Maria Lind, "Selected Nodes in a Network of ... - doublesession
Maria Lind, "Selected Nodes in a Network of ... - doublesession
Maria Lind, "Selected Nodes in a Network of ... - doublesession
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SECTION 1<br />
EXPANDED FIELDS<br />
SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF<br />
THOUGHTS ON CURATING<br />
<strong>Selected</strong> by Liam Gillick<br />
SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF THOUGHTS ON CURATING<br />
first appeared <strong>in</strong> Words <strong>of</strong> Wisdom: A Curator's Vade Mecum<br />
on Contemporary Aft, edited by Car<strong>in</strong> Kuoni and published by<br />
lndependent Curators lnternational <strong>in</strong> 2001 .<br />
27. SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF THOUGHTS ON CURATING
SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF THOUGHTS ON CURATING<br />
While driv<strong>in</strong>g my car today I was rem<strong>in</strong>ded <strong>of</strong> how much snow can<br />
transform one's experience <strong>of</strong> the landscape. What was totally<br />
black suddenly and literally becomes light, and the mystical sounds<br />
<strong>of</strong> the forest are replaced by silence-like hav<strong>in</strong>g a fur cap drawn<br />
over one's ears and tied tightly under the ch<strong>in</strong>. The familiar road<br />
becomes strange, slippery as glass, tak<strong>in</strong>g on new contours. I make<br />
a great effort to avoid the huge snowdrifts and stay on the road.<br />
Our electric company is taken by surprise when a power outage<br />
deprives thousands <strong>of</strong> households <strong>of</strong> electricity <strong>in</strong> the w<strong>in</strong>ter cold and<br />
darkness. Truck drivers, however, resolutely attach ploughs to their<br />
vehicles and clear even small roads more quickly and thoroughly than<br />
I remember from before.<br />
For me, art cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be, <strong>in</strong> competition with other phenomena<br />
and means <strong>of</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g, the most complex and challeng<strong>in</strong>g<br />
form for process<strong>in</strong>g the experience <strong>of</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g human <strong>in</strong> all its facets.<br />
Art is very suitable for test<strong>in</strong>g ideas and thoughts, for question<strong>in</strong>g<br />
and challeng<strong>in</strong>g the condition <strong>of</strong> th<strong>in</strong>gs, but also for galvaniz<strong>in</strong>g<br />
words, for mov<strong>in</strong>g to act. Art can be a test<strong>in</strong>g ground, a platform for<br />
<strong>in</strong>vestigations <strong>in</strong> which the concrete and the abstract, the specific and<br />
the general, can share the same space at the same time. At worst,<br />
art carries an apparatus as large and clumsy as that <strong>of</strong> a feature film<br />
or amusement park; at best, it travels with the light luggage <strong>of</strong> an<br />
ornithologist or a hitchhiker.<br />
How can one comb<strong>in</strong>e skepticism with enthusiasm? Multiplicity with<br />
precision? Affirmation with criticism? How does one focus on-and<br />
respect-a pad and the whole at the same time? These are questions<br />
that <strong>of</strong>ten crop up <strong>in</strong> my work as curator. The lust to discover, to<br />
explore and question, is paramount, as is see<strong>in</strong>g each project as a<br />
discursive situation. Much <strong>of</strong> my <strong>in</strong>spiration and energy comes directly<br />
from the artwork and the artists with whom I spend a lot <strong>of</strong> time. I am<br />
keen to be an enabler, to create the best possible circumstances for<br />
the aftists (<strong>in</strong> this context, artists' fees are someth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> a question<br />
<strong>of</strong> honor). I prefer to take the art itself as my po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>of</strong> departure for<br />
speculation and reason<strong>in</strong>g, rather than start at the other end with<br />
theory or politics, or with an academic approach that seeks the<br />
smallest common denom<strong>in</strong>ator. ln other words, I prefer go<strong>in</strong>g from the<br />
29. SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF THOUGHTS ON CURATING
<strong>in</strong>side out than from the outside <strong>in</strong>; project<strong>in</strong>g to reduc<strong>in</strong>g; digest<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
illustrat<strong>in</strong>g; osmosis to be<strong>in</strong>g a parasite.<br />
For me, the card<strong>in</strong>al pr<strong>of</strong>essional tool is precision. Just as the person<br />
who curates an exhibition <strong>of</strong> classical pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g must be attentive to<br />
