe production
This is perhapsbestillus"Coalesce,"tratedby one of my own curatorial
speculations,
whichnotonlyresultedin
exhibitionbut also attemptedto elongatethe temporality
a coproductive
of the exhibition intoa durational
event.'"Coalesce"
beganwiththreeanistsbut grewto includemorethaneightyby its fifth
in 2010."-The projectforcefully
outing,heldat SMARTProjectSpace,Amsterdam,
and
self-consciously
takes the aforementioned
spatialcategoriesof background,
middleground,and foregroundas its centralorganizingprinciple,with each layerofferinga
grounding,or platform,for the other.Each successiveexhibitiongathersnew artists
and curators,with the multipleoutcomesof "Coalesce,"
acrosslocationsand times,
formingpart of a continuum,
with the projectbeingconsidered
as an unendingexhibition. Each publicexhibitiontakesthe form of a mutatingenvironment
of overlapping
artworks,in whichartworksand individualprojectsliterally"coalesce"and cohabitin
space,whilebeingpartof an accumulative
eachexhibition
curatorialproject.For each
the artistswork cooperatively
on an installation,
with theirwork(s)literally
exhibition,
merginginto each other,resultingin an overallgroupexhibitionform ratherthan an
accumulation
of discrete,semiautonomous
artworks.As an evolvingseriesof exhibitions,"Coalesce"is intendedto accommodate
a cross{ertilization
of differentartistic
and curatorialpositionswithina single,unifyingcuratorialprojectover an extended
period.Eachexhibitionmanifestation
is put forwardas a temporaryspaceof dialogue
betweenthese participants
and is proposedas a condensedmomentof cooperation
withthe exhibition
formemergingoveran elongatedperiodof time,at differentspeeds
and withalteringmodesof display.
r:tatii:::ri:rr:l
w
3.1 "Coalesce:
Happenstance,"
curatedby PaulO'Neill,SMARTprojectSpace,Amsterdam,
20 10 .
C H APT ER
approachdisruptseach individualcuratorial
The cooperativemethodological
form.As it moves
of positionsin the finalexhibition
endeavor,resultingin a comingling
and aesthetic
in
a
social,
discursive,
operates
the
exhibition
iterations,
betweenvarious
multiple
conditions
the
reformulates
and
spaceof actionthat constantlydestabilizes
Spacesand
and networksof relationsbetweenwhichthe movementsoccur,"between
Hierarchies
are only
and groups,and betweenobjectsand subjects.""
times,individuals
much
as
they
are
as
disassembled,
and
assembled,
renegotiated,
temporary,always
position.
the
individual
curatorial
by,
to,
or
is not limited
oerformed.The "curatorial"
Instead,as Beatricevon Bismarckstates,its politicalpotentialis takenas beingfundaa
For her, the curatorialrepresents
mentallyrelatedto otherconceptsof "becoming."
the
positions
relation
to
vary
in
taken
the
in
which
process
of negotiation
"continuous
and appearin
takeon new directions,
othersubjectsor objectsinvolvedin exhibitions,
r$w
WithAll DueIntent,"
curatedby PaulO'Neill,Modeland NilandArt Gallery,Sligo
3.2 "Coalesce:
2005.
96
C IAPT ER
CuratorshipcontraArtisticAutonomy
TheoristHans-DieterHuber has said that curatorshiphas been transformedinto
"something
likea signature,
a specificstyle,a specificimage,a namethatcan be assowork. What once characterized
ciatedwith specificcuratorsand their respective
the
workof an artist,namelyhis style,his signature,
and his name,is now trueof the work
Similarly,NicolasBourriaudasseftsthat the core issue in tl.rinking
of the curator."oo
practicesis one of style,and that it is no longer
aboutthe valueof individual
curatorial
a questionas to "whetheror not you are an authoras a curator,but which kind of
this ideafurther,curatorJens Hoffmannarguesfor an
authoryou are."o'Developing
work as constitutingan individualpractice
understanding
of the author-curator's
"a strongcreativesensibility"
becauseof its "thematicconsistency
of production,"
in
regardto interpretation,
and an "apparentartisticdevelopment"
overtime.-'Thisconcurs with the way Hoffmannhas describedhis signaturestyle,as beinginfluenced
by
his backgroundin theater:he statesthat he uses the "ideaof the worldas a stage:
something
thatis fluidandtemporary,
constantly
changing,evolving,unpredictable
and
in continuousprogress""He employsthe conceptof curatingas directing,with "the
lt is the ideaof the curatorhavinga
bxhibition
as a playand the playas an exhibition.
rolein the set-upof an exhibition
that is similarto the one of a directorin the set-upof a
theater play."o"
Herewe can see someof the ways in whichthe curatoris figuredas a prevalent
forcebehindexhibitions
at the expenseof artisticautonomy.
Buthowhasthisperception
of curatingevolved?ForJohnMiller,the specterof the curator-as-artist,
operating
at the
expenseof artisticautonomy,becamea pointof discussionin relationto large-scale
exhibitions
at thetimeof Jan Hoet'sDocumenta
9 in 1992.Hoetput himselfforwardas a
"curatorialarlist,"usinga diverserangeof artworksas the raw material,or "energy,"oo
for
with the exhibitionitself"intendedto act as a drive-belt"
his exhibition,
for theseenergies.ou
Advocatinga role for the curatoras the leadingcreativeagencyin exhibition
processof bringingart together,
making,Hoetdescribes
an instinctive
to makea unified
"specific
with
the
aim
in
view
.
.
.
the
exhibition]
is
exhibition,
carriedalongby one
[that
idea."ou
In its formand content,the exhibition
was intendedto show"where
controlling
decisionsaffecteach other and
the selectionprocessmust stan [and] how su_ccessive
havethe powerto createan innerstructure."-'
In the finalparagraph
of his introduction
to the catalog,Hoetwrites,"Thisexhibitionis my text;everyworkthat is contributedis a
postulate;
andthe discourse
unfoldsas onewalksthroughthe spaces.lt showshowone
can thinkin, and with,realityand it showshow one doesnot necessarily
needa blank
pieceof paperin orderto think.lt showsart."ot
Thus,Hoetproposesthe exhibition
as a
components
within
text,the curatoras an author,and art as selected
an overallstructure
that,ratherthanbeingdescribed,
couldonlybe perceived
by the audiencein the course
of the "directconfrontation
withthe realexperience"of the exhibitionitself.as
rF
C H APT ER
dy nami c s o fh i s m e d i u m,h i s p ro fe ssi on,andthew aysi nw hi chexhi bi ti onsgai nformtrap, that of selectingand coldeflectsattentionaway from Hoffmann'sown curatorial
framework"
withina singlecuratorial
laiinga numberof artisticpositions
is a familof curatorand artist,followingAdorno'srationale,
opposition
Peterson's
what is differenthere is how
iar. persistentsiancewithincurrentcuratorialdebates'
practicethat is no
distinguished
a
as
petersonattributescenainvaluesto curating,
the artist Today'
of
activities
longerdeemedseconoaryto the so-calledautonomous
the mediumof curatormustconsiderwhatconstitutes
of the discipline
any conception
authorship
modeof subjective
shipand the extentto wnichthe act of curatingis its own
right'
own
its
in
mediumof presentation
and a subjective
Curatingas a Mediumof Self-Presentation
a curator'scourtingof the gaze,in which
The exhibitionis now a form of self-portrait,
betweenartisticpositionsas
meantngis derivedfrom the relationship
an exhibition's
as an activitydisis primarilyunderstood
presentedby the curator"Today,curatorship
manageria|,and faciIitatory
tinct from its |imitedjob description_itsadministrative,
aspects.As von Bismarckclaims:
takesonly
post,curating
withthe fixedinstitutional
associated
of the iasksoriginally
matericultural
and
for
artistic
with the aimof creatingan audience
ihai of presentation.
presentation
key
becomesthe
o{ makingthemvisible,theexhibition
alsandtechniques,
itseltfreesthe curatortrom
curating
duties,
other
medium.ln contrastto the curatocs
oi the iob, givinghim/heran otherwiseuncommondegreeoi {reedom
the invisrbitity
anda prestigenotunlikethatenioyedby artists.'u
withinthe museuminstitution
of the ubiquityof the curatorwithinthe
Thus,for von Bismarck,one of the by-products
industryis that"Professionalisation
and differenever-expanding
culturalentertainment
tiationwithinthe art world have turned'curating'into a hierarchically
structuredjob
coveringa wide rangeof activities"""
She goeson to claimthatthe advent
description
of so-calledindependent
curatingis the structuralconsequence
of an expandingart
market,in which "internationally
networkedserviceproviders"offer their skillsto a
theircurator,al
diverseexhibition
market,oftenpresenting
conceptas artisticproduct.tu
As NathalieHeinichand MichaelPollakargue,the contemporary
art.museumnow
tends to placeits emphasison the researchand mediationof temporaryexhibitions
ratherthanfocusingon its collection.
This privileging
of one-off,short-term
exhibitions
withinmuseumsindicatesa growingspecialization-through
surveys,historicaloverviews,geographically
specificand thematicexhibitions-articulated
from
or nationally
perspective
program,
Withinsucha subject-centered
the
of the curator(s).-exhibition
"theexhibition
a measureof famewhicheludesothercolcurator'sfunctionauthorizes
leaouesto the extentthat an exhibitionassumesthe quiseof a culturaleventwhose
,n
C H APT EF
zep
Arch
he.'
p*g
Iy_Sing, m
onc 'ourg? cio:r: o te'oliol)
/ 'r''
'/J
: .
Northern
DegreeZeroArchive,"
curatedby BarnabyDrabbleand DorotheeRichter,
3.3 "Curating
1998.CourtesyCDZA.
Art,Sunderland,
Galleryfor Contemporary
The-subject"
of the production
of theart-work-ofitsvaluebutalsoof its meaning-is
notthe producer
whoactually
createsthe objectin its materiality,
but ratherthe entire
in thefield.Amongthesearethe producers
setof agentsengaged
of works,classified
criticsof allpersuasions
(whoarethemas artists(greator minor,famousor unknown),
middlemen,
selvesestablished
in thefield),collectors,
curators,
etc.,in short,all those
whohavetieswithart,wholiveforartand,to varying
degrees,
fromit,andwhoconfront
eachotherin struggles
wheretheimposition
of notonlya worldviewbutalsoa visionof
participate
ihe ad worldis at slake,andwhothroughthesestruggles,
in the production
of the valueof the artistandof art.Bourdieuassertsthatany perception
of the art worldmustgo beyondan understanding
of art as something
to be appreciated
solelyin termsof aesthetics,
to includeconcepts
of value,classification,
and characterization
withinthe sociocultural
sphere.""He articulatesthe fieldof culturalproduction
as a "sharedlanguage"amongthoseinvolvedin a
specificfield.Fromthisperspective,
formsof communication
are activelyproducedand
maintainedfrom withinthe socialand culturalfield of art by all those who have an
investmentin it.uuFurther,artistsand curatorsare cooperativeproducersof culture,
regardless
of what it is that distinguishes
theirmode of agency;all culturalproducers
relateto eachotherthrougha commonfieldof referenceand sharedvocabulary,
both
the expression
of whichare usedto articulateand to "structure
and the experience
of
the work ol art.."u'
Hencebothartistsand curatorspartakeequallyin the reststances,
conflicts,and divisionsthat run throughthe field of culturalproductionas a whole,
equallyengagingin the strugglesfor an expandedconceptionof the worldand of art
and theiroperations.
The Exhibition-as-Medium
for both Artists and Curators
The groupexhibitionas the principalmediumof curatorialself-articulation
was highlightedin a 1987polemicby JonathanWatkins,directorof lkonGallery,Birmingham,
in
his essay "The Criticas Artist"""Ratherthan Barthes'spoststructuralist
analysisof
Watkinsdrawson OscarWilde'sideathat objectsare transformed
authorship,
intoart
by the criticwritingaboutthem,in whichit is the eye of the beholderthat producesthe
work of art.6e
Watkinsarguesfor curatingas a type of artisticpractice,with individual
(everydayfoundobjects
artworksbeinganalogousto MarcelDuchamp'sreadymades
"manipulation
takenas art),theirdisplayaidedby the curator's
of the environment,
the
lighting,the labelsand the placement
of otherworksof art."Watkins'sloosedescription
of the rolestaken on by curators,artists,and critics
withinthe exhibition
harmonize
contextmay not completely
withthe departureof curapractice
parameters
gallery
fromthe
torial
of
and museumexhibition
displays.Yet his
argument-thatthe invisibility
of the curatorialhand can reinforcethe "beliefthat art
C H APT ER
103
+
shiftin powerin favorof the curatorhas taken place,especiallysince
the role of the
curatorincreasingly
allowsfor moreopportunity
for creativeactivity.Thus,the curator
seemsto employthe artisticexhibitsin partas the sign of one text,namely,
his or her
text'"t6SigridSchadeechoesthis opinionwhenshe statesthat curators
now sell their
curatorialconceptsas the artisticproductand "sellthemselvesas
the artists,so the
curators'swallowup' the worksof the artists,as it were. In such
cases,the curators
claimfor themselves
the statusof geniustraditionar
in art history.,,tt
In a bid to reducethe perceptual
and conceptualdistancebetweencuratorsand
artistsevenfurther,JustinHoffmannsuggestswe apprythe term ,,curture
producerto
thoseformerlyknownas eitheradistsor curators,as a possiblemeans
of dissolving
"the boundaries
of the variousgenresof arr.,,"As he correctlyargues,thereis now
a
vast numberof differential
curatorialmodelsthat transcendthe groupexhibition
of artworksas the primaryend formfor theirpraxis.Theserangefromcurators
who realize
exhibition
projectswithoutany artistsor artworks,to curatorswho initiateprojects
and
gatherparlicipants
withoutcuratingan art exhibition,
to thosewho initiatemoredialogical projectswith artists,in whichthe primaryobjectiveis to set a temporarprocess
in
motionratherthanfocusingon the outcomeof any finalexhibition.
Addedto theseare
onlineand text-basedcurating,which prioritizethe editorialframe
as their mode of
practice'This expansionin understanding
aroundthe curatorial
allowsprotagonists
to
switchbetweendifferentarea_s
of activity,thus increasingthe potentialfor a heteronomv
of articulation
withinthe field.Te
Let us relurnnow to Huber,who goes a step furlherby suggesting
that there is
evidence,withina numberof recentartisticpractices,of a complete
confiscation
of
curatorialmethodolgy.
Fromthe time of Haraldszeemannonward,he claims,artists
workingcuratorially
haveattempted
"a leapto thismeta-level
of the curator,usrngcuratorialselectionand galleryarrangements
to producetheir unmistakable,
artistic,and
societalstyleon this meta-level."to
For Huber,manyartists-suchas FareedArmaly,
Tiloschulz,MarinaGrzini6,Arexander
Koch,christophKeller,JuttaKoether,and Apo_
lonijaSu5ter5id-haveemployedthe languageof curatingto create
clearlyidentifiable
signaturedesignstylesfor their prolects.ttHubersuggeststhat the
artisticdesireto
employcertaincuratorialmechanisms
not onlyarisesbecausethis is now seenas the
highestand newestform of art, but also becausecuratingprovidesa
meansof analyz_
ing and contestingwhat constitutesartisticproduction,throughthe
confiscation,
or
appropriation,
of the positionof powerthat ls identified
with the historical
figureof the
curator.t'Employingthe exhibitionsite as theirmedium,theseartistsproouce
spatial
installations
in theirown distinctstyles,whichprovidethe environmental
settingfor the
stagingof discussions,
events,and visitorparticipation.
one of the many exampresthat iilustratethis pointis artistFareed
Armary,scor_
laboration
with Ute MetaBauerfor "NowHere,"
an exhibition
Bauercuratedat the Loui_
siana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark,in 1996.tt Deveropingthe
concepruar
104
O H APT ER
each
frameworkof the projecttogether,artistand curatorworkedto "counterbalance"uo
way
for the
the exhibiother.lt becameobvious,however,thatArmalywas responsible
tion looked.Featuringmany of his signaturedesignelements-suchas text applied
publications
could
directlyontopartlypaintedwalls-the displayand the accompanying
project
possessed
while
the
as
a
whole
signature
style,
having
Armaly's
identified
as
be
thatwas similarto manvof his otherworks.
framework
a conceptual
The Artist-Curator
The mergingof the rolesof artistand curatorwas furtheroutlinedin GavinWade'stext
a largenumberof artistswho werecommit"Artist+ Curator=" (2000).Wadeidentified
in parallelwith the tented to expandingtheir practiceinto the realmsof curatorship
"artist-curator,"
which once simply
The
term
to
act
as
arttsts.uu
dency for curators
referredto exhibitionscuratedby artists,is appliedby Wade to those practitioners
and curatorialstrategiesas a way of
structures,
usingexhibitiondesign,architectural
presenting
otherartists,to createcompositepublicoutcomes.In
alongside
themselves,
objects,
may includethe displayof autonomous
thisway,the workof the artist-curator
part
provision
of
his or
structureas
of an overallcuratorial
design,or the
the exhibition
are now a distinctive
model
by arlist-curators
herexpandedartisticpractice.Exhibitions
of curating,with the group exhibitionbeing employedas the main mode of adistic
production.
precedents,
phenomenon
has manyhistorical
of the artist-curator
The burgeoning
initiatives,
suchas GroupMaterialand
artist-curatorial
includingmoreovertlypoliticized
were oftenintendedas artists'intervenGeneralldea fromthe 1980s.Such initiatives
tions, to exposeunreflexiveassumptionsabout what constitutedan exhibition.For
with GroupMaterialbetween1979and
example,JulieAult describesher involvement
1996 in the followingway: "The temporaryexhibitionwas a mediumthroughwhich
wereposited,andthroughwhichrules,
structures
modelsof socialand representational
exhibitionprojectsevolvedfrom
Specific
subverted.
venues
were
often
and
situations,
process
its principles
engagement,
of discursive
and expandeduponthe collaborative
of practice."uu
For John Miller,the momentumof this convergenceof practices-theartistas
curatorand the curatoras artist-had been buildingsince the 1980sthroughwork
by aftistssuchas
critiquein the US,as orchestrated
linkedto laterformsof institutional
JulieAult,JudithBarry,LouiseLawler,GroupMaterial,and Fred Wilson."This perwho pointsout thatany potentiallineageof unconspectiveis echoedby Jim Drobnick,
(operating
and historical
counterto museumconventions
strategies
ventionalcuratorial
art of the 1960sbut frequently
paradigms)
is oftentracedbackto conceptual
exhibition
practicethattook placebetweenthe late 1960s
omitsthe periodof engagedcuratorial
rtr
106
C H APT EF
.'
'i:i*$.,
:ii 'rr:
concerns,
artistswith sociopolitical
presenteda salon des r6fusdsof marginalized
alongsideproductsfrom supermarketsand departmentstores,thus breakingthe
the functionof culturalreprebetweenhighand low cultureby questioning
boundaries
production.
"Democracy,"
at the DIA Foundahierarchies
of
cultural
sentationand the
of
discussion-led
eventsand
tion between1987and 1989,was organizedas a cycle
"Politics
showsdividedinto four sections:"Educationand Democracy,"
collaborative
A CaseStudy."All ol
"CulturalParticipation
and AIDS,"and "Democracy:
and Election,"
and conventional
display,
of classification
these projectsexaminedthe complexities
to
and discursiveapproach exhibition
whilestressingthe needfor a transdisciplinary
comwhateverformtheytake,are the resultof divergent,
making.All groupexhibitions,
plex, and dialecticalrelationsbetweencurators,artists,and all those providedwith
apparentfrom
By makingthese interrelations
agencyin the processas coproducers.
"the
betweencollaborathe meansof production, difference
the outset,and articulating
duringa processof coproduction
tiveand authorialstructures""converges
of the
of both GroupMaterialand Generalldea as forerunners
The significance
part
of the
were
selected
as
when
they
group
was
highlighted
work
currenttrendfor
in
2005.
This
in Kassel
at KunsthalleFridericianum
Creativity"
exhibitjon"Collective
positedthe viewthat all creativeworkwas
publication
and supporting
majorexhibition
groupwork as some form of resiswhile evidentlyarliculating
alreadycollaborative,
thensupported
modelof production
individualistic
market-driven
tanceto the dominant,
the Zagreb-based
curaThe curatorsof the exhibition,
institutions.
by our sociocultural
WHW (What,How and for Whom),calledfor greatervisibilityof group
torialcollective
formsof sociability
as the resultsof alternative
work presented
oractice,with collective
the
collective
elementof his"Collective
documented
Creativity"
and self-governance.
and Fluxus,alongsidean eclecmodels,suchas Dada,Surrealism,
toricalavant-garde
groupactivities
fromacrossEurope,LatinAmerica,
tic mix of recentand contemporary
to
approaches
and the UnitedStates.As such,the projectreflectedon heterogeneous
presented
the
divides.
