There seems to be an undertow of distress; so let me reframe the question of artist-as-curator in a different way. It's healthy and sometimes desirable for artists to be in a "room of their own" (metaphorically) and then show/share work when it has marinated enough (in whatever measure: hours, experiments, breathing space). Being a curator requires being more outward bound, which can break the "slow time" needed to make work. There's no tautology here, and many artists manage this balance well (Raqs, Bose Krishnamachari) and in the future there will probably be more.
On Apr 13, 2012, at 10:04 AM, Cynthia Beth Rubin <c...@cbrubin.net> wrote: > Simon and all > > Nice comparison to theatre - it points out what the visual art world is > becoming. . . Theatre has always been a communal activity -- at least in > modern times. The actors bring their wonderful skills to the stage, but they > know the boundary of their creative input. The ultimate vision is that of > the director and the writer. > > Is the curatorial role turning the presentation/public exhibition of artwork > into a collaborative event, or even one in which the artist (visual) is only > executing the vision the curator (director)? > > Visual art, for better or worse, in recent time (last 150 years at least) has > been considered a solitary activity. I personally, as an artist, am less > interested in the "lone ranger" version of art-making. In this model, the > artist retreats to the studio, produces stunning and personal work, and then > spends endless amounts of time courting curators who find the artist just at > the right moment, when that personal work is in tune with the curators > vision. In turn, the vision of the curator must be in tune with the trend of > the moment. Woe to the artist who is several years out of sync - especially > so far ahead of his/her time that the curators think it is rubbish because > they do not understand it. So the role of the artist becomes one of second > guessing the curators, who themselves are second guessing the public, > institutions, grant-makers. > > Visual art has to become communally produced on some level. I am interested > in how artists can take an active role in doing this, and I have been part of > various efforts to invent, or expand upon, new models of communal exhibitions > which are hybrid in that they are not communal works, not "juried" shows > (hate that) but are exhibitions of new work that artists create for an > exhibition which is shaped by a group. We announce the guidelines, the > theme, the parameters, and ask that artists share as they develop their work. > > We need curators for historical perspective, and we need curators to help us > with their experience in navigating the production of exhibitions. In this > model, the artists who are organizing the exhibition are also producing work > alongside the exhibiting artists. they are equally exhibiting artists. They > need to be vested in the process. > > more later - this is a busy time and I will not be able to respond until > tonight or tomorrow - however all of this is immensely interesting. Thanks > for the discussion, > > Cynthia > > Cynthia Beth Rubin > http://CBRubin.net > > > > On Apr 12, 2012, at 8:15 PM, simon wrote: > >> Dear <<empyreans>>, Johannes, >> >> respectfully, isn't what you are talking about in regard to Kafka's Wound as >> >> "where the paratextual or paramedial dimensions can emerge" >> >> simply theatre? >> >> and isn't the Death of the Curator a repetition of the death of the >> director, from about the '80s - it is particularly German theatre I am >> thinking of, the generation of Peter Stein - ? >> >> and in cinema in the '90s the bruited about "death of the auteur"? >> >> In theatre it seems to me that the post-interpretative director, Robert >> Wilson, epitomises a curatorial attitude/method when he becomes the >> ring-master for the circus of collaborators and collaboration going on >> around him, witness his work with the two Heiners, Mueller and Goebbels, >> about whom there is something mismatched and yet apropos, or the great >> failed project The Civil Wars - an internationally curated theatre work. >> >> Best, >> >> Simon Taylor >> >> www.squarewhiteworld.com >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> empyre forum >> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >> http://www.subtle.net/empyre >> > > _______________________________________________ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au > http://www.subtle.net/empyre _______________________________________________ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