WHW
and
historical
acrosssocial,cultural,
multipleauthorship
with the generalspiritof collectivism
projectas an act of kinship,a show of solidarity
for whomjointworkprovidesa potentially
exhibitors,
sharedby manyof the assembled
utopianspacefor discourse.
essayfor the
was an importantsurvey.In theirintroductory
"Collective
Creativity"
potential
of comcalledon the emancipatory
catalog,WHW declaredthatthe exhibition
production
for the good of the whole,in which
munalformsof work and collaborative
individualenergiesare bundledtogether,allowingcommonintereststo prevailand a
may havebeen,the exhiYet nobleas theseintentions
sharedresultto be achieved.et
"collective"
groups
as generically
bitionitselfwas flawed:the packagingof the various
Group Material
translatedinto a flatteningout of each group'sspecificdifferences.
with Generalldea;Gilbedand Georgewith lrwin;and so on.
becomesinterchangeable
a benevolent,
idealisiicnotion
as presenting
It was hardto avoidseeingthe exhibition
C H APT EF
3.5 "Americana,"
curated
by GroupMaterial,
whitneyBiennial,
whitneyMuseum
of American
Art,
NewYork,1986.
Courtesy
GroupMaterlal.
of a// collective
work.Surely,what is commonto each groupis that the individuals
in
prefer
them
to workwith specificmembers.As muchas they alsodemonstrate
how all
work is collaborative,
each initiativehas distinctculturalformationsand capacitiesfor
action,dependingon theiraccessto the meansof production.
why, then, is therea
need to conceiveof "collectivity"
"creative,,
as a single,unified
body?WHW offereda
similarself-critique
sometimelater,whenthey stated:"we are not primarilyinterested
in exploringthe formalstructureof organizations
(networks,
communities,
groups,platforms,etc.),as muchas theirattemptsto redefinethe categories
of site,status,and the
functionof art in the publicspace.Althoughthereare manycommonsitesof departure,
110
C IAPT EP
C IAPT EF
::ir1:ri:r:::ri:t::
:ali:::ii:i:]iii:l
i::iililt
l
:ll:r:lrl:t::ir
:,:i::iltil
.tt'...
.,,.,,l:
,.l.::
:::lta:.:llllii
C N APT EF
3.10 "Artists'Favourites:
ACT I and ll," curatedby Jens Hoffmann,Instituteof contemporary
Arts,London,2004.Courtesvof the lCA.
proposition
was not unanimously
endorsedby the aftists
curatorial
Yet Hoffmann's
was
expressedby the artistparticipating
The bluntestcritique
in "Artists'Favourites."
collectiveArt & Language,who selectedCharlesHarrison'sFairestof ThemAll (2004).
plinthand spotlitfrom above,
This was a framedtext panel,placedatopa lectern-like
that read:
a mystification,
disguising
thefact
is founded
on andseeksto perpetuate
Theexhibition
of
the
curator.
lt
is
curatbrialinto
the
condition
that artistshavealreadybeendrawn
requires
of theartist.Theauthorsof the"Summary"
workthatthe institution
and-worse
Butthe mystification
comesunstuck
attestto this,albeitunwittingly.
andthe"Narrative"
betweenartistand curatorthe
to makea realdistinction
rathereasily.ln appearing
"artists
arenotcurators."
ln fact,thecurahaveproposed
a singlenegation:
organisers
The resultis a doublenegative:
the
hasbeendoubled.
in theexhibition
torialpresence
artistis simplynot not a curator.And that'sin fact how it is. A differentkindof workis
negation.'o'
andreintroduce
a critical
thedistinction
neededif we areto reshape
For Arl & Language,in sucha situaiionthe artist'spracticeis alreadyconditioned
thatthe curatorhas put in place;the normalpowerand presenceof the
by ihe structure
preciselybecausethe choicesof
by thisstructure,
curatoris not effacedbut reinforced
structure.
In otherwords,
overarching
to the exhibition's
the inviteesmakeno difference
Hoffmannsimplyobscuresthe positionof the curatorand insulates
for Art & Language,
it from criticism.But, howevervalid Art & Language'scritiqueis, and whateverthe
projects,it has becomeclearthatthe roleof the curatorno
of Hoffmann's
shortcomings
of existingworksor the supplyingof an overarchlongerprimarilyinvolvesthe selection
threadrelatingworksto one another.Rather,Hoffmanntakesit for granted
ing narrative
that the curator'swork involvesthe provisionof a framework,or curatorialstructure,
eventuallygatherform. ln otherwords,his positionis prethroughwhich exhibitions
rhetoric.
curatorial
scribedandjustifiedby contemporary
This newfoundurgencyto seek a common languageis exemplifiedby the
as a collectiveactivity,
curatorswho havetreatedexhibitions
numberof international
production
processes
throughtempoof artistic
usingthemas a meansto explorethe
rary mediationsystemsratherthan presentingart and its exhibitionas a finished
product.Despitetheirdiverseapproaches,manycuratorswho have gainedan intersincethe 1990s-such as Ute Meta Bauer,CharlesEsche,Maria
nationalreputation
andthe l atel gorZabel -have,i n
Ba
, rb a raV anderl i nden,
Lind,N i c o l a u sS c h a fh a u s e n
that has
of a curaiorialmethodology
to the development
theirown ways,contributed
and dialogicalmodelof curatingin whichthe exhimovedtowarda moreperformative
betweenthose involved.As alreadyoutbitionis a spaceof constantrenegotiation
perspectives
may be regardedas a reaction
linedin chapters1and2, theseshifting
mega-exhibitions
of the
against,or a responseto, the heavilyauthored,uber-curated
1980s.
to
C IAPT EF
byMollyNesbit,
seating
design
for"Utopia
Station,"
co-curated
HansUlrich
3.11 LiamGillick's
2003,curated
by Francesco
50thVeniceBiennale,
Bonami.
Obrist,andRirkntTiravanija,
Courtesy
of theSerpentine
Gallery.
projectsthathavetranscended
thisrespect,though,havebeenthe numberof curatorial
participation
primary
meansof
withthe exhibition
form.This shiftrepthe eventas the
resentsa key developmentin curatorialpracticeof the past twentyyears,wherebya
process-oriented,
viewof exhibitions
was manifested
cooperative,
discussion-based
by
curatorsemergingin the '1990s,a timewhencurators
a newgeneration
of performative
and artistsworkedtogethercloselyon projectsand adoptedactivitiesthat were tradiwitheachother'sapproachwithintheirspecificfieldsof inquiry.
tionallyassociated
practicebecameperformative
and offereda new paradigm
In the 1990s,curatorial
newformatsof collective
culturalaction,and greateremphasison
for experimentalism,
withinthe contemporary
atl field.The newlyascendantdiscourseof
self-organization
and multiplydistributed
discursivity
that resulted
curatingbroughtwith it an intensified
in dialogicalapproachesto exhibitionproduction.For example,when Maria Lind
curated"What lf: Art on the Verge of Architectureand Design"(2000)at the Moderna
as a "filter"through
Museetin Stockholm,she invitedartistLiamGillickto participate
whichthe artworkswouldtakeshapein the designand layoutof the exhibition.
As with
a numberof otherexamples,including"NowHere"and the later"UtopiaStation,"the
C H APT ER
delegating
of installation
decisionsto an artistproduceda dynamicwithinthe exhibition
that mightnot havebeenpossiblehadthe curatorworkedalone.'o'Gillickdescribeshis
rolewithinLind'sexhibition:
Oneof the mainthingsthatI didwasto maketheexhibition
nondemocratic
in termsof
possibly
quite
space,becausethereis usuallyan assumption,
correctly
for historical
reasons,
in termsof thedistribution
thatoneshouldbe somewhat
democratic
of space
to artistswithinan institution,
andif not,onlywhenit is entirely
appropriate
to Whatthe
(a)Youtryto be equaland(b)Youtryto be appropriate
workrequires:
to thework.'ot
Gillicksuggeststhathis"filter"rolewas onlypossiblebecausehe was notthe main
curatorof the exhibition;havingbeen giventhis ancillaryposition,he could behave
more as a disruptiveartisticagent.His acknowledged
contribution
was the exhibition
designas an artwork,whichincludedlighting,layout,and decidingon the finalplacementof the worksselectedby Lind.t'o
"Whatlf" addressedthe link betweenart, architecture,
and designby employing
the exhibitionspace as the site of production,in which many of the artworkswere
broughttogetherto createa specificphysicalenvironment.
Worksbecameutilityobjects
br furnitureand formeda divisionof areasintothoseset asidefor discussions.
evenrs.
C H APT ER
the showmayhaveintended
to resistthe ideaof any reconcilable
or fixedauthorial
roles
(for afiists or curator),the overarching"processual"
structureevidentlyprovideda certain overlyvisiblesign structurethroughwhich the artworkscould be read, interacted
with,or affectedby the visitor.This appearsto be the unavoidable
attributionfor curatorshipas a whole.
In the caseof "Thisls the Galleryand the Galleryls ManyThings,,,
boththe show
and the galleryopenedwithan emptyspaceand evolved,overa nine-week
perjod,into
multipleexhibition
formsand momentsof publicdisplay,all of whichwerephotographed
by commissioned
artiststuartwhipps and shownon the gallery'sweb site.Although
therewas no singleoverarching
theme,the exhibition
was reconfigured
throughoutits
duration,makingmyriadconnections
betweenobjectsand establishing
new configurations-artworks were added,taken away,displaced,repositioned-tocreatea continuous meshof freshrelationships
juxtapositions.
and meaningful
EastsideProjectsis representative
of the recenttrendfor durationalexhibitionprojects,whichhaveincludedinstitutions
and parainstitutes.
OtherexamplesincludeMaria
program
Lind's
of activitiesat KunstvereinMunich(2001-2004),Grantwatson,stenure
at ProjectArtscentre,Dublin(2001-2006),
artistJeannevan Heeswijk's
four-yearprolecI The Blue House, ljburg (2005-2009),and ongoing projectsat GrizedaleArts in
cumbria (since1999),Homeworksin Beirut(since2002),and, in particular,
Annie
rc-r
Bergholtz's
nomadic"lf I Can'tDanceI Don'tWantto Be Part
Fletcherand Frederique
which comprisesepisodicexhibitions,performanceprograms,
of Your Revolution,"
screenings,
and discussioneventsthat continueto unfoldover time, establishing
an
the exhibition
as a temporalevent.
accumulative
approachthatelongates
As a whole,theseprojectsare representative
of durational
and evolutionary
curatorialendeavorsthat are discursively
stretchedout overtime.They advocatea formof
them,and employingthe
analysisthroughdoing,makingthingsappearby performing
momentas a researchtoolfor furtherinvestigation
exhibition
and discourseproduction.
The projectsconfigurethe practiceof curatorialresearchas part of an evolving,epinetworkthatemploysmultiple
sodic,discursive,
and perpetually
unfolding
collaborative
agencres.
We mightsay thatcuratorship
has becomenormalized
or reacheda certainhegemonicposition.The rhetoricmentioned
above,thatof duration,accumulation,
nonplan,
portability,
multiplicity,
temporality,
and flexibility,
is a demonstration
of curatorial
confidence,enablingcuratorsto withstandquestioning,
uncertainty,
and change.This is not
to say that curatorsare beyondcriticismbut ratherthat they are no longerso worried
and are now, in fact,ableto takefor grantedtheirbeinga site of
aboutself-definition
practiceand discontradiction,
and conflict.This mightbe a signof curatorial
diversity,
withinthe contemporary
fieldof culturalproduction,
coursebecomingestablished
but it
mightalsosignalthe reinvention
of curatorship
by a new generation
uninterested
in the
ideaof the closed-off,
model.
event-based,
singlycuratedexhibition
Antagonismto the New Curatorship
As alreadystated,the fact that curatorship
has achieveda normalized,
or integrated,
positionwithinconiemporary
art production
and discoursedoesnot meanthatit is withIndeed,it might be expectedthat these changesin reputational
out its discontents.
economiesduringa discursiveshiftof emphasisfromthe figureof the artistto that of
the curatorwouldbe perceivedby some as a mistakeor as somethingdetrimental
to
contemporaryart.
betweenthe once-disparate
Despitethe obviousconflationsand convergences
rolesof artistand curatorand the many projectsthat have questionedthe curatorial
frameworksinceJonathanWatkins'spolemicwas publishedin 1987,resistance
to the
formulationremainsactivetoday.Writingfor his regularcolumnin
curator-as-aftist
frieze in 2005, curator Robert Storr expressedhis concern about the notion of the
curator-as-artist
by refusingto call curatinga medium, since that "automatically
point
the
to those who will elevatecuratorsto the status criticshave
concede[s]
process.""uLike Watkinsbeforehim, Storralso
achievedthroughthe 'auteurization'
in OscarWilde,againignoring
situatesthe originsof the idea of the curator-as-artist
analysis.Storrnonetheless
revivesFoucault'swarningthat "the
any poststructuralist
C H APT ER
initiatives.
artisticprojectsassumingthe guiseof curatorial
equaiion,for postconceptual
Storr'spositionpermitslittleinsightinto hybridprojectssuch as "do it" (as a late conArt
ceptualartwork);"BlownAway:The SixthCaribbeanBiennial"(as a performance);
project/art
and,
shop/bookshop/gallery
Metropote,by General ldea (as a curatorial
most importantly,an evolvingartwork);ReenaSpaulding'sFineArt (a realcommercial
the
galleryin NewYorkas an afiworkbasedon a workof fictionby an artists'collective,
such
as
numerous
artist-museums
2005);
the
in
established
BernadetteCorporation,
Art
or
artist
Museumof Contemporary
Tadej Pogada/sP.A.R.A.S.l.T.E.
artist-curator
and metafictionalart
Goran Djordjevic'sMuseum of AmericanArt (a parainstitution
artistAntonVidokleand curatorTirdadZolghadr'sMadrid Trial(as discurinstallation);
film by Hila Peleg,
and backdropfor a documentary
sive aftwork,publicperformance,
program,
year-long
(as
artwork,
discussion
2007), and Vidokle'sunitednationsplaza
model,2007)."3
and a school-as-exhibition
Regardlessof the recentprevalenceof such hybridcuratorialproiects,Storr'sposiandthe curator
tionis notan isolatedone.The critic(andsometimecurator)lritRogoff''o
events,mobilizingdifferent
Bart de Baere claimedin 1998 that, as identity-staging
curatorialprojectstoo often employ"curatorialstratemodesof audienceparticipation,
in the guiseof
in the exhibition
theirmodeof parlicipation
giesihat dictateto audiences
theyl
work
to
achievepreinstead
experience-fbut
a
cultural
of
a democraticization
possibilities
for a self-articulation"'2u
on the partof
ciselythe opposite-theycloseoffthe
their audiences.Rogoff'sissue with curatorialprojectsthat involveinstructiveviewer
thatsustainthem.
assumptions
parlicipation
is notwiththeireffectbutwiththe curatorial
cultural
institutions
by giving
"processes
of
democratizing
the
Suchassumptions-about
the materialsof everyday
taskto carryout and involving
audiencessome mechanical
etc'"-Rogoff
anonymousphotographs,
life; old clothes,chewedgum, newspapers,
themclaims,ensurethat littleattentionis paidto the powerbasesof the institutions
legitimate
whereas
the
potentiality
voice;
of
their
to
the
selves,io audienceneeds,and
"galvanised
to
aci
out
familiar,popular,and everydaynatureof the materialexhibitedis
somefantasyof democracyin action."''"Sucha perspectivewas echoedten yearslater,
in BorisGroys'sratherlazyassessmentthat curatorsruinart and its experiencein some
degradingway:"Thecurator'SeverymediationiSSuspect:he is seenas someoneStandthe viewer'sperception
manipulating
ing betweenthe artworkand its viewer,insidiously
the public."
withthe intentof disempowering
(a curatorsincethe late1990sand nowdirector
in 2003AlexFarquharson
Similarly,
questioned
exhibitionsthat foregroundtheir own sign
of NottinghamContemporary)
structure,and thus risk,in his words,"usingart and artistsas so manyconstituentfibers
or piecesof syntaxsubsumedby the identityof the whole"curatorialendeavor.'" He
arguedthat we are more likelyto rememberwho curated"UtopiaStation"than which
"UtopiaStation"soughtto operateoutside
artiststook part.Whateverits shortcomings,
the conventionaldistinctionsbetween curator and artist. That Farquharsondid not
C H APT EB
125
C H APT EF
C H APT ER
NOTES
Introduction
1. Theterm"exhibition"
is usedthroughout
thisbookto implya temporary
spacefor publicpresentation withinwhichan overarching
curatorialframeworkis providedas a meansof bringingtogethera
numberof artists,with the curatoras the agentresponsible
for the selectionof theseanistsand/or
theirworks.(Thus,it assumesa groupor collectiveexhibition
as opposedto a solo,monographic,
or
surveyexhibition
of the workof an individual
artist.)
2. For a chronoiogy
of the final-yearexhibitions
at Le Magasrnbetween1987and 2006,see Yves
(Grenoble:
Aupetitallot,
ed.,Le Magasin1986-2006
Le Magasin;
Zurich:JRP Ringier,
2006),1Sg-244.
3. The ISPwasfoundedin 1968,the otheroptionwithinit beinglhe StudioProgram.Everyyearsince
1987,aroundten studentshavebeenselectedfor the Curatorial
and CriticalStudiesProgram,halfof
whomare admittedunderthe curatonalstrand.Fora reviewof the WhitneyISP'shistory,see Howard
"ln Theoryand Practice:A Historyof the WhitneyIndependent
Singerman,
StudyProgram,"
Artforum
42, no.10 (February
2004\,112-117,170-171.
"A BriefHistoryof lSP,"in Gutterman,
4. RonClarkcitedin ScottGutlerman,
ed.,Independent
Study
Program:25 Years(NewYork:WhitneyMuseumof AmericanArt, 1993),25. This publication
also
provides
a chronology
ol the ISPbetween1968and 1993,witha listof the alumnigraduating
during
thisperiod.
5. For Habermas,participantsin any discourseare always"real human beingsdriven by other
motivesin additionto the one permittedmotiveof the searchfor truth.Topicsand contributions
have
to be organized."
The organization
of individual
ofteninvolvesthe arrangement
contributions
andcontrollingof the opening,
adjournment,
and resumption
of discussion,
whichmustbe orderedin sucha
way as to "sufficiently
neutralizeempiricallimitations"
and any avoidable"internaland externalinterference,"so that the idealizedconditionsare "alwaysalreadypresupposed
by panicipantsin argumentationlthat] can at least be approximated."
Jurgen Habermas,Moral Consciousness
and
Communicative
Action,trans.ChristianLenhardtand ShierryWeberNicholsen(Cambridge,
Mass.:
MITPress,1990),92.
vol 2 of
of Language,
,,discourse"
is describedin Ralphw. Fasold,The sociolinguistics
6. The term
and Adam
coupland
Nikolas
also
see
65'
1990),
Blackwell,
(oxford:
to sociolinguistics
lntroduction
1999).My bookconsiders"theconstrucReader(London:Routledge,
Jaworski,eds.,Ihe Discourse
andthe
areasof knowledge
discourse
written
or
linl structuring
tiveanddynamicroleof eitherspoken
art andcurating.see chriscontemporary
with"
associated
are
practices
which
institutional
socialand
andBengtNord,.Genera|
PerLine|I,
Gunnarsson,
in Britt-Louise
Preface,,,
Editor,s
tooherN. Cand|in,
ix'
1
997)'
Longman'
(London:
Discourse
of
Professional
berg,eds.,TheConstruction
90. See also .
of Knowtedge(1972;London:Rout|edge,2003)'
7. MichelFoucault,The Archaeology
90-131,
to Hans Ulrichobrist, lnterviews'ed'
g. see MichaelDiers,"lnfiniteconversation,"introduction
ThomasBoutoux,vol. 1 (Milan:Charta'2003)'
.,Network:
The Art WorldDescribedas a System,''Artforum(December
9. See LawrenceA||oway,
1 97 2\,3 1.
Fallacy,"sewaneeBevlew54 (1946)'
and w. K. wimsatt's"TheIntentional
10. ln MonroeBeardsley
not liewiththe author'sintention'
does
work
literary
a
of
meaning
the
468-488,the autnorsarguethat
of evidence:
on threecategories
draw
can
a
text
of
interpretation
critical
the
that
suggest
they
Instead
"External
fact;
of
matter
as
a
work
the
of
,,lnternal
form
and
whichis presentin the content
Evidence,"
pub|ications
aboutthe
in
other
made
Statements
as
such
work,
to
the
is
externa|
which
Evidence,,,
,,Contextual
whichconcernsthe meaningderivedfromthe panicularwork'srelaEvidence,"
work:and
tionshipto otherworksby the sameauthor"
whilea numberof hisand cross-generational;
transcultural,
are International,
11. The interviewees
as Briano'Doherty
such
or
artists
siegelaub
toricalfiguresfromwithinthe field-such as curatorseth
projectsfromthe late
in
key
involvement
their
about
interviewed
been
and Lawrenceweiner-have
realizedcuratorialprojectsin
1960s,the principaltocus has been on those individualswho have
as a methodof gather
interview
audio
the
of
Europeand/orNonhAmericasince1987.The technique
to recentart
approaches
scholarly
merit-within
inherent
its
own
has
accounts
historical
ingevidential
times'
events'
cultural
understanding
for
history,socialscience,and culturalstudies-as a vehicle
The
otherwise
documented
or
effectively
again
experienced
be
and placesthat cannot
exhibitions,
citedthroughout'
been
have
project
and
to
this
provide
foundation
the
recordedinterviews
"co&co&co: co-produc12. see catherineQu6loz,Lilianeschneiter,and Alicevergara'Bastiand,
188'
1986-2006'
Magasin
Le
Aupetitallol,
in
Co-llaboration,"
tion.Co-operation,
Ihe Power of Display:A History of Exhibitionlnstallationsat the
staniszewski,
Anne
13. Mary
Mass: MIT Press'1998)'xxi'
Museumof ModernArf (Cambridge,
An
contemporary
of International
14. MichaelBrenson,"Thecurator'sMoment:Trendsin the Field
Art Journat57, no.4 (Winter1998),16'
Exhibitions,"
of Knowledge,9O
TheArchaeology
15. Foucault,
lThe Emer genc eof c ur at or ia|Dis c our s ef r o m t h e L a t e l 9 6 0 s t o t h e P r e s e n t
An Interviewwith AndreaFraser
1. ArtistAndreaFraser,quotedin stuart comer, "Arl MustHang:
ed',Aftetthought:New writing
sperlinger,
Mike
in
Program,"
study
Independent
aboutthe whitney
2OO5)'32
Arf (London:Rachmaninoff,
on Conceptual
Suhrkamp,1974);in Eng|ishaS PeterBurger,
(Frankfurt:
2' Pele| Birger, Theorieder Avantgarde
Universityof MinnesotaPress'
(Minneapolis:
Shaw
Michael
tfans.
Avant-Garde,
the
of
The Theory
19 84 \.22 . s eeals oG r egor s t em m r ic h, "He t e r o t o p i a s o f t h e c i n e m a t o g r a p h i c : l n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i t i q u e
132
and Cinemain the Art of MichaelAsherand Dan Graham,"in AlexanderAlberroand SabethBuchmann,eds.,Aft afterConceptual
Art (Cambridge,
Mass.:MIT press,2006),137.
3. See Burger,Theorieder Avantgarde.
4. See both ClalreBishop,"lntroductron^y'iewers
as Producers,"
in Bishop,ed.,participation(Cambridge,Mass.:MITPressandWhitechapel,
2006),and RudolfFrieling,"TowardParticipation
in Art,',in
Frieling,ed., TheAri of Pafticipaflon
(London:Thamesand Hudson;San Francisco:
San Francisco
Museumof ModernArt,2008).
5. Fora detailedaccountof MarcelDuchamp,SalvadorDali,andAndr6Breton'sinvolvement
withthe
Surrealistexhibitions
of the 1930and 1940s,see LewisKachur,Displayingthe Marvetous:
Marcel
Duchamp,SalvadorDali,and Surrealist
Exhibitiontnstattations
(Cambridge,
Mass.:MIT press,2001).
6. see Georgsimmel'sessayfrom1903,"TheMetropolis
and MentalLife,"in GaryBridgeand sophie
watson,eds.,rhe Blackwellcity Reader(Malden,Mass.:Blackwell,
2001),11-19,or walter Benjamin'sTheArcadesProiect(Cambridge,
press,1999).
Mass.:BelknapPressof HarvardUniversity
7. see JudithBarry,"Dissenting
spaces,"in ReesaGreenberg,
BruceFerguson,
and sandy Nairne,
eds.,Thinking
aboutExhibitions
(London:Routledge,
i 996),31O.
8. ln 1924,whenKieslerdesignedthe "Exhibition
of NewTheaterTechnique"
at Konzerthaus.
Vienna.
he inventedthe "Legerand rragef' or "L" and "T" system,whichcreateda new languageof ,,form
composedof freestanding,
demountable
displayunitsof vefticaland horizontal
beamsthatsuoported
'vefticaland horizontal
panels."Citedin MaryAnneSlaniszewski,
rectangular
Thepowerof Display:A
Historyof Exhibitionlnstallations
at the Museumof ModernArt (Cambridge,Mass.:MIT press, 199g),
4. see alsoPaulo'Neill,"curating(u)topics,"
Art Monthly,no.272 (December-January
2o0j),7-1o.
9. See lreneCalderoni,
"CreatingShows:SomeNoteson Exhibition
Aesthetics
at the Endof the Sixties,"in Paulo'Neill,ed., curatingsubTecfs(London:open Editions;Amsterdam:De Appel,2007),
66. For detailedaccountsof theseearly avant-garde
exhibitions,
see BruceAltshuler.The AvantGardein Exhibition:New Aft in the 2OthCentury(NewYork:Abrams,1994);Staniszewski,Thepower
of Display;Brian o'Doherty,lnside the white cube: The ldeologyof the Galleryspace (Berkeley:
University
of California
Press,1999).At the veryend of the 1990s,publications
alsobeganto appear
that focusedon individualcuratorialinnovations
from the twentiethcentury,such as the exploration
intoMarcelDuchampandSalvadorDali'scuratorial
rolesin the Sunealistexhibitions
of the 1930sand
1940sin Kachut,Displayingthe Marvelous.Sybil GordonKanlor,Alfred H.Barr,Jr. and the Inteilectual originsof the Museumof ModernArt (cambridge,Mass.:Mlr press,2oo2),lookedat the role
playedby AlfredH. Ban in the foundations
of the Museumof ModernArt-part intellectual
biography,
part institutional
history;AlexanderAlberro,Conceptual
Art and the Politicsof pubticity(Cambridge,
Mass.:MIT Press,2003),focusedon Seth Siegelaub's
curatorialpracticeof the 1960s,and three
monographs
on HaraldSzeemannhavebeenpublished
sincehisdeath:Hans-JoachimMiJller,
Harald
Szeemann:
ExhibitionMaker(Ostfildern-Ruit:
HatjeCantz,2005);TobiaBezzolaand RomanKurzmeyer,Harald Szeemann:with by through becausetoward despite:Catatogueof Ail Exhibitions,
1957-2001(Vienna:SpringerVerlag,2007);and and FlorenceDerieux,HaratdSzeemann:
tndividuat
Methodology
(Zurich:JRP Ringier,2007).
10. SeeSabethBuchmann,
"Who'sAfraidof Exhibiting?,"
in SabineFolieand LiseLafer.eds..unExhibit(Vienna:GeneraliFoundation,
2O11),176-177.
11. SeeCalderoni,
"Creating
Shows,"
66-70.
12. Altshuler,TheAvant-Garde
in Exhibition,236.
13. The title represents
whatwas thenthe population
of Seattle,the city in whichthe exhibition
was
held.
E:-ir
133
134
Producers (4), 2001, featured Carolyn Christov-Bakargievand Liam Gillick, Ute Meta Bauer and Mark
Nash, and Jeremy Millar and Teresa Gleadowe; The Producers (5),2002, featured Andrew Renton
and Sacha Craddock, Jonathan Watkins and Laura Godfrey-lsaacs,and James Putman and Barbara
L On OOn .
29. Calderoni,"CreatingShows," 65.
30. For a more detailed analysis of these developments rn relationto these exhibitions,see ibid. lt is
worlh noting that, in 1973, Lucy Lippard began archiving and documenting many of these conceptual
art exhibitions, performances,occurrences, and publications in order to establish a history of these
events. See Lippard, Six Years.For a comprehensivechronology of these exhibitions,see also Susan
Jenkins, "lnformation, Communication, Documenlalion: An Introductionto the Chronology of Group
Exhibitionsand Bibliographies,"in Ann Goldstein and Anne Rorimer, eds., Reconslderingthe Object
of Art: 1965-1925 (Los Angeles: MoCA, 1996).
3 1 . Ca ld e r o n i,"Cr e a tin gSh o ws,"6 4 - 6 5 .
32. Tommaso Trini, "The ProdigalMaster'sTrilogy,"Domus, no.478 (September 1969), unpaginated.
33. Robert Barry, "lnterview with Patricia Norvell, 30 May 1969," in Alexander Alberro and Patricia
Norvell, eds., Recording Conceptual Aft (Berkeley:Universityof California Press, 2001), 97, italics in
o r ig in a l.
34. One of the earliest definitionsof "conceptualart" can be traced back to Henry Flynt's essay "Concept Art" from 1961, in which he stated that "Concept an is first of all an afi of which the material is
concepts, as e.9., the materialof music is sound. Since concepfs are closely bound up with language,
concept art is a kind of art of which the material is language." See Henry Flynt, "Concept Arl," in La
Monte Young, ed., An Anthology of Chance Operations, lndeterminacy, lmprovisation, Concept Art,
Anti-Art, Meaningless Work, Natural Dlsasters, Stories, Diagrams, Music, Dance, Constructions,
Compositions, Mathematics, Plans of Action (New York: La Monte Young and Jackson Mac Low,
1963), unpaginated,italics in original."Conceptualart" has become most widely applied to a group of
artists interestedin the "dematerialization"of the art object in the period between 1966 and 1972 in the
Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia as documented in Lippard, Sx Years. More recenily, peter
Osborne described it as "aft about the cultural act of definition-paradigmatically, but by no means
exclusively, the definition of 'art."' See Peter Osborne, Conceptual Art (fhemes and Movements)
( L on d o n :Ph a id o nPr e ss,2 0 0 2 ) ,1 4 , ita lic si n ori gi nal .E xhi bi ti onssuch as "Gl obalC onceptual i sm"at
the Queens Museum of Art, New York, have argued for an expansion in the geographicalbreadth of
conceptual an activity during the 1960s and 1970s to include Soviet Russia, Eastern Europe, and
China. See the catalog from the exhibition:Luis Camnitzer, Jane Farver, Rachel Weiss, eI al.. Gtobal
Conceptualism: Points of Origin, 7950s-7980s (New York: Queens Museum of Art, 1999).
35. Seth Siegelaub, interviewwith the author, Amsterdam, 27 July 2OO4.
36. Much of the discussion around Siegelaub's curatorial projects benefits from considerable hindsight for, even during the 1960s, the term "curator"was never used by Siegelaub in relationto what he
was doing at the time. lt is only in the context of other people's subsequent texts about his practice of
the 1960s and as part of curatorialdebates in the 1980s and 1990s, that Siegelaub has been called a
curator. In my interviewwith him, he stated:
I probablywouldn'lhave used the word "curator"at the time, althoughI have recentlydone so in retrospect becausethere is a wholebody of curatorialpracticethat has quantitatively
evolvedsincethen. . . .
While I can look back now and say that curatingis probablywhat I was doing,it is not a term that I would
have used when I was activefor one simple reason:the dominantidea of the curatorat the time was
basicallysomeonewho workedfor a museum.Sincethen,the definitionof the term curatorhas changedThis is just anotherfacet which reflectshow the art world has changedsince the 1960s/early1970s;the
135
tJo
50. LawrenceWeiner,interview
withthe author,NewYork,I November
2005.
51. SeeOsborne,Conceptual
Art.
52. In my interview
withO'Doherty,
he described"Aspen5+6"as
thefirstconceptual
exhibition
outside
a museum.
Thefirstconceptual
exhibition
givento Mel
is generally
Bochner,
a fewmonthsbeforethat,in whichhe gotartists'notebooks
andhe exhibited
themat, I thinkit
wastheNewSchool,
or theSchoolof VisualArts-oneof theseplaces;
it'sin thehistory
books-andAlex
Alberro
wasthehistorian
of conceptualism
here.AndthethingI did. . . it'sworthlooking
up,there'sa {air
bitof literature
aboutit, because
I wentaroundwithmy littletaperecorder
andI produced
this'box-ina
wayit wasa cube-andin it wererecords,
films,textsof mygeneration;
I hadBochner
andSolLewittand
DanGraham,
andmyself,
andhadthetirststructure,
myfirststructural
plays,Sol'sfirstserialpiece- . . I
got SusanSontagto writeon the"TheAesthetics
of Silence,"
I got RolandBarthes
to writeabout"The
years. . . she mentions
Deathof theAuthor,"
LucyLippardmentioned
it brieflyin Sr,)(
it briefly,but not
enough. . . lhadJ ohnCageint her e . . . l e v e n g o t t e x t s f r o m R o b b e - G r i l l e t , a n d t e x t s f r o m B e c k e t t .
Brian O'Doherty,intervrewwith the author,New York, 10 November2005. See onlinearchiveof
Aspenbackissuesat http://ww.ubu.com/aspen
(accessed10 October2006).
53. Siegelaubaskedeachanistto supplya twenty{ive-page
piece,on standard872x 11 inchpaper,
to be reproduced
serigraphically.
54. The advertisement
(4%"x 43/4"),
read,"This/4 pageadvertisement
appeaingin the November
'1968issueof Artforummagazine,
on page8, in the lowerleftcorner,is oneformof Documentation
for
the November1968exhibition
of DouglasHuebler,SethSiegelaub,
1100MadisonAvenue,NewYork,
N.Y. 10028.'See Alberro,ConceptualArt and the Politicsof Publicity,131.
55. Szeemanncited in FriedhelmScharfand GiselaSchirmer,"Off the Wall:Artists'Refusalsand
Rejections:
A Historyof Conflict,"
in MichaelGlasmeier
and KarinStengel,eds.,50 yearsDocumenta
1955-2005:Archivein Motion:DocumentaManual(Kassel:KunsthalleFridericianum;
Gottingen:
Steidl,2005),
120.The quotation
is the authors'translatron
into Englishfrom Szeemann's
original
statementpublishedin German:HaraldSzeemann,
"Einfuhrungsvortrag,"
in HeikeRadeck,Friedhelm
Scharf,and KarinStengel,eds.,Wiedervorlage
d5 (Hofgeismar:
HatjeCantzVerlag,2OO1),21
.
56- Beatricevon Bismarckcitedin Schadand Schirmer,"Offthe Wall,"120.Von Bismarck's
position
was originallypublishedin Beatricevon Bismarck,
"DieMeisterderWerke:DanielBuren'sBeitragzur
Documenta5in Kassel1972,"\n Uwe Fleckner,MartinSchieder,and MichaelF. Zimmermann.
eds..
Jenseltsder Grenzen:Franzosische
und deutcheKunstvomAncienRdgimebiszur Gegenwaft,vol.s
(Cologne,2OOO),222-223.
Von Bismarckreliesheavilyon a previoustextby WalterGrasskamp.
See
WalterGrasskamp,
"ModelDocumenta
odelwie wirdKunstgeschichte
gemacht,"
KunstforumInternational,no.49 (April-May
1982),15-22.
57. See lrit Rogoff,"Smuggling:
A CuratorialModel,"in UnderConstruction:
Perspectives
on InstitutionalPractice(Cologne:
WaltherKonig,2006),132.
58. tbid.
59. Siegelaub,
interviewwiththe author.
60. GillesDeleuze,"Mediators,"
in Negotiations1972-1990(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,
1990),125.See alsoa recentanalysisof the culturalunderstanding
of the contemporary
curatorand
the figureof the mediatorin SorenAndreasenand LarsBangLarsen,"TheMiddleman:
Beginning
to
ThinkaboutMediation,"
in O'Neill,CuratingSubTecfs.
"Residual,"
61. Seedefinitions
of "Dominant,"
and"Emergent,"
in RaymondWilliams,
"Dominant,
Residual,and Emergent,"
in MaaismandLiterature
(1977;Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press,1986),121-126.
137
See also Paul O'Neill and Mick Wilson's essay on the "Emergence"of curatorialdiscourseat http://www
.ica.org.uk/Emergenceok2}by"k2}Paul'k2)O"k27
Neill%20&%38%20Mick%20Wilson+17186.tw1
6 2 . W i l l i a m s ,"Do m in a n t,Re sid u a l,a n d Em e r g e n t."
6 3 . t b i d . ,1 2 3.
64. tbid., 123-124.
65. Carl Andre, Hans Haacke, Donald Judd, Barry Le Va, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Dorothea Rockburne, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, and Robert Smithson. Five of the anists-Haacke, Lewitt, Le
Va, Rockburne, and Serra-exhibited at Documenta 5 despite their protest, whereas the other five
w i t h d r e wf r o m th e e xh ib itio n .
66. The manifesto was published in Artforum (June 1972) and signed by Carl Andre, Hans Haacke,
Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, Barry Le Va, Robert Morris, Dorothea Rockburne, Fred Sandback, Richard
Serra, and Robert Smithson. See Amy Newman, ed., Challenging Aft: Attforum 1962-1974 (New
Y o r k : S o h o Pr e ss,2 0 0 0 ) ,5 1 8 a n d 3 4 9 - 3 5 4 .
67. See Grasskamp, "Model Documenta oder wie wird Kunstgeschichtegemacht," 15-22.
68. Muller, Harald Szeemann: Exhibition Maker,42-43.
69. Beatrice von Bismarck cited in Scharf and Schirmer, "Off the Wall," 122. See also Von Bismarck,
"Die Meister der Werke," 222-223.
70. Andrea Fraser was probably the first to use the term "institutionalcritique"in print in her essay on
Louise Lawler: Andrea Fraser, "ln and Out of Place,"Aft in America 73, no. 6 (June 1985), 124. She
wrote that, "while very diflerent, all these artists engage(d) in institutionalcritique."The term is often
applied to a number of artists from the neo-avant-gardeof the 1960s such as Michael Asher, Marcel
Broodthaers,Daniel Buren, and Hans Haacke as the second generation of artists engaging in institutional critique (after Duchamp and the Dadaists),followed by a third generationof artists such as Mark
Dion, Andrea Fraser, Ren6e Green, Louise Lawler, and Martha Rosler, practicingfrom the late 1970s
of institutionalcritique
onward. See also Fraser's assessment of the subsequent "institutionalization"
in Andrea Fraser, "From the Critique of Institutionsto an Institutionof Critique,"Arlforum 44, no. 1
(September 2OO5),278-283. For a recent anthology of texts looking at the legacy of institutionalcritique, see John C" Welchman, ed., InstitutionalCritique and After (Zurich: JRP Ringier, 2006). This
publicationstems from a symposium that was held in May 2005 at the Bing Theater at Los Angeles
County Museum of Art.
71. The "neo-avant-garde"was the generalterm used by Burger,probablywith pejorativeintent,to represent postwar artisticdevelopmentsfollowingthe historicalavant-garde.lt is unlikelythat Burger was
familiarwith the practicesof Buren, Haacke, Weiner, et al. when he first publishedhis text in 1974.
72. Hal Foster, The Return of the Real: The Avant-Garde at the End of the Century (Cambridge,
M a s s . :M I T Pr e ss,1 9 9 6 ) ,2 0 .
73. See Stemmrich, "Heterotopias of the Cinematographic," 137. See also Burger, Theorie der
Avantgarde.
74. Benjamin Buchloh, "Conceptual Art 1962 to 1969: From the Aesthetics of Administrationto the
Octo b e r ,n o . 5 5 ( Win te r1 9 90),105-143.
C r i t i q u eo f I n stitu tio n s,"
s an Insl i tuti onof C ri ti que,"281.
7 5 . S e e F r a se r ,"F r o m th e Cr itiq u eo f In stitu tio n to
76. tbid.
138
Notesto Pages28-30
Martin,
curatorsin the 1980s-suchas RudiFuchs,Jan Hoet,Jean-Hubert
froma handfulof practicing
the
US-it
Collins
&
Milazzoin
Nickas
and
or
Robert
Europe,
in
Szeemann
Harald
and
Konig,
Kasper
of contemporary
art
itselfin the foreground
practrce
established
was not untilthe 1990sthatcuratorial
profession
but
on
the
curatorial
of
aspect
functional
on
the
focused
practice
no
longer
practice.Such
levelof visiThe 1990sbroughtan unparalleled
curatingas a creativeactivityakinto artisticproduction.
SaskiaBos,NicolasBouniaud,Dan
of curatorssuchas DanielBirnbaum,
bilityto a wholegeneration
Enwezor,CharlesEsche,Matthew
Okwui
Baere,
Bart
de
David,
Catherine
Lynne
Cooke,
Cameron,
Higgs,HouHanru,MaryJaneJacob,UteMetaBauer,JeremyMillar,RobertNickas,HansUlrichObrist,
someof whomhad begunpracticing
EricTroncy,and BarbaraVanderlinden,
NicolausSchafhausen,
generatton
hascometo thefore,manyof
new
1
a
late
990s,
part
the
1980s.
Since
ol
the
latter
the
toward
BarnabyDrabble,
programs-including
CarlosBasualdo,
curatorial
whomhavestudiedon postgraduate
Pethick,
Polly
Staple,Adam
Emily
Lind,
Maria
Hoffmann,
Jens
Annie Fletcher,Maria Hlavajova,
szymczyk,and Grant Watson,among others-many of whom I have interviewedas part of my
researchprocess.
91. PatrickMurphy,"spirallingOpen,"in Mika Hannula,ed.,Stoppingthe Process:Contemporary
(Helsinki:
NIFCA,1998)'187.
Viewson Art and Exhibitions
18Exhibition,"
"TheMuseumandtheAhistorical
92. Meijers,
93. lbid.
by aftists
19. In the 1990s,exhibitions
Exhibition,"
Museumand the Ahistorical
94. Meijers,,'The
museological
means
of
contesting
a
as
commonplace
became
workingwithinmuseumcollections
(BrooklynMuseum,New York,
histories.such as JosephKosuth's"ThePlayof the Unmentionable"
1992)and,later
'1990)or FredWilson's"Miningthe Museum"(MarylandHistorical
Society,Baltimore,
1996).
See
JosephKosuth,
van
Beuningen,
(Museum
Boijmans
"Viewing
Matters"
on, HansHaacke's
ptay of the Unmentionable:
An tnstatlationby Joseph Kosuth at the BrooklynMuseum (New York:
"Mining
see
the Museum,"
of FredWilson's
1992).Foran overview
Museum,
NewPressandBrooklyn
the Spectacleof Culture,"in Greenberg,Ferguson,and Nairne,Thinking
lvan Karp,"Constructing
about Exhibitions,267.
"l curate, You curate,we curate . . . ," Atl Monthly,no. 269 (September
95. Alex Farquharson,
20 03 ),7-1 08.
curatorialpractice,see the selectionof essays
surrounding
of the vocabulary
96. For a development
Bethanien,
eds.,
Tischler,and Kunstlerhaus
Tannert,
Ute
in
Christoph
to
2004
1990s
writtenfromthe
2004)"
am Main:Revolver,
MIB-Men in Btack:Handbookof curatorialPractice(Frankfurt
withthe authof,Paris,27 January2OO4.
97. NicolasBouniaud,interview
in catherineThomas,ed.,TheEdge
gg. JoshuaDecter,"Atthe vergeof . . . curatorialTransparency,"
on CuratorialPracfice(Banff,Canada:BanffCentrePress,2000),102-103.
of Everything:Reftections
withthe author.
interview
99. Siegelaub,
100. rbid.
ix. For a historicalanalysisof the evolutionof the
101. CatherineThomas,TheEdgeof Everything,
The Curator'sEgg: The Evolutionof the
Schubert.,
Karsten
see
also
museums,
curator'srole in
MuseumConceptfrom theFrenchRevotutionto the PresentDay (London:One Off Press,2000).
102. Mriller,HaraldSzeemann:ExhibitionMaker;Bezzolaand Kurzmeyer,HaraldSzeemann:with by
through becausetoward despite:Catalogueof Att Exhibitions,1957-2001; and Derieux,Harald
Szeemann:tndividuatMethodology.See noteI abovefor the full citations'
Sublects.
Turns,"in O'Neill,Curatrng
Momentsand Discursive
103. SeeMickWilson,"Curatorial
140
Notesto Pages33-37
122. Roland Barthes, "Myth Today" (1956), in A Bafthes Reader (London: Vintage, 2000), 103. A key
illustrationof this lies in Barthes's example of how the "signification"of an image in Paris-Match, ol a
"young Negro in a French uniform" saluting the French tr;color, as an image of the great French
emprre, also covers over many factors that produced such a myth, such as the history of the colonized, which is, for Barthes, already built into the meaning of the myth itself: "The meaning is already
complete, it postulates a kind of knowledge, a past, a memory, a comparative order of facts, ideas,
decisions."
123. Barthes, "Myth Today," 93.
124. Julia Bryan-Wilson,"A Curriculumfor InstitutionalCritique,or the Professionalizationof Conceptual Art," in Jonas Ekeberg, ed., New lnstitutionalism,Verksted no.1 (Oslo: Office for Contemporary
Art Norway, 2003), 102-103.
u r se ,"in B auer,Meta2,18.
l
1 2 5 . H e l m u t Dr a xle r ,"T h e In stitu tio n aDisco
126. Greenberg, Ferguson,and Nairne, Thinkingabout Exhibitions,2.
127. tbid.,4.
128. Altshuler,The Avant-Garde in Exhibition,L
129. tbid.
130. Staniszewski,ThePower of Display,xxi.
1 3 1. t b i d .
132. Poinsot,"Large Exhibitions:A Sketch of a Topology,"40133. Greenberg, Ferguson,and Nairne, Thinkingabout Exhibitions,2-3.
134. tbid.
135. O'Doherty,lnside the White Cube. This was originallypublished in Aftforum as a series of three
a r t i c l e si n 1 9 7 6 a n d fir st p u b lish e din b o o k fo r m in 1986.
136. See Staniszewski,The Power of Display, xxi-xxviii.
137. O'Doherty,lnside the White Cube, 55.
138. Thomas McEvilley,"Foreword,"in O'Doherty,lnside the White Cube,9.
i n H i l l erand Marti n,
13 9 . O b r i s t ,c ite d in Gila n eT a wa d r o sa n d Ha n s Ulri chObri st,"l n C onversati on,"
The Producers (2),26. Obtist has also been a significantinfluence in bringing the ideas of Alexander
Dorner, innovativedirector of the Hannover Museum in the 1920s, to the fore- Dorner anticipatedthe
idea of the museum as a space of permanenttransformationwithin dynamic parameters;the museum
as a heterogeneous space of exhibition; a space that oscillates between object and process; the
museum as laboratory;the museum as time storage; the museum as kraftwerk; the museum as a
locus between art and life; and the museum as a relative historicalspace that is permanently"on the
move."
140. See Hans Ulrich Obrrst, interview with the author, originally recorded on 26 January 2004 and
edited with intervieweebetween 2005 and 2006.
1 4 1. O b r i s t q u o tin g M a r y An n e Sta n isze wskiin a paper l ater publ i shedi n Taw adrosand Obri st,"l n
Conversation,"27.
142. Obrist, cited in Paula Marincola, ed., What Makes a Great Aft Exhibition? (Philadelphia:Philadelp h i a E x h i b i t i o n sIn itia tive2, 0 0 6 ) ,3 1 .
142
143
I n t h e i r c o a u t ho r e de ssa y "T h e r eis n o Alte r n a tiveT: HE FU TU R E l S S E LF OR GA N IZE D ,"sel f-organi z a t i o n i s d e s cr ib e d ,a m o n g o th e r th in g s, a s "a so c i al process of communi cati onand commonal i ty
b a s e d i n e x c h a n g e ;sh a r in go f sim ila r p r o b le m s,know l edgeand avai l abl eresources."S ee A nthony
D a v i e s , S t e p h a n Dille m u th ,a n d Ja ko b Ja ko b se n ,"There i s no A l ternati ve:TH E FU TU R E l S S E LF
ORGANIZED Part 1," in Nina Montmann, ed.,Arl and lts lnstitutions (London: Black Dog Publishing,
2006),176-178.
156. Bruce Ferguson cited from his "Keynote Address" at the Banff 2000 InternationalCuratorial
S u m m i t , B a n ff Ce n tr e , 2 4 Au g u st 2 0 0 0 , in M e la ni e Tow nsend, "The Troubl es w i th C urati ng,"i n
Townsend, ed., Beyond the Box: Diverging Curatorial Practices (Banff, Canada: Banlf Centre Press,
2003), xv.
157. Daniel Buren, "Where Are the Arlists?," in Jens Hoffmann, ed., The Next Documenta Should Be
Curated by an Arflst (Frankfurtam Matn: Revolver,2004), 31.
158. Thomas Boutoux, "A Tale of Two Cities: Manifesta in Rotterdam and Ljubljana," in Barbara
Vanderlindenand Elena Filipovic,eds., Ihe Manifesta Decade: Debates on ContemporaryArt Exhibitions and Biennialsin Post-Wall Europe (Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press' 2OO5)'2O2.
159. tbid.
1 6 0 . S i n c e L e M a g a sin in Gr e n o b le la u n ch e dth e fi rst postgraduatecuratori altrai ni ng program i n
E u r o p ei n 1 9 87 ,th e r e h a s b e e n a n e xp a n sio no f p r o fessi onalcurati ngcoursesthroughoutE uropeand
North America, already outlined in my introduction.For a brief history of the most prominent ol these
c o u r s e s i n E u r o p e a n d No r th Am e r ica ,se e An d r e a B el l i ni ,"C uratori alS chool s:B etw een H ope and
lllusion," FlashArt 39, no- 250 (October 2006), 88-92. The total number of students enrolled in all
these courses has differedover the years, but to give an indicationof the quantityof students graduati n g f r o m t h e m , wh e n I wo r ke d a s a visitin gtu to r o n the MFA C urati ngcourse at Gol dsmi thsbetw een
2006 and 2007, there were twentyjive first-yearstudents padicipatingin a two-year course. Between
1995 and 2003, sixty students completed the de Appel CuratorialTraining Programme, which takes
on a relativelysmall group of approximatelysix students per year. For the names of these students
see Edna van Duyn, ed.,lf WallsHad Ears: 1984-2005 (Amsterdam: De Appel, 2005), 668.
1 6 1. C a t h e r in ed e Z e g h e r ,in te r vie wwith th e a u th o r,N ew Y ork, 11 N ovember2005. A notherexampl e
is Robert Storr's assessment of his own fortuitousentry into curating in the 1980s, which he described
as follows (Storr, interviewwith the auto0:
time in the eighties,so I knew how to put showstogetheron that
I'd been an art handlerfor a considerable
side,the technicalside,whichwas acluallyfar more importantthan goingto a curatorialprogramin many
respects.But that's it . . . l'm a painterand I went to a regularsort of studioart collegeaffairin Chicago,
and a coupleof other placesbeforethat, and I spenta lot of time in museumslookingat what was there,
got to the back roomsoJa certainnumberof themjusl by persistenceand interestand so on so . . . but no,
no, I have no formalart hlstorytrainingat all.
practi
ceandi ts
al
1 6 2 . T h e r e h asb e e n a sig n ifica n tp u b lish in g in d u stryaroundcontemporarycuratori
r e l a t e dd i s c o ur sesin ceth e la te 1 9 8 0 s,a n d in p a r tic ul arthroughoutthe 1990s,w hi ch has conti nuedto
i n t e n s i f yu n t i lto d a y. Du r in gth is p e r io d ,o n e o f th e m aj or changesi n the an w orl d has been the si gni fi cant transformationof the role(s) of the curator of contemporary art exhibitions and the discourses
sunounding exhibitionmaking in an internationalcontext. In chronologicalorder, key curatorialanthologies include: Bauer, Meta 2; White, Naming a Practice; Anna Harding, ed., "On Curating: The Contemporary Aft Museum and Beyond," Aft and Design Magazine, no. 52 (London: Academy Editions,
1997); Hannula, Stopping the Process; Drabble and Richter, Curating Degree Zero; Thomas, The
Edge of Everythlng;Wade, Curating in the 21st Century; Hiller and Martin, Ihe Producers; Carolee
Thea, Foci: lnterviews with 10 tnternationalCurators (New York: Apexad, 2001); Marincola,Curating
Now: Carin Kuoni. Words of Wisdom: A Curator's Vade Mecum (New York: lndependent Curators
144
lnternational
BeyondtheBox;Tannert,Tischler,and Kunsilerhaus
IlCl],2001);Townsend,
Bethanien,
MIB-Men in Black; Liam Gillick and Maria Lind, Curatingwith Light Luggage(Frankfurt
am Main:
Revolver,
2005).
163. Tannert,Tischler,and Kunsflerhaus
Bethanien,
MIB_Men in Black,10.
164. Lateranthologiessuchas What Makesa GreatExhibition(2OoB),CuratingSub/ects(2007),
and
CuratingCritique(2007),and dedicatedjournalssuch as later issuesof ManifestaJournat
for ContemporaryCuratorship(first issue published2003) or The Exhibitionisf(since 2009), have
tried to
correctthisself-presentation
biaswithvaryingdegreesof success.
165. Seewww.bbc2oog.no
166.Williams,
"Dominant,
Residual,
andEmergent,,,
121_127.
167. One dominantaspectof theseemergentdiscourseswas the continueduse of
analogy,metaphor, and comparisonbetweencuratingand other professions.
As curatorand criticTom Morton
wrole:
"curatingas . ." constructions
speakof a welcomeself-reflexivity
and plurality
of approach,
butthey
almostinevitably
stickin thecraw.There'sa faintatmosphere
of subterfuge
aboutthem,of borrowing
the
glamour
or gravitas
of anotherprofession
in an attempt
to graftit ontoonethatwe,reawareis,for all its
possibilities,
aisocommonly
boundupwiththegrey,clerk-ystuffof lundraising
andfillingoutloanforms.
(Amongthesecontradictions,
the worstoffenders
I'vecomeacrossinclude"curator
as anthropologist,,,
"curator
as stylist"andonce,unforgivably,
"curator
as DJ.")Moreimporlanfly,
thefashionfor analogy
in
framing
thefigureof thecuratorpointsto a certainlackol self-confidence
in thefield,as thoughcurating
is an activitythatcan onlybe understood,
or evenvalidated,
withreference
to activities
thatexerta
greater
gravitational
pull.
Tom Morton,'The Nameof the Game,"frieze,no.97 (December2005),foundat http://www.frieze
.com/column_single.asp?c=304
(accessed
21 November
2006).
WhatMortonarguedfor was a returnto the ideaof the curatoras beinginvolvedin the
activity
of curatingas a form of authorship,similarto how a novelistis an author,regardless
of whatever
metaphorscan be usedto describehow differentkindsof novelwritingcan existat
any one time,
and how variousmethodsof writinga novelcan produceindividualmodelsof authorship.
Modon
supportsthe ideaof the functionof the curatoras an authorbecause,for him,the author,s
functionis
to providea viewof the worldthat we do or do not yet know.He goeson to rejectthe
variousways
in whichcuratinghas beenlinkedto otherprofessions,
especially
the ideaof the ,,curator
as editor.,,
becauseit relieson analogyeverybit as muchas the ,,curator
as arlist,,does.
168. Esche,"BetiZerovcInterviews
CharlesEsche,,,89.
169. CarlosBasualdo,"TheUnstableInstitution,"
in Marincola,
What Makesa GreatAft Exhibition?.
ilo. onor""..n and BangLarsen,,,TheMiddteman.,,
171. Maria Lind, interviewwith the author,Munich,31 October2004. Lind states:,,1
am actually
detachedfromthe 'cura'paftof it: the caringpartof it, withempathybeinginvolvedwithsomething,
fo
helpit comeaboutsomehow.I think,for me, it is alsoconnected
withthe roleof the curaroras a son
of midwifewho is assistingin bringingsomething
new intobeing."
172' See MariusBabiasand FlorianWaldvogel,
"ls the Curatorthe DJ of Art?,"ChristophTannert.
,,Godls a curator,,'in
"curatorsas Technicians,"
andJustinHoffmann,
Tanneft,Tischler,
and Kr]nsfler_
hausBethanien,
MIB-Men in Black,4g-s2,135-136,and 107,respectively.
On the notionof curatoras editor,CatherineDavidstates:"l neverlikedthe discourse
around
the ideaof the curatoras an adist.I thinkit's verychildishand I don'tthinkit's veryinterest'ng.
I think
it's the work of editing,putting,articulating
ideas,formsin a certainmomentand I thjnk it,s nothino
145
146
Notes to Page 49
147
5. See John Miller, "The Show You Love to Hate: A Psychology of the Mega-exhibition,"in Reesa
Greenberg,Bruce Ferguson,and Sandy Nairne, eds., Thinkingabout Exhibitions(London: Routledge,
19 9 6 ) ,2 6 9 .
has been i nvoked.Gl obal 6 . I n t h e c a s e o f b ie n n ia ls,th e te r m "g lo b a lism "r a therthan "gl obal i zati on"
ism implies an ideologicalpush toward a greater degree of diversity residing in wider social and cultural networks, leading to greater connectivity in both the movement of ideas, information,images,
and practices around the globe and in the movement of people who carry ideas and informationwith
them across the planet. In the context of the internationalart field, globalism could also be described
as an attempt to explain global patterns of production,characterized by networks of intercontinental
connectionsthat attempt to transcend local, national,and state concerns in the name of greater diversity in transculturaland social connectivity.By contrast,"globalization,"which has certainlycontributed
t o t h e s i g n i f ica n tr ise o f b ie n n ia ls,with n e o lib e r al i smas a domi nant vari ant, transcends nati onal
boundaries in the name of economic free trade. Globalization results in a shrinkage of space-time
distances,leading to economic global interdependence;it also has homogenizingeffects on vernacul a r c u l t u r e st h a t co m e u n d e r its swa y. In o th e r wo rds, gl obal i zati on,as a w i deni ng,deepeni ng,and
speeding-up of worldwide economic interconnectedness,involves processes of transformationwithin
contemporarysocial and cultural life. Biennialsoften tiptoe between globalismand globalization,occasionally in tow with global art market flows, movements, and expansions.
7. An exception to this is Venice, where a structure of national representationis still applied by committee in the selection of artists for each of the national pavilions,although a greater emphasis on the
curated iomoonents now prevails,at least in published discussionsand debates.
8. See Neil Brenner, "Global Cities, Glocal States: Global City Formation and State Tenitorial
Restructuringin Contemporary Europe," Review of InternationalPolitical Economy 5, no. 1 (Spring
1 9 9 8 ) , 1 6 . " Glo ca liza tio no" r ig in a llyr e la te dto th e adaptati onof cenai n farmi ngtechni ques,i n w hi ch
produce, crops, and services were customized to suit local cultural conditions,while being intended
for the global market. Glocalizalionwas popularized by sociologist Roland Robertson in the 1990s,
extending its understanding to the evolution of social practrces that adapted existing sociological
behaviorsto suit local characteristics.See Roland Robertson,"The Conceptual Promise of Glocalization: Commonality and Diversity," found at http:/iartefact.mi2.hr/-aO4llang-enltheory-robertson
en.htm (accessed 24 July 2009). See also Roland Robenson, "Globalization or Glocalization?,"
Journat of lnternationalCommunication 1, no. 1 (1994), 33-52, and Roland Robertson,"Glocalization:
in Mike Featherstone,Scott Lash, and Roland RobertTime-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity,"
son, eds., Globat Modernitles (London: Sage Publications,1994), 25-44- See also Zygmunt Bauman,
Gtobalization:The Human Consequences (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998).
9 . S e e B r u c e F e r g u so n ,Re e sa Gr e e n b e r g ,a n d Sandy N ai rne,"S hi fti ngA rt and E xhi bi ti ons,"i n B arbara Vanderlinden and Elena Filipovic,eds., Ihe Manifesta Decade: Debates on Contemporary Art
Exhibitionsand Biennialsin Post-Wall Europe (Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press, 2OO5),47-62'
1 0 . l b i d . ,4 7 .F o r a fu r th e re xa m in a tio no f th e r o le of l ocati oni n bi enni alexhi bi ti ons,see H ou H anru,
"Toward a New Locality: Biennials and 'Global Art,"' in Vanderlinden and Filipovic, The Manifesta
Decade,57-62. See also Claire Doherty,"CuratingWrong Places . . . or Where Have All the Penguins
Gone?," in Paul O'Neill, ed., Curating Sublecfs (London: Open Editions;Amsterdam, De Appel, 2007)'
1 0 1 - 1 0 8 ; a n d Cla ir eDo h e r ty,"L o ca tio n ,L o ca tio n ,"A rtMonthl y,no.281 (N ovember2004),7-10.
1 1. See Giorgio Agamben, "What ls the Contemporary?,"in What ls an Apparatus? and Other Essays
(Stanford:Stanlord UniversityPress, 2009), 40-41.
12. As Hans Belting correctly acknowledged in his introduction,"ContemporaryAn as Global Ar1:A
Critical Estimate," in Hans Belting and Andrea Buddensieg, eds., The Global Art World (Ostfilden:
Hatje Cantz, 2009), 38-73.
148
Mass.:MIT
in TheReturnof the Real(Cambridge,
13. See Hal Foster,"TheArtistas Ethnographer,"
Pr es s , 1996) , 171- 203.
ldenAft and Locational
14. lbid.,197.SeealsoMiwonKwon,OnePlaceafterAnother Slfe-Specl/ic
138-139.
Mass.:MITPress,2004),
tlty(Cambridge,
1 5. t bid.
in CarinKuoni,ed.,Wordsof Wisdom:A Curator'sVadeMecum
Bonami,"Statement,"
16. Francesco
2OO1),
32.
(NewYork:Independent
Curatorstnternational,
The Politicsof Representation
andthe Repre"FromFormto Platform:
17. SeeJohanneLamoureux,
Art Journal64, no. 1 (Spring2005),65-73; Hal Foster,"The PrimitiveUnconsentationof Politics,"
sciousModern,"October,no. 34 (Autumn1985),45-70; and BruceW. Ferguson,"Exhibition
Rhetorics,"in Greenberg,Ferguson,and Nairne,Thinkingabout Exhibitions,175-190.Although
Jean-HuberlMartinhad alreadybegunworkon "Les Magiciensde la terre"by the time of "Primitivism,"his curatorialdecisionswere,in part at least,a criticalresponseto someof the failuresof the
This was reflectedin his decisionto workonlywith livingartists,his wishto exhibit
MoMAexhibition.
origin,and his desireto presentthe selectedworksbecause
of non-Western
fiftypercentpractitioners
forms.
meanings,basedon culturaldifferenceratherthantheirhomogeneous
of theirheterogeneous
Martinand MarkFrancis,LesMagiciensde la terre(Paris:CentreGeorgePompiSee Jean-Hubert
"TheWholeEarthShow,"Art in America(May1989),150H. D. Buchloh,
dou,1989),andBenjamin
de la
see the specialissueon "LesMagiciens
to the exhibition,
158.For otherreviewsand responses
from LesCahiersdu Mus6eNationald'arl Moderne,ThirdText,no.6 (Spring1989).
terre"translated
18 . Buc hloh, "TheW holeEar t hSho w , " l 5 6 . B u c h l o h c o n s i s t e n t l y r e f e r s t o t h e e x h i b i t i o n a s t h e p r o p is alsoaimingat decenterertyof the curator,whendirectinghis commentsto Martin:"Yourexhibition
of thean public.. . ."
socialdefinitions
ingthetraditional
(September-October
1989),48.
Tricks,"Arfscrlbelnternational
Deliss,"Conjuring
19. Cl6mentine
20. Martinand Francis,LesMagiciensde latene.
Ferguson,
and
the Spectacleof Culture,"in Greenberg,
21. lvanKarpand FredWilson,"Constructing
Nairne,Thinkingabout Exhibitions,265.
22. See GavinJantjes,"Red Ragsto a Bull,"in RasheedAraeen,ed.,TheOtherStory:Afro-Asran
Artistsin Post-WarBritain(London:HaywardGallery,1989).
exhibitions,
see
and scattered-site
betweenlocation,biennials,
23. For an analysisof the relationship
in Doherty,ed.,
Location,"
T-10. SeealsoClaireDoheny,"TheNewSituationists,"
Doherty,"Location,
2004),7-14.
FromStudioto Situation(London:BlackDogPublishing,
24. Okwui Enwezorcited in "Curatingbeyondthe Canon:Okwui EnwezorIntervlewedby Paul
O'Neill,"in O'Neill,CuratingSublects,110.
"FromFormto Platform."
25. Lamoureux,
26. rbid.
27. OkwuiEnwezor,interviewwiththe author,Bristol,4 February2005.
28. Hal Foster,"AgainstPluralism,"in Recodings:Atl, Spectacle,CulturalPolltlcs(Seattle:Bay
in TheLocaandthe Poslmodern,"
Press,1985),13-32. SeealsoHomiK. Bhabha,"ThePostcolonial
andJamesCli{fordandGeorgeE. Marcus,
20OG),245-282,
tionof Culture(1995;London:Routledge,
eds., Writing Culture: The Poeticsand Politics of Ethnography(Berkeley:Universityof California
to repreobjectiveapproaches
to rejectauthoritative,
Press,1986),whichimploredanthropologists
sentingtheir subjectsand insteadconsidernew methodsthat could take accountof the multiple
voicesof the subjectstheywerestudyingand representing.
149
29. See Andreas Huyssen, "Mapping the Post'Modern,"New German Critique 33 (1980), 50.
30. lbid.
B l ackw el l ,1989),116
3 1. S e e D a v i d Ha r ve y,T h e Co n d itio n o f Po stm o d e rni ty(Oxford:
3 2 . J e a n - H u be r tM a r tincite d in Bu ch lo h ,"T h e Wh o le E arthS how ," 152.
33. Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 117.
3 4 . J e a n - H u be r tM a r lin cite d in Bu ch lo h ,"T h e Wh o le E arthS how ,"211.
35. Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity,113-114.
36. Jean-Frangois Lyotard cited in Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernify, 117. See also JeanFrangoisLyotard, The Postmodern Condition (Manchester:Manchester UniversityPress, 1985).
37. See Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, xxiv-xxv.
3 8 . S e e J a m e s M e ye ls co m m e n tsin th e d iscu ssion,"Gl obalTendenci es:Gl obal i smand the LargeScale Exhibition,"Attforum 42, no.3 (November2003),163-212, which was introducedby Tim Griffin
and moderated by James Meyer with curalors Francesco Bonami, Catherine David, Okwui Enwezor,
Hans Ulrich Obrist, and artists Martha Rosler and Yinka Shonibare. For a recent study of art and globalization, see Charlotte Bydler, Ihe Global Artworld lnc: On the Globalisation of Contemporary Art
(Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet,2OO4),and, lor an exhibition (curated by Philippe Vergne, Douglas
Fogle, and Olukemi liesanmi) that attempted to consider how the globalizationof cultural contexts
impacts current forms ol art practice, with artists selected from Brazil, China, India, Japan, South
Africa, Turkey, and the United States, see Hou Hanru, Vasif Kortun, and Philippe Vergne, eds., How
LatitudesBecome Forms: Aft in a Global Age (Minneapolis:Walker Art Center, 2003).
39. Okwui Enwezor, "The Black Box," in Documentall
H a t j e C a n t z ,2 OO2 ) ,4 5 ,
40. tbid.
41. Okwui Enwezor cited in "Curatingbeyondthe Canon:Okwui EnwezorInterviewedby Paul
O ' N e i l l , "1 1 3 .
42. Okwui Enwezor cited in Gilane Tawadros, "The Revolution Stripped Bare," in Gilane Tawadros
and Sarah Campbell, eds., Faulf/rnes: Contemporary African Art and Shifting Landscapes (London:
inlVA, 2003), 29. See also Okwui Enwezor, "The PostcolonialConstellation:Contemporary Art in a
State of Permanent Transition,"Researchin African Literatures34, no.4 (Winter 2003), 57-82.
43. See the responses of Catherine David, Okwui Enwezor, and James Meyer in "Global Tendenc i e s , "1 6 3 - 2 1 2 .
4 4 . S e e J e a n- Hu b e r l M a n in in te r vie we db y Be n ja mi n B uchl oh pri or to the exhi bi ti on'sopeni ng i n
B u c h l o h ," T h e Wh o le Ea r thSh o w," 1 5 0 - 1 5 9 .
45. Harvey, inThe Condition of Postmodernity,l0l-1o2, consideredthe depthlessnessof postmodernism and its cursory understandingof pluralism as a form of fetishizationof the commodity (pace
Marx), in which it capitalizeson its own "overt complicity with the fact of fetishism and of indifference
toward underlying soctal meanings" rather than engaging with issues such as division of labor and
alienation.
46. Okwui Enwezor, "Between Worlds: Postmodernismand African Arlists in the Western Metropolis," in Olu Oguibe and Okwui Enwezor, eds., Reading the Contemporary:African Aft from Theory to
the Marketplace (London: inlVA, 1999), 249"
.150
iJ;.lii-!fl"'
Duncan'
civitizhsRituats:
pubfic Ar7Museums(Abinsdon,
Inside
U.K.:Rouredoe.
5 2 . t b id .
53. Miller, ,'The Show you
Love to Hate," 270.
5 4 . t b id .
5 5 . t bid .
56. lbid., 270_272.
57. tbid.,272.
58. I am here indebted t(
:1i,"j:::ff
l*;*u*lfihtrrf*J:
:H2::,7::;;
i?:ffiii;j',:::ff
ii; fiirr'i1"".3i:1t].T::t
in,chapter
1,sethsieseraub
et ar.carred
rora ,demysrirication,,
orthe
evo,ve
dnro'n
0",,,1ilTu31i
l:::lfil"J,"#i"{
Ji: ;Hilli;;:i#:furu :ll*
",,.,
,nn.rlin,.
:::{:3';:!:,:::::;1'**''u'"u ltonion'i5,0"0n",
i5n',.lf'l,u,",o,,nn.un
u",
j_m,;l;
;,11"1"
d#i,f,::mhi;,:::"":#1",:Xl:
nnk *11""'liil;lillll.#
60. Bydler,TheGtobatAftworld
lnc., SS.
McEvitey,"Fusion:Hot or cord,,,
in oguibe and Enwezor,Reading
:Ju.tnor"r
thecontemporary,
imp,ied
sca,e
orsuch
exhibitions
buta,so
by
ii::H:iJ?:?T;X;:J:l,fffft,"JIi::l:"r""::,1"
*:rld
travelis thusreacasr
cultured
activity,
as an essenriary
associatJ;;#;;:",lll;
Ii1"""'l
ott<nowreoge,lll
such
experience.
tnet,"nsrution
,","
or
"*n'i,,illl"11l[iLlijl;iheacquisition
ff. ;:liilliff'|,.iiy::::i"il:ffI"J#;ilG,oba,izationDebate:
AnIntroduction,,,in
He,d
,?1^3r:U
describes,,compressron,,
as ouroverwhetmir
l,"T:r;ffi::'":iffi
T:il::$lJij,li;
I;;[Hn:[?3,,ffi
lli::rr*"r"r:f
fl: J:ii3:iff:'il":f.
n'*t Grobarization
Debate:
AnInrroduction,"
3.see1-45rortheirread-
:"ls;Ji3:tr:;.,X:Xg*:,Ll,liruln"l*t
lti"l:ii"-?_1i";"il;;';,ll[ifl
orsclmundiar/wuggenig02-en.htm
laccessJd
ro *r"ru roorr.
Notesto pages60_62
67. Thomas Boutoux, "A Tale of Two Cities: Manifesta in Rotterdam and Ljubljana,"in Vanderlinden
and Filipovic,The Manifesta Decade,2O2.
6 8 . t b i d . ,2 0 3.
6 9 . C h a r l e sE sch e ,"De b a te :Bie n n ia ls,"fr ie ze ,n o .92 (June-A ugust2005)' 105.
70. lbid.
7 1. l b i d .
72. tbid.
73. Charles Esche and Vasif Kortun, "The World ls Yours," in Ar7, City and Politics in an Expanding
World: Writings From the 9th tnternationallstanbul Biennial (lstanbul: lstanbul KUltUrSanat Vakli,
2005\,24-25.
74. Hou Hanru, interviewwith the author, Paris, 26 January 2OO4
75. For Hardt and Negri, "Empire" is that which controls territories, markets, populations and the
entirety of social lile that has come to replace imperialism as the domain of actions and activities.
" M u l t i t u d e "i s th e te r m th e y e m p lo y a s th a t wh ich is proposedas a countermodelto the homogeni zi ng
and totalizing forces of Empire. See Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Emplre (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 2000), xi-xvii. See also Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, The Multitude:
War and Democracy in the Age of Empire (New York: Penguin Group, 2004), and Paolo Virno, A
Grammar of the Muttitude: For an Analysis of Contemporary Forms of Life (New York: Semiotext(e),
2004).
76, Hardt and Negri. Empire. xli.
77. lbid., italics in original.
7 8 . t b i d . ,6 0 .
7 9 . l b i d . ,4 1 0 - 4 1 1 .
8 0 . r b i d . ,6 0 - 6 2 .
81 . Hardt and Negri, The Multitude, xiii-xiv.
82. Paolo Virno, "Virtuosity and Revolution:The Political Theory of Exodus," in Michael Hardt and
paolo Virno, eds., RadicalThought in ttaly: A Potential Politlcs (Minneapolis:Universityof Minnesota
Press, 1996), 2OO-201.
83. lbid.
84. Jacques Rancidre,"The People of the Multitudes?,"in Rancidre,Dissensus:On Politics and Aes, 0 10 ) , 8 9 .
t h e t i c s( L o n d o n :Co n ttn u u m 2
8 5 . t b i d . ,8 4 -9 0 .
86. Pascal Gielen, Ihe Murmuring of the Artistic Multitude: Global Art, Memory and Post-Fordism
(Amsterdam:Valiz, 2009), 36-37.
87. See interviewwith Paolo Virno, http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpvirn02.htm
88. See Matteo Pasquinelli,Animal Spirits:A Bestiary of the Commons (Rotterdam: NAi Publishers,
2008), for a critique of Virno's positivisticand contradictorystance on the concept of the multitude.
8 9 . C a r l o s B a su a ld o ,in te r vie wwith th e a u th o r ,Ve ni ce, 10 June 2005.
90. lbid.
152
tr
M a g i c i e n sd e la te r r e ,"in vitin gco m p a r iso nb e twe e nthe tw o exhi bi ti onmodel s. For hi m, Jean-H ubed
Maftin, as an anthropologicalcurator, showed a subjective,single-handedapproach to exhibitingthe
other, in which distance and notions of the exotic were inflated.By contrast, Enwezor was more interested in an "anthropologyof proximity,"by which the exhibitionwould give advocacy to a multitudeof
voices, valorizing the wandering, nomadlc, hybrid producer. See Enwezor, "The Black Box"; Reesa
Greenberg, "ldentity Exhibitions:From Magiciens de la Terre to Documenta 11," Art Journal (Spring
2 0 0 5 ) ;a n d J oh a n n eL a m o u r e u x' sa n a lysiso f th e d ial oguebetw eenthe tw o exhi bi ti ons,"From Form to
Platform." For Lamoureux, Documenta 1t had a reflexivitythat allowed the politics of representation
(assocratedwith the Western cultural explorer)to llip around and articulatea representationof politics,
something she argues Martin's approach failed to address because of its unwillingnessto engage in
t h e p o l i t i c so f d isco u r seb e yo n d th e e xh ib itio n .F or other revi ew s of D ocumenta 11, see: Mi chael
Gibbs, "Documenta 11/1," Art Monthly, no. 258 (July-August 2002), 1-5; Alex Lapp, "Documenta
1112,"Art Monthly, no. 258 (July-August 2002), 7-10; Jens Hoffmann, "Reentering Art, Reentering
P o l i t i c s , "F l a s hAtt 3 4 , n o . 1 0 6 ( Ju ly- Se p te m b e2r 0 0 2), 106; Massi mi l i anoGi oni ,"Fi ndi ngthe C entre,"
F l a s hA r l 3 4 , no . 1 0 6 ( Ju ly- Se p te m b e2r0 0 2 ) , 1 0 6 - 1 07.
107. Enwezor, "The Black Box," 53.
1 0 8 . B o n a m i,"l Ha ve a Dr e a m ,"xix.
109. Christian Kravagna, "TransculturalViewpoints: Problems of Representation in Non-European
Art," in ChristophTannert, Ute Tischler,and KunstlerhausBethanien, eds., MIB-Men in Black: flandbook of CuratorialPractice (Frankfurtam Main: Revolver,2OO4),93
110. Many of the exhibitionsdiscussed in relationto colonialistand transculturalcurating have taken
p l a c e i n E u r o p e ,su ch a s "L e s M a g icie n sd e la te r r e" (P ari s),"The S hort C entury:Independenceand
L i b e r a lM o v e m e n tsin Afr ica "( cu r a te db y Okwu i En wezorfor MuseumV i l l a S tuck,Muni ch,and Marti nG r o p i u sB a u , Be r lin ,to u r in gto th e Un ite dSta te s) ,a nd D ocumenta11 (K assel ).
11 1. See Hou, "Toward a New Locality,"57-62.
1 1 2 . t b i d . ,6 2 .
"Fi rstl y,bydi spl aci ngi tshi stori cal
contextof
1 1 3 . O k w u i E n we zo r e xp la in sth is"e xtr a te r r ito r ial i ty"as:
Kassel; secondly, by moving outside the domain of the gallery space to that of the discursive; and
thirdly, by expanding the locus of the disciplinarymodels that constitute and define the project's intellectual and cultural interest."(Enwezor, "The Black Box," 42-56.)
1 14. Enwezor, "The Black Box," 49. Enwezor describes the term "Platform"as "an open encyclopedia
for the analysis of late modernity;a network of relationships;an open form for organizing knowledge;
a nonhierarchicalmodel of representation;a compendium of voices, cultural, artistic,and knowledge
circurts."The platforms were born out of discussions and debates that took place in Vienna, New
D e l h i ,B e r l i n ,St. L u cia , L a g o s,a n d Ka sse l ( 1 5 M a r ch 2001-15 S eptember2002).The fi ve pl atforms
w e r e : ( 1 ) D e m o cr a cyUn r e a lize d (; 2 ) Exp e r im e n tsw i th Truth:Transi ti onalJusti ceand the P rocesses
of Truth and Reconciliation;(3) Cr6olit6 and Creolizatron;(4) Under Siege: Four African Cities-Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos; and (5) Exhibition Documenta 1 1 and related catalog. For a
thorough discussion of the various platforms, see Stewart Martin, "A New World At1? Documenting
Documenta 11," Radical Philosophy, no.122 (November-December2003), 7-19.
1 1 5 . M a r t i n ,"A Ne w Wo r ld Ar t? ,"4 0 .
1 1 6 . M a r l h a R o sle rcite d in "Glo b a lT e n d e n cie s,"154.
1 1 7 . l b i d . ,1 61.
1 1 8 . M a r c u sVe r h a g e n ,"Bie n n a leln c.,"Aft M o n th ly, no.287 (June2005), 1-4.
154
119 . tb id.
120. See ElenaFilipovic,"The GlobalWhiteCube,"in Vanderlinden
and Filipovic,The Manifesta
Decade,63-84.
12 1. tbid .
122. tbid.
12 3. tbid .
124. lbid.,79,italicsin original.
125. tbid.
126. lwonaBlazwick,"NowHere-Work in Progress,"
in Mika Hannula,ed.,Stoppingfhe process.'
ContemporaryViewson Art and Exhibitions(Helsinki:NIFCA,1998),15.
127. SeeZygmuntBauman,"OnArt, Deathand Postmodernity-And
WhatTheyDo to EachOther,,'
in Hannula,Stoppingthe Process,31.Exhibitions
are framedbothas specific,readabletextsand as
discursiveevents,whichare not dependenton, or confinedto, the art withinthemor by theirinterior
aestheticcontents.Treatingeachexhibitionas an eventthat is discussedin relationto otherexhibitions with similarobjectives,and to issuesthat go beyondthe aestheticmeritsof the art therein,
enablessubjectsto be addressed
thatgo beyondquestionsof valueto includeculturalidentity,globalism, ethics,politics,and sexuality.This is an understanding
of exhibitions
that departsfrom what
ReesaGreenberg
definesas "a text:a spatialtext laidout in threedimensions;
a temporally
finitetext
with fixed pointsof commencement
and closure;a thematicor narrativetexu a text incorporating
hegemonic
or subversive
metatexts;
and in all instances,
a text 'read'by viewers""Instead,it includes
whatGreenberg
calls"an exhibition
as discursive
event[which]demandsawareness
oi an exhibition's
underlyingstructuresand unpredictable
repercussions."
See ReesaGreenberg,"The Exhibitionas
DiscursiveEvent,"in Longingand Belonging:From the FarawayNearby(SantaFe: SITE Sante Fe,
19 95 ),12 0-1 25 .
128. Bauman,"OnArt, Deathand Postmodernity,"
31.
129. tbid.
130. tbid.
1 31 . tb id.
132. Escheand Kortun,'The Worldls Yours,"26.
133. HansUlrichObrist,interviewwiththe author,Paris,20 April2006.
1341tbid.
135. Ute MetaBauer,interviewwiththe author,London,17 October2004.
136. tbid.
quotedin Mesquita,
137. SusanBuck-Morss
"Biennials,
Biennials,
Biennials. . . ," 66.
138. See RalphRugoff, "Rulesof the Game,"frieze,no.44 (January-February
1999),47-49.
'|39. I usethe term"newinternationalism"
here,as definedby GilaneTawadros,as a configuration
ol
"a globalprojectionof the ideaof culturalpluralism,or multiculturalism,
as it has beenformedin the
West"and beyond"as a networkof interrelations
and exchanges
acrossthe globein termsof artistic
discourse."
SeeGilaneTawadros,"NewInternationalism,"
in Fisher,G/obalt/isions,4 and 11.
140. See Meyer'scommentsand generalresponsesto relatedquestionsin "GlobalTendencies,"
163-212.
1 4 1. t b i d .
142. Dean Macoannell, The Tourist:A New Theory of the Leisure C/ass (1976; Berkeley: Universityof
C a l i f o r n i aP r e ss, 1 9 9 9 ) ,xxl. F o r a d e ta ile dd iscu ssionon the fi gure of the touri stand the rel ati onshi p
b e t w e e n l e i s u r e ,m o b ile sp e cta to r sh ipa, n d th e fo r mati onof the moderni stmobi l e subj ect,see al so
John Urry, The Tourist Gaze: Leisureand Travelin ContemporarySociefy (London: Sage, 1990).
143. MacCannell,The Tourist,xxi.
1 4 4 . " G l o b a lTe n d e n cie s,"2 1 2 .
and P ostcol oni al i sm,"
n : t in the A ge of Gl obal l \,4i grati on
1 4 5 . O k w u i E n we zo r ,"ln clu sio n /Exclu sio Ar
frieze, no.28 (March-April1996), 89-90.
1 4 6 . S e e F i lip o vic,"T h e Glo b a l Wh ite Cu b e ," 6 6 . For exampl e, S anti ago S i erra's bl ocki ngof the
S p a n i s h P a v ilio na t th e 5 0 th Ve n ice Bie n n a le - b y a bri ck w al l renderi ngthe pavi l i oni naccessi bl e
except to the Spanish public,and then only on presentationof an official nationalidentificationcard; or
S i e r r a ' sa c t i ona t th e o p e n in go f th e 4 9 th Ve n ice Biennal e,w hen he bl eachedthe hai r of tw o hundred
migrant workers from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, who could then be identified during the first
w e e k s o f t h e bie n n ia lb y vir tu eo f th e ir d istin ctiveh a irstyl es.
147. See Maurizio Cattelan and Jens Hoffmann, Blown Away: Sixth Caribbean Biennial (Lyon: Les
Presses du R6el, 2001). See also Tom Morton, "lnfinite JesIer," frieze, no. 94 (october 2005),
150*1 55.
'148. Kwon, One Place after Another, 52.
1 4 9 . l b i d - K wo n p r o vid e sth e e xa m p le o f "Pla ce sw i th a P ast" (1991), curated by Mary Jane Jacob,
which took the city of Charleston,South Carolina, as the backdrop, the main subject matter, and the
principal location for the commissioningof new works by artists conceived in response to the specific
s i t e s i n a n d a r o u n d Ch a r le sto n .
150. Kwon, One Placeafter Another. According to Kwon, "site-specific"has been replaced by terms
such as "socially engaged," "site-oriented,""site-responsive,"and "context-specific"as a way of
rethinking how meaningful relationshipscan be established between the site of production and the
receptionof an aftwork that considers its place within the social sphere as its main focus.
1 5 1 . S e e V e rh a g e n ,"Bie n n a leln c.,"1 *4 .
152. See Arlforum 45, no. 4 (December 2006), which ran the cover "Besl of 2006," as selected by
curators, artists, and critics, and frieze, no. 104 (January-Februaty2007), which began 2007 with a
review ol the "Best in An, Music, Film, Design, Books" from the preceding year.
153. Eivind Furnesvik,"Phantom Pains: A Study of Momentum: Nordic Festival of ContemporaryArt
( 1 9 9 8 a n d 2 00 0 ) a n d th e Jo h a n n e sb u r gBie n n a le (1995 and 1997)," i n Jonas E keberg,ed.' N ew
lnstitutionatism,Verkstedno. 7 (Oslo: Office for ContemporaryArt Norway, 2OO3)'41.
154. See Vivian Rehberg's review in frieze, no. 112 (January-February2008)' 50-51 .
1 5 5 . B r u c e W . F e r g u so n a n d M ile n a M . Ho e g sb erg,"Tal ki ng and Thi nki ng about B i enni al s:The
Potentialof the Discursive,"in Filipovic,van Hal, and Ovstebs, The Biennial Reader,361-375.
Fi l i povi c,vanH al ,and
1 5 6 . S e e w w w.b b c2 o Og .n o fo r m o r e d e ta ils,a n d thesubsequentpubl i cati onof
Ovstebo, The Biennial Reader.
1 5 7 . B o u t o ux,"A T a le o f T wo Citie s,"2 ' 15 .
15 8 . E n w e z orin vite dCa r lo s Ba su a ld o ,Ute M e ta Bauer,S uzanneGhez, S arat Maharaj ,Mark N ash,
and Octavio Zaya.
tco
to consider Documenta 12's three leitmotifs-ls modernity our antiquity?What is bare life? What is to
be done? The first Documenta 12 magazinewas assembled to summarize these debates in a "journal
of journals" published as Georg Schollhammer, ed., Documenta 12 Magazine No. 1, 2007 Modernity?
( C o l o g n e :T a sch e n Gm b H, 2 0 0 7 ) , with issu e s 2 a n d 3 fol l ow i ngi n the spri ng and summer oI 2007.
Each issue offered a perspective-elaborated jointly by more than eighty editors of journals-on one
(accessed10 Januo l t h e c o r e t h em e s o f Do cu m e n ta1 2 . Se e www.d o cumenta.l 2.dei magazi ne.htm
ary 2O07).
1 8 4 . B a u e r .i nte r vie wwith th e a u th o r .
1 8 5 . E n w e z o r ,in te r vie wwith th e a u th o r .
186. Carlos Basualdo,"The Encyclopediaof Babel," in Documental 1 Platform 5: The Catalogue, 60.
187. See Enwezor, "The Black Box," 53.
s n d th e A nti nomi esof a Transnati onalGl obal Form," i n
1 8 8 . O k w u i E n we zo r , "M e g a - Exh ib itio n a
MJ-Manifesta Journal: Biennials,no. 2 (Winter 2003-Spring 2004)' 31
3 C u r a t i n g a s a M e d iu m o f Ar tistic Pr a ctice
1 . J u s t i n H o ffm a n n , "Go d ls a Cu r a to r ," in Ch r is toph Tannert, U te Ti schl er, and K unstl erhaus
Bethanien. eds., MIB-Men in Btack: Handbook of CuratorialPractice (Frankfurtam Main: Revolver,
2004),10e.
2. See Pierre Bourdieu, The Field of Cultural Production (New York: Columbia University Press,
19 9 3 ) , 2 6 1.
3 . T h e o d o r W . Ad o r n o a n d M a x Ho r kh e im e r ,"T h e C ul ture Industry:E nl i ghtenmentas Mass D ecepIion," in Diatectic of Enlightenment,trans. John Cummings (Dialektikder Aufklarung,1944; London:
Verso Classics, 1997), 120-1 67.
4 . S e e i b i d . ,1 2 1 .
5. Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture lndustry (1972; London: Routledge, 1991), 108
6 . l b i d . ,1 0 9 ; se e a lso 1 0 7 - 1 3 1 .
7 . l b i d . ,1 0 1 .
8 . l b i d . .1 0 7 : se e a lso 1 0 7 - 1 3 1.
.
9. For an excellent theorization of the curator as mediator, see Soren Andreasen and Lars Bang
L a r s e n ' s" T h e M id d le m a n :Be g in n in gto T h in k a b o u t Medi ati on,"i n P aul O'N ei l l ,ed., C urati ngS ubi ects
( L o n d o n :O p en Ed itio n s;Am ste r d a m :De Ap p e l,2 OO7),20-30.
10. tbid.
11 . t b i d .
'12. tbid.
1 3 . R a y m o n dWillia m s,Ke ywo r d s( L o n d o n :F o n ta n aP ress,1983)' 204' i tal i csi n ori gi nal .
"H aral d S zeemann's
1 4 . H a r a l d S ze e m a n n cite d in F a b ie n Pin a r o lia n d K arl a G. R oal andi ni -B eyer,
Biography (Bern, 1933-Tegna,2005)," in Florence Derieux, ed., Harald Szeemann: lndividual Meth'
o d o l o g y ( Z u r i ch :JRP Rin g ie r ,2 0 0 7 ) , 1 9 5 .
1 5 . S e e B r u ce F e r g u so n ,"Exh ib itio nRh e to r ics,"in R eesa Greenberg,B ruce Ferguson,and S andy
Nairne, eds., Thinkingabout Exhibitions(London: Routledge, 1996)' 178
16. tbid.
158
1 7. tb id.
1 8. tbid .
19 . lbid .,1 79 .
20. Greenberg,
Ferguson,
and Nairne,Thinking
aboutExhibitions,2.
21 . Ferguson,
"Exhibition
Rhetorics,,,
176.
22. See FlorenceDerieux,"lntroduction,"
g_10.
in Derieux,HaraldSzeemann,
zJ.
o.
24. tbid.,179.
25. The thematicgroupexhibition
emergedas a formativemodelfor definingwaysof engagingwith
suchdisparateinterestsas exoticism,
feminism,identity,multiculturalism,
othernessano queerness.
As arguedin chapter2, the ubiquityof the biennialmodelsincethe 1990s-and the
consistency
of
suchexhibitions
in beingcenteredon an overarching
transcultural,
cross-national,
and inclusivethematicstructure-hashelpedto definethe modesof art'sengagement
with a varietyof sociopolitical
and globalculturaltopics.Throughtheirdiversityof outcomes,groupexhibitions
haveatsoofferedan
alternative
to moretraditionalWesternmuseumexhibitionparadigms,
such as the monographic
or
genreexhibition,
or the permanent
collection.
SeeOkwuiEnwezor,interviewwiththe author,Bristol.4
February2005.
26. BorisGroys,"on the curatorship,"
in Art power (cambridge,Mass.:Mlr press,2008),44_45.
27. See,in particular,
DanielBirnbaumand Sven-OlovWallenstein,
"Thinkingphilosophy,
Spatially:
Jean-Franqois
Lyotard'sLes lmmat6riaux
andthe Philosophy
of the Exhibition,,,in
DanietBirnbaumet
al., eds.,ThinkingWorlds:TheMoscowConferenceon Phitosophy,Potiticsand Art(Berlin:
Sternberg
Press,2008),123-146.
28. SusanStewart,"The Gigantic,"in On Longing: Narratives
of theMiniature,the Gigantic,the Souvenir,the Collection(Durham:DukeUniversity
press,1993),71.
29. tbid.
s0. tbid.
31- In spiteof the apparentcontradiction
in describing
one of my own projects,givenmy critiqueof
self-positioning
withinthe curatorial
field,thisdurational
exhibition
perhapsbestillustrates
my hypothesis.Fromthe outset,"Coalesce"
wasself-consciously
and explicifly
intendedas a practicalmeansof
testingout how all exhibitions
gathertheirformthroughthesethreespatialplanes.Tnereare many
otherexamplesof exhibitions
that haveconsidered
this spatialproposition,
althoughtessdirectly.In
eachcase,the curato(s)broughtboththe processual
conceptof curatingand the exhibition-as-form
to the fore.Whilealso relatingtheirprojectsto historicalcuratorialprecedents,
eachof theseshows
considered,exhibitiondesigncomponents,
a layeringof works,and elaboratinguponthe different
spatiotemporal
qualitiesof the finalexhibitionform.Includedin this long list wouldbe: ,,unExhibit,,
at
the GeneraliFoundation,
Vienna(2011);"voids"at Kunsthaile
Bern(2009);MartinBeck,s,,Aboutthe
RelativeSizeof Thingsin the Universe"
at Casco,Utrecht(2007);"protections:
This is not an Exhibition," KunsthausGraz (2006);JonathanMonk's"continuousprojectAlleredDaily,',
lcA, London
(2005);"MakingThingsPublic,"ZKM, Karlsruhe(2005);,,permaculture,"
poect Art centre. Dubtin
(2001);"Formless"at the PompidouCentre,Paris(1999);"The Instituteof Cultural
Anxiety,,'lCA,
London(1994);andso on.
160
S**
r]f.
-.:r-
S:-n:a-:
l+'::
"1,-
- -*2
-i::'?J::i:r'
.:,:ra-i:
rsa:a:i*L,-:l-C
iit:::r
rCr
r3Sff
?=
:at-r-g-=
":
Se: -,:,-- \r ='. 'A'cl: i,{acht Spass?.' in Jens Hoffmann. ed.. Ihe Nert Documenta Should Be
2:?. .., z' A.i sl rFranKurt am Main: Revolver.2004), 59.
Hoet. -An lntroduction."20.
tbid.
48. tbid.,21.
49. tbid.,20.
(1972),cited in "WhereAre the Artists?,"Buren's
50. DanielBuren,"Exhibitions
of an Exhibition"
contributionto Hoffmann,The NextDocumentaShouldBe Curatedby an Artist,26.
51- Buren,"WhereAre the Artists?,'26-27.
52. KynastonL. McShine,"lntroduction,"
in lnformation(NewYork: Museumof ModernArt, 1970),
1 41 .
53. Buren,"WhereAre the Artists?,"
30.
54. tbid.
55. Mark Peterson,cited in Hoffmann,The NextDocumentaShouldBe Curatedby an Artlst, 80-This
commentwas originally
madeas partof an OpenForumthattookplaceon www.e-flux.com.
56. Beatricevon Bismarck,"Curating,"
in Tannert,Tischler,and Kunstlerhaus
Bethanien,
MIB-Men
in Black,99.
5 /.
to to .
58. tbid.
59. NathalieHeinichand MichaelPollak,"FromMuseumCuratorto ExhibitionAuteur:Inventinga
SingularPosition,"
in Greenberg,
Ferguson,
and Nairne,ThinkingaboutExhibitions,23T.
60. tbid.
61. See Jean-MarcPoinsot,"Art and lts Contextor a Questionof Culture,"in De(ieux,Harald
Szeemann.23.
62. For a full listof contributors
to the project,its touringhistory,a detailedbibliography
and a state(accessed10 February2009).
mentby the curators,see www.curatingdegreezero.org
63. BarnabyDrabble,interviewwiththe author,London,28 April2005.Seealsowww.curatingdegreezero
.org.As the archivetours,it alsogathersnewmaterialfromthe particular
networksof the hostvenues.
Mostof the curatorsin the archivefavorworkingtogetherwith artistsand otherpractitioners,
rather
than with discreteobjectsor existingartworks.As part of an ongoingresearchprojectdedicatedto
collatingand archivingthe work of freelanceor noninstitutional
curalors,anist-curators,
new-media
curatorsand collaborative
curatorialgroups,the archiveis an essentialresourcefor any interested
researcher
withinthe field.lt alsohasa usefulWebsiteand onlinebibliography
o{ literature
cataloged
as partof the archive.In general,the makeupof the archivearticulates
curatingas a mutating,differential,discursive,
multifarious,
and unlixedindividualdiscipline.Eachtime the archiveis displayed,
Drabbleand Richterinvitean artist,artists'collective,
the archiveandsupplya
or curatorto reinterpret
designedsupportstructurefor displayof the material.For example,whenthe exhibition
took placeat
lmperialCollege,London,in 2005,Artlab(artistsCharlotteCullinanand JeanineRichards)recycled,
remade,and reusedexistingelementsfromtheirsignature
brownand whitesculptures
and produced
an environmentin whichto displaythe archive.The artistssuppliedseating,tablesand towering
tb l
162
' .::=
+
---i
:- - z- .- =- a=
.--
{ + - E=
z: 2- z:.zE-
: l-c
- - = :'.-
- ,:r
'- E+- :
- ,1i :r
-.
N o t e s t o P a g e s ' 1 0 4- 1 0 5
163
"Dialectical
in A/DSRiot,278-279.
GroupMaterialism,"
89. See Drobnick.
as Virus:Generalldea'sBookshell1967-1975,"in Fern
90. AA Bronson,"Mythas Parasite/lmage
Bayer,ed.,The Searchforthe Spirit:Generalldea 1968-1975(Toronto:Galleryof Ontario,1997),19.
91 . tb id.,19 -20.
Summitat the BanffCentreon
Curatorial
92. In his keynoteaddressfor the Banff2000International
issuesin contemporary
curating,
thethird
threerecurring
24 August2000,BruceFergusonhighlighted
See MelanieTownsend,
and authorialstructures."
betweencollaborative
of whichwas "thedifference
"TheTroubleswith Curating,"in MelanieTownsend,ed., Beyondthe Box: DivergingCuratorialPracflces(Banif,Canada:BanffCentrePress,2003),xv.
(Frankfurt:
Revolver,
2005).
93. See Ren6Blockand AngelikaNollert,eds.,CollectiveCreativity
94" Seewww.spike-island.org.uk/?q=node/285
theirambitiouslstanbulBiennialof 2009,"WhatKeeps
is notedthroughout
95. Suchan assessment
MankindAlive?,"in whichthey portrayedan alliedbut nonunifiedglobalaft multitude,while being
of theirselection.For example,in the catalogessay,theystatedthat
explicitaboutthe demographics
28 percentol the artistsselectedwere born in Europeand NorthAmerica,but 45 percentare now
twentytwowere livingoutsideol theircountryof
residingthere.Of the seventyartistsrepresented,
artistsoriginallybeingfromthe MiddleEast,eighteenfrom EasternEurope,ten
origin(twenty-seven
fromWesternEurope,fivefromCentralAsia,and so on).Thuswithlessthanhalfof the artistsresidprovidingan
represented,
differentnationalities
thirty-eight
ing in the.West,therewere nonetheless
indicationof the diasporicnatureof the art worldvia a curatorialstatement.See What How and for
Whom (WHW),What Keeps MankindAlive? Guide to the 11th lstanbulBiennial(lstanbul:lstanbul
for CultureandArts,2009\,22-27.
Foundation
of JeremyMillar'sinclusionof the helmetwornby DonaldCampbellduring
96. Thiswas reminiscent
"TheInstitute01CulturalAnxiety"at
his successful
worldlandspeedrecordattempt,in the exhibition
Arls in 1994.In fact, in exhibitionscuratedby anists-from Joseph
the Instituteof Contemporary
at the BrooklynMuseum,New York (1990)to Hans
Kosuth's"The Play of the Unmentionable"
(1996)and"MixedMessages"
at
Haacke's"ViewingMatters"at the MuseumBoijmansvan Beuningen
the Victoriaand AlbertMuseumand the SerpentineGallery(2001),and from RichardWentworth's
"Thinking
Aloud"at the CamdenArtsCentre(1999)to numerousdisplaysby FredWilson,MarkDion,
objects
and Cummingsand Lewandowska-theinsertionof everydayand historical
HaimSteinbach,
trope.
has becomea curatorial
intoarl exhibitions
Att Monthly,no.275 (April2OO4),7-1O.
97. See PaulO'Neill,"l Am a Curator,"
Gallery,London,5 November-14
98. Seepressrelease{or"PerH[ittner:I Am a Curator,"Chisenhale
December
2003.
displaysystemwas puzzlinggiventhat
99. The presenceof Condorelliand Wade'stransformative
display.Wade,
contextfor eachpotentialexhibition
the galleryitselfprovidedan efficientarchitectural
with both Huttnerand Macugaon numerousprojects,also provided"support
who has collaborated
systems"for the aspiringcurator.Aimedat assistingdecisionmaking,theseincludeda listof thingsto
do if you were stuck;a selectionof gamesincludingJengaand Connect4; phonenumbersof wellcuratorsfromhisown"littleblackbook"of curators;contactdetailsof localmateknowncontemporary
rial suppliers,shopsand merchantsand an excellentlibraryof literatureon curating.Manyof these
supportive
elementscouldhaveproducedtheirowncohesivecuratorialprojectand,likeotherexhibitiondesignsby Wade,the presenceof an overallcentralsupportstructurealreadyproduceda rather
were
displayaesthetic.See O'Neill,"l Am a Curator,"10" Both of these exhibitions
all-enveloping
placedat the
mediatedas the workof the artistwiththe nameof the artistandthe titleof the exhibition
164
Notes to Pages 1
.14-123
Curator,"Arf
117. Storr,"ReadingCirclePart One,"27. See also PaulO'Neill,"The Co-dependent
2005),7-10.
Monthly,no. 291 (November
30 March2005.
withthe author,Brooklyn,
118. RobertStorr,interview
119. SeeBarthes,"TheDeathof the Author,"146.
120. lbid.,147.
''12'1
. See Storr,interviewwiththe author.
122. tbid.
withBoris
wasan art projectby AntonVidoklein collaboration
123. http://www.unitednationsplaza.org
NikolausHirsch,Tirdad
Groys,JalalToufic,LiamGillick,MarthaRosler,NataschaSadrHaghighian,
Zolghadr,and WalidRaad.
programin Curatorial
Knowledge
at Goldsmiths,
Univer124. Rogoffis alsodirectorof the MPhil/PhD
sityof London,since2007-Fordetailsof thiscourse,see http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/visual-cultures/
php
curatorial-knowl.
125. See Bartde Baereand lrit Rogoff,"LinkingText,"in MikaHannula,ed.,Stoppingfhe Processj
(Helsinki:NIFCA,1998),129. In anotheressay,Rogofl
Viewson Arl and Exhibitions
Contemporary
"Take
Obrist'scuratedexhibition
furtherillustrates
her positionthrougha critiqueof bothHans-Ulrich
Me (l'm Yours)"atthe SerpentineGallery,London(1995),and ChristineHill'sThriftShop at Docupredicated
on a predetermined
strategy.See
as exemplars
of modelsof participation
menta10.(1997)
in Hannula,Stoppingfhe Process,142.To illustrate
lrit Rogoff,"How to Dressfor an Exhibition,"
Rogoff'spositionfunher,one could also include,as examples,many subsequentexhibitionsthat
suchas "UtopiaStation"at
and socialinteraction
invokedprescribed
modesof audienceparticipation
posters,and bags
of publications,
the 2003VeniceBiennale-whichinvolvedthe readydistribution
aftistsassoci(designedby AgnesB) to visitors-andthe practiceof manyof the "service-providing"
Aesthetlcs(Dijon-Quetigny:
Les
ated with RelationalAesthetics.See NicolasBournaud,Relational
Aesthetics"
was the term used by Bouniaudto representthe
Pressesdu R6el,2002)-"Relational
duringthe 1990s,such as LiamGillick,Dominique
commoninterestsof a groupof artistspracticing
He definedrelational
art as a "setof artisPhilippeParreno,and RirkritTiravanija.
Gonzalez-Foerster,
and practicalpointof departurethe wholeof humanrelatic practiceswhichtake as theirtheoretical
and privatespace."Relationalaesthetics
tionsand theirsocialcontext,ratherthan an independent
theoryconsistingin judgingartworkson the basisof the
was definedby Bouniaudas an "aesthetic
inter-human
relationswhichthey represent,produceor prompt"throughcommonforms of aftistic
practicethat transcendtheir objectivityto includeparticipation
and programmedsocialinterstices
betweenpeoplewithinthe contextof the exhibitionevent.See 112-113and 114. For a critiqueof
and Relational
Aesthetics,"
Bourriaud's
analysisof art in the 1990s,see ClaireBishop,"Antagonism
"CuratorandArtist,"and PaulO'Neill,"CuratOctober,no. 110(2004),51-80.SeealsoFarquharson,
2003-January
2OO4),7-1O.
Arf Monthly,no.272 (December
ing U-topics,"
142.
126. See Rogoff, "Howto Dressfor an Exhibition,"
45.
127. Groys,"OntheCuratorship,"
"l Curate,You Curate,We Curate,"10,
128. Farquharson,
1 29 . tb id.,7 - 10.
in RichterandSchmidt,CuratingDegree
Criticism,"
130. GenrudSandqvist,
"Context,Construction,
Zero,43-44.
in Hannula,Stoppingthe Process,239.
131. MariaLind,"StoppingMy Process?A Statement,"
166
Notesto Paoes123-126
14 . tbid.
'
142. Eric Troncy, interviewwith the author, 28 October 2005.
143. Filipovic,van Hal, andAvsrcba,The Bienniat Reader,239_240144. Alongside the emergent idea of exhibitions as discursive events, considerable
concession is
now made to interdisciplinarydiscussion,talks, conferences,and educationalprograms
as an jntegral
part of museum programs, mega-exhibitionsand an fairs alike, accommodatrng
the partjcipationof
less materializedand more discursive modes of group practice. Historically,these
discussions have
been peripheralto the exhibitionas such, operating in a secondary role in relation
to the display of art
for public consumption' More recently,these discursiveinterventionsand relays have
Decomecentral
to contemporarypractice;they have now become the main event or',exhibition.,,This part
is
of a wider
"educationalturn" in art and curating, prompted by considerationof
the recurrentmobilizationof pedagogtcal models within vartous curatorialstrategiesand cntical aft projects. projects
that manifest this
engagement with educationaland pedagogicalformats and motifs diverge in terms
of scare, purpose,
modus operandi, value, visibility,reputationand degree of actualization.They include
the ,,platforms,,
of Documenta 11 in 2OO2;education as one of the three leitmotifs of Documenta
12 in 2OO7;the
unrealizedManifesta6 experimentalart-school-as-exhibition
and the associatedvolume, lvotes for an
Art school; the subsequent unitednationsplaza and Night schoo/ projects; protoacademy;
cork
caucus; Be(com)ing Dutch: Eindhoven caucus; Future Academy; paraeducation
Departmenti
cop,enhagen Free University; A.G.A.D.E.M.y.; Hidden curriculum; Tania Bruguera's
Afte de con_
ducta in Havana; ArtSchoot Patestine;Manoa Free l.Jniversity; Schoot of Missing Studles
in Belgrade;
ArtSchool UK; The Centre for PossibteStudies in London, and so on. This is just
a short list, serving
to indicatethe broad distributionof the work placed under considerationby the term ,,educational
turn,,
and to note the propensity of this work to foreground collective action and collaborative
discursive
praxis. These initiativesquestion how we might restructure,rethink
and reform the way rn which we
speak to one another in a group setting. Without oversimplifyingthese projects,they
can generally be
described as a critique of formal educationalprocesses and the way these processes
form subjects,
but they also suggest a kind of "curatorialization"of education whereby the educative process
often
becomes the object ot curatorialproduction,and when the discursiveframework is
as much about the
curatorial in action as the organizationof an exhibitionspace for the display of objects
or ideas. See
O'Neill and Wilson, Curatrng and the Educationa! Turn, and Mick Wilson, "Curatorial
Moments and
DiscursiveTurns," in O'Neill, CuratrngSub/ecfs.
to/
INDEX
Abu ElDahab,
Mai,80
A.C.A.D.E.M.Y.,167n144
Activelyresidualelement(Williams),
03_34,46
Adorno,TheodorW.,88_89,99, .126
Advenising,
13,1B,20-21
Aestheticvalue,58
Agamben,
Giorgio,
53
Agency,of exhibitions,
2, 39,61,87,89_90,97,
102
artistas agent,8e-99, 102
curatoras agent,25, 29, 32, 43,73,g8_89,
.10 0,
1 02 ,1 1 0,123,131n1
.vieweras agent,11
"A-historische
Klangen,',
30
Al-Ani,Jananne,
146n17
4
Alberro,Alexander,21,33, 133ng,137n52
Alloway,Lawrence,13
Altay,Can,160nS3
Altshuler,
Bruce,14,39
"Americana,"
106,109
Andre,Carl,15,22,l38nn65_66
Andreasen,
Soren,137n60
Anselmo,
Giovanni,
134n1g
Anthropological
turn,54,56,59,68,15.1n62,
15 3n 97 ,15 4n 106
"Anti-lllusion:
Procedures/Materials,"
16
"Anywherein the World:DavidMedalla,s
London,"
16Sn1
01
Araeen,Rasheed,56
Armaly,Fareed,104-1Os
Arman
Le Plein,13
AN
consumption
ot,57, 63,68,72,75, 1OO,
112
167n144
as dtscursive
practice,1g
as materialpractice,1g
Ar t &L a n g u a g e , 1 i 6
Artaud,Antonin,29
An discourse,
33,42,7i ,90-9.1
. Seea/soArt:
as discursive
practice;Arl history;
Criticism,
art
Ane P o v e r a , 1 61,3 4 n 1 8
Art event,61,72
Art farrs,69,73,77, 143n149,167n144
Ad history,
4,39, 41,45,60,66,83_85
Aft institutions.
13.35.82,85
Artistas ethnographer,
54.Seea/soAnthropo_
Iogicalturn
Ar t is t- c u r a t 1o ,r3, , 6 , 1 9 ,1 0 5 - 1 1 01, 1 1 , 1 1 2 ,
124,161n69
Artisticexperience,
71
"Artists'
Favourites:
ACT I and 11,,,
114,115,i 16
Ar t lab l,1 0 , 1 6 1 n 6 3
Art magazines,
3, 28,38,49
170
Tony,139n78
Bennett,
BergenBiennial
, 46, 48,67,77-78
"TheBergenBiennialConference,"
46,48,67
Frederique,
111,122
Bergholtz,
BerlinBiennial,
53,67,73,78,147n1
124
Bernadette
Corporation,
Beuys,Joseph,29, 80
Bewley,
Jon,134n28
Bezzola,Tobia,133n9
HomiK., 149n28
Bhabha,
Ursula,160n33
Biemann,
Bienalde SdoPaulo,70,77,78,147n2,
153n95
"Biennale!
ArtistFilmandVideo,"76
5, 36,61,63,64,67,69,
Biennale
di Venezia,
72,73,78,80, 118, 141nn'116,118,
147n2,
1 4 8 n 7 1, 5 6 n 1 4 61,6 5 n 1 0 51,6 6 n1 2 5
Biennials,
5-6, 44,46,51-85, 147nn1-2,
148n6,
153n95
model,5, 54,62,72,76,80,84,
biennial
159n25
curatorsof, 5-6. 35-36.44. 47,54,62-63,
7 1-72, 73, 77, 81, 85, 153n97
model,67,80, 141n1
nomadic
biennial
16
BikVanderPol,110
Birnbaum,
Daniel,140n90,
141n1
18,146n174,
159n27
Bishop,
Claire,10,133n4,166n125
Bismarck,Beatricevon,22,27, 95, 99, 137n56
Blandy,David,160n33
BlauweHuis,Het,160n33
Blazwick,lwona,71
Block,Ren6,164n93
Bloor,SimonandTom,120
"BIownAway:Sixthlnternational
Caribbean
74,75,124
Biennial,"
Mel,137n52
Bochner,
Bock,John,1 10
E.,134n18
Boetti,Alighiero
160nn32-33,
163n85
Bohm,Kathrin,
5, 46, 51, 54,67, 69,78,
Bonami,Francesco,
18,146-147n174,
80,81, 118,141n1
150n38,165n105
Mahen,157n159
Bonetti,
Bos,Saskia,140n90
Boubnova,lara,36
Bourdieu,Pierre,68, 87, 100-102
Nicolas,
32,35,97, 127,147n174,
Bourriaud,
166n125
Boutoux,Thomas,45,62,78
Index
BoyceMa
, rtin,1 65n110
Bradley,Jessica,68
Brenner,
Neil,148n8
Brenson,Michael,5, 35,46
Breton,
Andr6,133n5
Brett,Guy,134n28,165n101
Bronson,
AA,106
Broodthaers,Marcel,27, 138n7O
Bruguera,
Tania
Afte de Conducta, 167n144
Bryan-Wilson,
Julia,38
Buchloh,BenjaminH. D.,27, 28, 42-43,55,
149nn'17-18,150n44
Buchmann,
Sabeth,133n10
Buck-Morss,
Susan,72
Budak,Adam,35, 146n174
Buddensieg,
Andrea,148n12
Buerghel,
RogerM.,157n183
Buren,Daniel,27, 44, 98, 138nn70-71
Biirger,Peter,10,27, 138n71
Burnett,Craig,146n174
Burnham,Jack,136n47
Bussman,
Klaus,29
Bydler,Charlotte,
62, 150n38
Cage,John,22,137n52
Calderoni,
lrene,16,18,133nn9,1
1
Cameron,Dan,140n90,146n174
Camnitzer,
Luis,135n34
Campbell,Donald,164n96
Candlin,
Christopher
N., 132n6
Canell,Nina,160n33
Carlos,lsabel,146n174
Carrington,
Sarah,165n101
Catalogs,exhibition,
3, 4, 15, 40, 43-44,74,81,
'
90,97-98,108
catalog-driven
discourse,
44
Cattelan,Maurizio,
74, 75, 100,146n17
4
"Cave,"'112
Celant,Germano,
16,134n18
Centrefor PossibleStudies,The,167n144
Chagall,Marc,30
Homageto Apollinaire, 30
"Chambres
d'Amis,"29
Chanarin,
Jacqui,112
Chandler,
John,136n40
Charlesworth,
J. J., 146n174
Christov-Bakargiev,
Carolyn,35, 78, 135n28
"Citieson the Move,"63, 64
Cladders,
Johannes,143n143
Index
Clark,Ron,131n4
Claxton,Ruth,120
Clifford,James,54, 68, 139n78,149n29,
153n97
Closed-off
exhibitionmodel,12O,122
"Coalesce,"
93-96, 159n31,160nn32,33
Co-curating.
SeeCollaboration
Cofes,Alex,54, 146n174
Collaboration,
5-6, 89, |06, 108-t10,128-129,
163n85,167n144
in curating,6, 36, 52, 55, 62,78-75,ej , BS,
108-110, 116-1 18, 120,122,129,
161n63,164n92,167n144
"Collective
Creativity,"
108
Collectivism,
65,80, 108-110
Collectors,
19,39,53,136n36
Collins,Tricia.SeeCollins& Milazzo
Coflins & Milazzo,14On9O
Comer,Stuart,132n1
Commissioned
works,28, 29,121,163n84
Commonality,
44, 144n155
Communication
chain,25
Completework,exhibition
as, 15
Complexity,
36
Conceptual
aft, 18-22,33, 103, 1O5,124,
135n34
Condorelli,
C6line,112,120,164n99
Connectivity,
44, 110,117,148n6
Constructivism,
10,11, 27
Contemporaneity,
54
Contextualization
of art,40
Contextualization
of space,40
Convergence
of artisticand curatorial
practice,
6, 14,87, 105, 110, 122.Seeatso
Artist-curator
Cooke,Lynne,140n90
"Coollustre,"
128
Copenhagen Free University, 167nl 44
Coproduction,
6, 44,93,95,108, 120,127,129
CorkCaucus,167n144
Corporealinvolvement,
11,92
Corrin,Lisa,134n28
Cotter,Suzanne,146n174
Coupland,Nikolas,132n6
Craddock,Sacha,135n28
Creativity,
as movementor llow (Deleuze),
25
Critic-curator,
17
Criticism,artt,26-28, 39, 44, 54
Critiqueof institutions
(Biirgeo,27. Seeatso
Institutional
critique
110,161n63
Charlotte,
Cullinan,
22
Culturalcirculations,
Culturalevent,62, 99, 132n11
Culturalfield,6, 34, 66, 102,129
32, 1O8,124
Culturalinstitutions,
1, 66, 74, 84, 87, 88, 90,
Culturalproduction,
100-102, 108, 110, 122,127
Culturalworkers,62, 65
Cultureindustry,6, 72-73,88-91
Cultureof curating,7
110, 164n96
Cummingsand Lewandowska,
"Curatedby,"32,46
100,101,
"Curating
DegreeZeroArchive,"
161nn62-63
Critic-curator
Curator.Seea/soArtist-curator;
as agent,25, 28,32,43, 73, 88-89, 100,
102, 110, 123, 131n1
amateur,45
as arbiterof laste,1, 30, 71
5, 14,28,34,57,79,
as auteur/author,
99-100, 111, 121, 122-123,126-128,
145n167
as cater,9,47
as creator,14
of, 9, 19,25, 32-38, 46,
demystification
151n59
36, 99
as facililator,
global,47, 65, 69
invisible,
32-33,128,151n59
as mediator,1, 4, 9, 14,18-22,25-27, 38,
43,66,71,73,88-89,137n60
162n80
nomadic,
5, 47,73-74,154n106,
procreative,
127,129
16,88,91,96, 102,104
as producer,
of, 28, 37, 151n59
remystification
oI,7, 34,41, 44, 45, 159n31
sell-positioning
n59
of, 32-35,46, 15'1
supervisibility
as write r,4,19, 56
38-39,45, 144n162
anthologies,
Curatorial
1-7, 9, 26, 32, 34, 38, 43,
Curatorialdiscourse,
46,69,74,91, 110
gesture,4, 42, 43,57, 80
Curatorial
history,41, 43, 103.Seea/so
Curatorial
history
Exhibition
7, 4142
knowledge,
Curatorial
models,52, 79, 98, 103-104,
Curatorial
162-163n80
model,6, 56, 78,
singlycuratedexhibition
85, 120, 122(seea/soCurator:as auteur/
author)
17 2
praxis,1, 6, 14,26,32,38,40,72,98,
Curalorial
104
research,18,41, 54,8 1, 99, 110, 122
Curatorial
rhetoric,11O-116,127
Curatorial
36,38,41,44,59,61
statement,
Curatorial
22, 105,116
structure,
Curatorial
training,2, 3, 38, 46, 144n160
Curatorial
vocabulary,
32
Curatorial
1-7, 14, 21,22, 38-39, 43, 46, 49,
Curatorship,
51-52,84, 87-91,97,99, 110, 121-123,
126-127
formsof, 6, 36, 52, 55, 62,
collaborative
.,|20,
78-:79,
81,85, 108-110,116-118,
122,129,161n63, 164n92,167n144
c o n t e m p o r a r1y, ,3 - 4 , 9 , 2 6 , 3 8 , 4 3 ,6 5 ,6 6 ,
100, 116, 123,127, 129,144n162,164n92
approaches
to, 6, 46,77,95,116,
dialogical
118,128-129
professionalization
of, 43, 45, 99
89
as transformative,
34, 36-38,79
transparency,
exhibiiions,
116
uber-curated
29
Czech,Hermann,
Dada,10, 27, 1O8,138n70
70
DakarBiennial,
10,133nn5,9
Dali,Salvador,
Daly,Patrick,160n33
29
Gabriele,
D'Annunzio,
44, 56,57,59,66,78,81,
David,Catherine,
140n90,14 1n118, 145n172,146147n174,150n38
Davies,Anthony,143-144n155
Dawood,Shezad,146n174
TrainingProgramme,
De AppelCuratorial
144n160,163n80
De Baere,Bart,120,124,140n9O
Decter,Joshua,27, 32
Gilles,25, 153n92
Deleuze,
55
Deliss,Cl6mentine,
Deller,Jeremy,110, 146n174, 162n75
practices,19,21-22
Dematerialized
91, 133n9
Florence,
Derieux,
63, 69-70,82
Deterritorialization,
45
De Zegher,Catherine,
Anne,143n143
D'Harnoncourt,
108
DIAFoundation,
Dibbets,
Jan,15
132n8
Diers,Michael,
l ndex
Dillemuth,
Stephan,143-144n1Ss
Dion,Mark,27, 13BnZ0,164n96
Discourse
production,
85, 122
Discourse
theory,3, 6,4245
Discursive
approaches
to curating,6, 1OB,129
Discursive
formation(Foucault),
3, 6-7
Discursive
practice,curatingas,22,42
Discursive
space,70, 81, 82, 8g
Discursive
turn,33
Displaced
viewership,
75
Displaypractices,11-13, 18,21, 39-40,71.
92-95, 105-106, 112,117,133n8,
16 1-1 62 n63, 164n99
Dissensus,
6, 65, 84
Distribution,
oI aft,21,68, 72,89, 90, 106
Documenta,
44, 69,70, 72, g2-83,141n116,
147n2,157n'175
Documenta
5, 26-27,gg, 13gn65
Documenta
7, 28
Documenta
9, 44, 61,9Z
Documenta
10,44, 59,66,79,81
Documenta
11, S, 44,51, 59,69,70,78-79,
82-84, 154nn106,11O,114, 167n144
Documenta
12, 81, 83, 157-15en183,
167n144
Doherty,Claire,14Bn10, 149n23
Dominant,residual,
and emergent(Williams),
25-26,33.-34
Dorner,Alexand
er, 13,4O41, 42, 'l42n1gg
Drabble,
Barnaby,
100,101,140n90,
149n154,
144n162, 161n63
"Dramatically
Different,"
128
Draxler,Helmut,38,47
Drobnick,
Jim,105,163n88
Duchamp,Marcel,1O,22, 29,40, 1O2,
'
13 3n n5 ,9,138n70
Mileof String,11,12
Duncan,Carol,60, 159n23
Durational
process,117, 128
Duyn,Ednavan,144n160
Eagleton,
Terry,141n121
Ecoledu Magasin,2,
163n88
Educational
turn,167n144
Eliasson,Olalur,74
Elliot,David,146n174
Elmgreenand Dragset,11O
"Emblematic
Display,"
165nl01
Emergent.
SeeDominant,
residual,and
emergent
Index
fotmal,22, 38
Exhibition
guides,114
Exhibition
Exhibition
history,3, 5, 14,39-42,46.Seea/so
history
Curatorial
Exhibition
maker,10, 14, 16,22, 46, 134n17
22,78,122
Exhibition
moment,
35
Exhibition
of discourse,
"Exhibition
11,
of NewTheaterTechnique,"
133n8
14,19,21,98
Exhibition
organizer,
Exhibitions
market,85
"Exhibitions
114
of an Exhibition,"
Exhibition
space,9-13, 40,66,71,82, 91, 93,
11 7,1 19
Experience
of art, 10-1 1, 36, 40, 44, 53,61,71 ,
83,92
Extantworks,5, 28
13
Extraterritoriality
, 6,70, 81,83,154n1
Fabro,Luciano
TheJudgmentof Paris,30
Faiseurd' expositions,14
Farquharson,
Alex,32, 124,126,127,146147n174,162-163n80,165nl 10, 166n125
Farver,Jane,135n34
Fasold,RalphW., 132n0
Ferguson,
BruceW.,44, 53,77,90, 144n156,
148n9,149n17,164n92,167n137
Feni,Jakup,160n33
FILEMegazine,1OG
Filipovic,
Elena,46,71, 74,153nn95,1
04,
156n156, 157n163
Filter,artistas, 118-119
narratives,
7, 45
First-person
Fischer,
Konrad,16
"557,087,"
14-15,16, 134n14
Flanagan,
Barry,15
Flatpack,110
Fleck,Robert,'134n17
Fletcher,
Annie,34, 36, 122,140n90
Flexibility,
1 1,1 10,112,117, 122
Flood,Richard,146n174
Fluxus,16 ,108
Flynt,Henry,135n34
Fontana,Lucio
AmbienteNero, 13
Foreground,
92-93
"Formless,"
159n31
Foster,Hal,2, 27, 54,57, 149n17
174
Foucault,
Michel,3, 6,42, 122-123
Fox,Oriana,160n33
Mark,5, 51, 55, 149n17
Francis,
Fraser,Andrea,27, 28, 132n1, 138n70
Freee,160n33
F r e i ,L u c a , 1 1 0
Friedrich,
CasparDavid,29
Frieling,
Rudolf,10,133n4
Frost,David,143n143
Fuchs,Rudi,5, 28,30,31, 140n90
Eivind,75
Furnesvik,
Future Academy,167n144
Gance,Abei,29
Rachel,146n174
Garfield,
Gaudi,Antoni,29
Generalldea,105-108,124,160n33
Geopolitical
discourse,
82-84
"Georgeand DragonPublicHouse,The,"
'1 6 5 n 1 0 1
Gesamtkun stwerk, 28-29, 139n77
156n158
Ghez,Suzanne,
154n106
Gibbs,Michael,
Gielen,Pascal,66
GilbertandGeorge,108
Gili,Jaime,160nn32-33
, 18-120,
Gi l l i c kL, i a m 3
, 0 ,4 3 , 1 0 3 ,1 1 0 , 1 1 7 1
128,135n28,145n162,'|'57n171,
162n75,
16 3 n 8 11, 6 5 n n110 - 111 , 1 6 6 n n 1 2 3 , 1 2 5
141n1
18,146n174,
Gioni,Massimiliano,
154n106
29
GlassChainmovement,
Teresa,135n28
Gleadowe,
5, 6, 52,62,66,72,73,78,148n0
Globalism,
148n6
Globalization,
53, 148n8
Glocalization,
Laura,135n28
Godfrey-lsaacs,
Goldberg,Roselee,146n174
Dominique,
166n125
Gonzalez-Foerster,
10
BrasiliaHall,165n1
Felix,163n88
Gonzalez-Tones,
Goodwin,Clare,160n33
Gdtz,Lothar,160n33
Graham,Dan,21,27, 128,'137n52
Janna,160n38
Graham,
Grammel,Sarcn,146n174
58, 60, 80, 84
Grandnarratives,
Walter,|37n56,138n67
Grasskamp,
G r a y , Z o E , 1 4n111 5
lndex
G r a y s o n ,R j c ha r d ,j3 4 n 2 8
G r e e n ,R e n 6 e ,1 3 g n 7 0
G r e e n b e r g ,R e e sa ,3 8 , 4 4 , 5 3 , g O, 1 2 7 ,
1 5 4 n 1 0 6 ,1 5 5 n i2 7
G r i f f i n ,T i m , 1 41 n 11 9 , 1 4 7 n 1 7 4 ,1 5 0 n 1 3 8
G r i z e d a l eA n s , 1 2 1
G r o s s ,A n t h o n y,7 6
G r o u p e x h i b i t io n s.j_ 7 , 1 6 ,2 8 , 3 1 _ 3 2 ,3 9 ,
56,
7 0 , 9 1 . 9 4 , 9 8 , 1 0 2 _ 11 0 , 1 2 9 , 1 4 3 n 1 4 9 ,
15 9 n 2 5 , 16 3 n 8 0 .Se e a /so Bie n n ia ls
G r o u p M a t e r i a l,1 0 5 _ .1 0 61, 0 8 , 1 0 9 , 1 6 3 n n 8 6 ,8 g
G r o y s , B o r i s ,91 ,1 2 0 , 1 2 4 , 1 6 6 n j2 3
G r Z r n i i ,M a r i n a,1 0 4
G u t t e r m a n ,S c ott, i3 l n 4
G w a n g j uB i e n n ia l,7 0 , 1 4 7 n 1
H omogeni zati on
of cul ture,S 1, gg, 14gn6
H ooper-Greenhi lE
l , i l een,139n78
Der,,,2g_29
of your
Inoex
175
120
spatialarrangement,
Interruptive
lrwln,10 8,11 0
lsanovic,Adla,160n33
63,67,70,72,78,81, 147n1
Biennial,
lstanbul
,
164n95
Jacob,MaryJane,29, 140n90,156n149
Jakob,143n155
Jakobsen,
Jameson,Fredric,60, 68
Jantjes,Gavin,56
"January
5-31,1969,"16,17
Adam,132n6
Jaworski,
Susan,135n30
Jenkins,
70,72,78,79,147n1
Biennial,
Johannesburg
,
157n159
Jones,Kellie,157n159
Judd,Donald,138nn65-66
Lewis,133n5,9
Kachur,
Tellervo,160n33
Kalleinen,
Wassily,29
Kandinsky,
160n33
Kandl,HelmutandJohanna,
Kane,Alan,110
Kantor,SybilGordon,133n9
Kaprow,
Allan,13,112
Karp,lvan,14On94,149n21
104
Keller,Cristoph,
Edward,16
Kienholz,
11,40,133n8
Kiesler,
Frederick,
Kim,Yu Yeon,'157n159
Udo,146n174
Kittelmann,
Kivland,Sharon,134n28
Klein,Yves
Le Vid e,1 3
Koch,Alexander,104
Oliver,160n33
Kochta-Kalleinen,
Jutta,104
Koether,
Konig,Kasper,29, 140n90
Koolhaas,Rem,34
Kortun,Vasif, 56, 63,72, 78, 81, 146n174,
150n38
164n96
Kosuth,
Joseph
, 19,22,25,14On94,
Jannis,134n18
Kounellis,
Kovats,Tania,163n85
69, 70
Kravagna,
Christian,
Kuoni,Carin,144n162
Kuvmeyer,Roman,133n9,140n102
4, 156nn149-l 50
Kwon,Miwon,54,74, 149n1
56, 139n83,
149n17,
Johanne,
Lamoureux,
154n106
Langdon,James,120
L a p pA
, lex,154n106
La Villette,30
Lawler,Louise,105,138n70
Leering,Jean,'14,143n143
Lepetit,Cyril,I60n33
Le Va, Barry,138nn65-66
LeWitt,Sol, 15,22, 137n52.138nn65-66
16
Licht,Jennifer,
Limrnalzones,60
Lind,Maria,1 16, 118-120, 121, 125,126-127,
140n90,145nn162,171
, 147n174,163n84
James,134n28
Lingwood,
Lippard,Lucy,4, 14-15, 16, 41, 134n14,
135n30,136n40,137n51
El,10,11,40
Lissitzky,
AbstractCabinet,11
"LittleBit of HistoryRepeated,
A," 126
Peter,112
Liversidge,
London,Barbara,135n28
"London
in SixEasySteps,"114,115, 165n101
Lueg,Konrad,16
36,53,67,77,147n1
LyonBiennial,
58, 91-92
Lyotard,Jean-Franqois,
M2Mradio,160n33
Dean,73
MacOannell,
Macuga,Goshka,92, 11O,1 I 2, 163n81, 164n99
Kabinettder Abstrakten,112, 113
"Magiciens
de la terre,Les,"5, 30, 51, 54-60,
153n97,154nn1
06,110
69.84,149n17,
Maharaj,Sarat,156n158
"Making
ThingsPublic,"159n31
Malevich,Kazimu,29, 112
Manifesta,
36,67,78,79-80,141n116,
146n174,157n163, 167n144
ManoaFreeUniversity,167n144
Marcus,
GeorgeE., 149n28
146n174
Mari,Barthomeau,
Marincola,Paula,144n162
5, 30, 51, 55-56,58-60,
Martin,Jean-Hubert,
85
, 4n106
1 4 0 n 9 01, 4 9 n n 1 7 - 1 1
Martin,Sarah,134n28,143n154, 144n162
154n1
18
Mafiin,Stewart,
Chus,146n174
Martinez,
Martinez,Rosa,78
150n45
Max, Karl,81, 136n42,
I\,4aterial
objectivity,22
M a y o , N u r i a En g u ita ,3 6
creative,65_66
Murphy, patrick, 31
Museographi cal
emergency(Tri ni ),1S
Mystificationof the artisticprocess,
34
Myth,37, 43,142n122
M c B r i d e ,R i ta , 1 6 5 n 1 1 O
McCarthy, paul
T o m a t oH e a d ,1 2 g
M c C o l l u m ,A lla n , 1 2 8
M c C r e a ,R o n a n , 1 1 1 , .1 6 0 n 3 3
M c E v i l l e yT
, h o m a s,4 0
M c G r e w ,A n th o n y, 1 2 9 , 1 4 7 n 3 ,1 5 1 n n 6 3 ,6 6
M c S h i n e ,K y n a sto nL ., 1 6 ,9 8
Medium specificity,22
M e i j e r s ,D e b or aJ,, SO,3 1
M e r z , M a r i o ,13 4 n 1 9
M e r z , M a r i s a,i3 4 n 1 g
Mesquita, lvo, 57, 68, 7A, j47n1
Meyer, Franz, 143n145
M e y e r ,J a m e s, 5 4 , 7 3 , 1 4 7 n 1 7 4 ,1 5 0 n n 3 8 ,4 3 ,
15 5 n 14 0
Middleground,92-93
Milazzo, Richard.See Collins & Milazzo
M i l l a r ,J e r e m y , I 1 0 , 1 3 5 n 2 8 ,1 4 0 n 9 0 ,.1 6 4 n 9 6
M i l l e r ,J o h n , 4 7,5 2 ,6 0 _ 6 1
,9 7 _ 9 8 , 1 0 5 ,
M i n i m a l i s m3,
"Mixed Messages,,'.l64n96
Mobility,gtobat,7g
M o d e r n i s m ,9 , 1 1 , g 9 _ 4 0 ,4 5 , 5 5 , 6 0 ,
M o n k , J o n a t h an ,1 5 9 n 3 1
M o n t e ,J a m e s , 1 6
M o n t r e a lB i e n nia l,1 4 7 n 1
. M o r i , M a r i k o ,7 4
Morris, Frances, 134n2g
Morris, Roberl, 22, .l3gnn65_66
M o r r i s ,S a r a h , 12 9
Morlon, Tom, 1 4Sn167, 1 46_147n174,
1 5 6 n 1 4 7 , 16 5 n 1 0 1
M o s l e y ,J o n a t h an ,1 6 0 n 3 3
M o s q u e r a ,G e r ar d o ,5 6 , 6 0 , 6 g , 1 5 7 n 1 5 9
M u i r , G r e g o r ,1 65 n 1 0 1
M u k a , E d i , 1 4 6 n i7 4
M u l t i t u d e5
, 2 , 6 3 -6 6 , 6 9 , 8 5 , 15 2 n 7 5 ,
153-1 54n 106
rnoex
.i6 3 n 8 7
N i ckas,R obert,14On90
N i el sen,Tone O., 146n174
N i ght S chool ,167n144
N obl e,Jem, 160n33
Nochl i n,Li nda, 141n119
Nol an,l sabel ,16On3O
N ol l en,A ngel i ka,164n93
Nonpl an,117,122
N ordgren,S une, 134n28
Norvell, Patricia,13Sn33
129,139n78,147n2
m o d e r n i s td isp la y,4 0 ,7 1 , 1 1 2
Moholy-Nagy, Leszlo, 19, 40
M o i s d o n ,S t 6 p ha n ie ,A6 ,7 7 , 7 9
M o n d r i a n ,p i e t , i0 , 2 9
M u l l e r ,D a v e , 1 ' 1 0
M L i l l e rH
, a n s - J o a ch im1, O3 n 9
M u l t i p l i c i t y6, 9 , g O,1 1 7 , 1 2 2
Osten,Marionvon, 110
Otherness,56-58, 73-7 4, 159n25
bvslebo,Solveig,
48, 153n95,156n156
Padilha,Eduardo,160nn32*33
Paolini,
Giulio,134n18
Department,167n144
Paraeducation
122,124
Parainslitutions,
Pardo,Jorge,165n1
10
Parreno,
Philippe,
163n81
, 166n125
Pa rso ns,
Be n,112
Pasquinelli,
Matteo,152n188
Patha,Catherine,
165n101
Pedagogical
approaches
to curating,6,77, 90,
129
Pedrosa,Adriano,78
134n18
Penone,
Giuseppe,
"People's
The,"106
Choice,
Performativity,
87, 116, 118, 120,127
global,59-60, 62-63,67,69-70,83
Periphery,
"Permaculture,"
159n31
Peterson,Mark,98-99
Petherbridge,
Deanna,134n28
Pethick,Emily,140n90
Peyton,Elizabeth,
88
Phelan,Garrett,160n33
Ph ela n,
Pe gg y , 151n59
Phillpot,
Clive,134n28
Pierce,
Sarah,110-111, 160n33
TheMeaningof Greatness,111
Pinaroli,
Fabien,158n14
Pistoletto,
Michelangelo,
l34nl 8
"Places
witha Past,"30, 156n149
Plagens,
Peter,14,15
"Playof theUnmentionable,
The,"140n94,
164n96
Pluralism,
5, 54,57-60,70,71,150n45,
cultural,
155n139
Tadej
Pogadar,
P.A.R.A.S.l.T.E.
Museumof Contemporary
\rt,124,160n33
161n61
Poinsot,
Jean-Marc,
153n78,
Pollak,Michael,
99
Popart,3
Apinan,78
Poshyananda,
Postcolonialism,
5, 56-59,82, 139n78
16
Postminimalism,
Postmodernism
, 54,57-60,71, 139n78,150n45
Poststructuralism,
11, 22, 1O2,122
110
Price,Elizabeth,
"Primitivism
in 20thCentury
Art,'55,69, 149n17
Proactive
viewer,11
art, 18
Process-oriented
"Protections:
This ls Notan Exhibition,"
159n31
Protoacademy,167n144
Putman,
James,135n28
Qu6loz,Catherine,132n12
Raad,Walid,166n123
Raat,Marko,160n33
Rancidre,
Jacques,152n84
'110
RaqsMediaCollective,
"RealEstate:Art in a ChangingCity,"165n101
"RealMe,The,"165n101
Reception
of art, 11, 13, 90, 156n150
ReenaSpaulding'sFineArt, 124
Rehberg,
Vivian,156n154
Rehberger,
Tobias,74
Reich,Lilly,40
Relational
166n125
aesthetics,
Relationality,
11,28,95, 117,120,129,160n34
Renton,
Andrew,36,79, 135n28
Reputational
economy,34, 35, 66, 122
Residual.
See Dominant,
residual,
and emergent
Richards,
Colin,157n159
110, 161n63
Richards,
Jeanine,
Richter,Dorothee,100, 101, 103, 143n154,
144n162,161n63
Ricupero,
Cristina,146n174
Rigby,Scott,112
Rist,Pipilotti,
74
KarlaG., 158n14
Roalandini-Beyer,
Alain,22, 137n52
Robbe-Grillet,
Roberts,
David,139n77
Robertson,
Roland,148n8
Dorothea,138nn65-66
Rockburne,
Rodchenko,
Aleksandr,
40
Rogoff,lrit,22, 82, 83, 120,124,139n78,
157n182,166nn124-125
Rosenthal,
Norman,146n174
Rosler,Martha,70, 138n7O,
147n174,150n38,
166n123
Rothkopf,
Scott,141n11I
"Rotterdam
Dialogues:
The Curators,"
20, 35,
37, 46,141n115
Rubin,William,
55
Ruf,Beatrix,146n174
tnoex
Inoex
StedelijkMuseum, Amsteroam,
13, j34n23
S tei nbach,H ai m, 164n96
Steiner, Rudolf, 29
S temmri ch,Gregor,132n2,j 3B n73
S tevens,l sabel ,51
Stewart, Susan, 92
Stimson, Blake, 33
Stokker, Lily van der, 128
Storr, Robert, 34, 56, 45,
56, 122_124, 127,
144n161,146-147n174
Storytelling,curating as,
91
S uperfl ex,110, 163n8.1
1 0 , 1 1 ,1 2 ,1 o B ,1 ] , 2 , 1 3 3 n n 5 , e
!u11ea]ism,
Susteriid,Apotonija,104,
16Sn84
Syberberg,
HansJr.irgen,
29
Symbolic
value,29,35
ar""T:T, Haratd,4,
s, 16,17,22,26_27,
28_29,30,33,41,42,79,
80,90, 98, 104,
126,.133n9,134n17,137n55,.140n90,
'143n145
Szymczyk,
Adam,134n28,140n90,146n174
"Take Me (l ,m yours),,,
1 17
Tan, E ri ca, 146n174
t1 0
transcultural
curating,5, 52, 56, 60, 70,
84-85,159n25
18
Trini,Tommaso,
Troncy,Eric,127-128,140n90
Truffaut,Frangois,'160n42
Tucker,Marcia,16
Tyrannyof the curator(Meyer),73
"unExhibit,"
I59n31
Urry,John,156n142
"UtopiaStation,"80,
117,118,124,157n171,
166n125
Barbara,78, 116,140n90,
Vanderlinden,
'153n104,
|57n163
Varian,Elayne,136n45
Varnedoe,Kirk,55
Venice.SeeBiennaledi Venezia
Venlet,Richard,160n33
Alice,132n12
Vergara-Bastiand,
150n38
Vergne,Philippe,
Vergo,Peier,139n78
70, 156n151
Marcus,
Verhagen,
Vidokle,Anton,94, 110,124,125
124, 125, 166nl 23
unitednationsplaza,
"ViewingMatters,"140n94,164n96
66, 152nn75,88
Virno,Paolo,65,
22, 39
Visuality,
Vogel,SabineB., 153n95
"Voids,"
159n31
"Vonhieraus,"29
Wade,Gavin,43,95, 105, 11O,112,120,127,
143n154,144n162,146n174,163nn81,85,
164n99
Wagner,Richard,29, 139n77
Florian,80, 145n172
Waldvogel,
159n27
Wallenstein,
Sven-Olov,
Andy,112
Warhol,
Cow Wallpaper,128
Warren,Sophie,160n33
Watkins,Jonathan,1O2,122,135n28
Watkins,Robin,160n33
Watson,
Grant,92, 1 l1, 121,140n90
162n75
Gillian,
Wearing,
128
"WeatherEverything,"
Weil,StephenE., 139n78
Weiner,Lawrence,19-20, 21, 22, 25,27,
132n11
, 138n71, 160n33
180
an
978-0-262-01772-5
tlfirnurflr
,lllJl[||llXllill|UU