the nuances <strong>in</strong> the colors <strong>of</strong> the walls, the light<strong>in</strong>g, the exact distance<br />
between the works, so must I be vigilant about the place, time, length,<br />
and form when work<strong>in</strong>g with each <strong>in</strong>dividual project, large or small.<br />
Each situation must be carefully analyzed and evaluated. Does it call<br />
for a traditional exhibition or some other form <strong>of</strong> presentation? This<br />
also <strong>in</strong>volves giv<strong>in</strong>g a thought or idea, a piece <strong>of</strong> work or an artist,<br />
time-time to allow someth<strong>in</strong>g to mature, to resist a raw, ,,disposable,'<br />
consumer mentality. Art can exist <strong>in</strong> many different ways, but the<br />
habitual, familiar, and rout<strong>in</strong>e is <strong>of</strong>ten stronger than new ideas per se. I<br />
want to be sensitive to an artwork's own logic: if it doesn't fit the white<br />
cube or an <strong>in</strong>stitutional frame, it should not be forced to. When art<br />
ventures out to explore the surround<strong>in</strong>g realities, we who work with it<br />
must follow. Both art and its curator would benefit if the latter would<br />
follow the artist's lead a little more <strong>of</strong>ten.<br />
To work with different k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> art projects is to create contexts <strong>in</strong><br />
relation to and <strong>in</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ation with other exist<strong>in</strong>g contexts. ln order<br />
to avoid plac<strong>in</strong>g too much emphasis on a physical location and a<br />
certa<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>tellectual discourse, I try to be more context-sensitive than<br />
site-specific. This is less about an anxious adaptation <strong>of</strong> postmodern<br />
architecture to its surround<strong>in</strong>gs, and more about a sensitivity to<br />
situations and a challenge to the status quo-be<strong>in</strong>g context-sensitive<br />
with a twist. This can mean <strong>in</strong>itiat<strong>in</strong>g a retrospective exhibition <strong>of</strong> a<br />
neglected middle-aged artist; a s<strong>of</strong>t thematic suruey <strong>of</strong> Nordic art<br />
<strong>in</strong> the 1990s with a historical reference to its predecessors <strong>in</strong> the<br />
1960s and 70s and commissioned by a foreign museum; a series <strong>of</strong><br />
commissions for which the museum that employs me functions as a<br />
production site, distribution channel, and discussion forum; or it can<br />
mean tak<strong>in</strong>g the temperature <strong>of</strong> contemporary aft by <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
<strong>in</strong> collaboration with the artists, its relationship to architecture and<br />
design. This can also entail develop<strong>in</strong>g other forms for discussions,<br />
such as th<strong>in</strong>k tanks; or it can <strong>in</strong>volve establish<strong>in</strong>g other forms for the<br />
mediation <strong>of</strong> aft altogethe¡ such as a whole new structure with which<br />
to l<strong>in</strong>k together-perhaps even on a small scale-an art, a culture, and<br />
a public that seldom encounter each other.<br />
I tend to th<strong>in</strong>k <strong>of</strong> my approach to curat<strong>in</strong>g along similar l<strong>in</strong>es to those<br />
<strong>of</strong> the artists I am <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong>, many <strong>of</strong> whom work with models<br />
and projects, parallel situations and scenarios. lt is not a question <strong>of</strong><br />
show<strong>in</strong>g what has already been stated, either on the level <strong>of</strong> content<br />
or form, but about test<strong>in</strong>g someth<strong>in</strong>g that is at least partly new, about<br />
work<strong>in</strong>g towards outcomes that are not clear before they are realized.<br />
A lot <strong>of</strong> the art that <strong>in</strong>terests me possesses a high density- it can<br />
appear simple, even banal at first glance, but it grows exponentially<br />
when one devotes time and attention to it. lt is slow burn<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
<strong>in</strong>candescent rather than explosive, and it <strong>of</strong>ten grows on you. Both<br />
for the aft I work with and for me personally, it is key to relate to<br />
everyday experience and to utilize art's ability to communicate and<br />
create discursive situations. Critique here is like salt, dissolv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to<br />
whatever it is applied to, also giv<strong>in</strong>g a dist<strong>in</strong>ct taste. Don't just choose<br />
randomly from the readymade dishes on <strong>of</strong>fer-recipes must be<br />
reformulated for every occasion.<br />
The state and municipal art <strong>in</strong>stitutions are public spaces whose<br />
impodance is not dim<strong>in</strong>ish<strong>in</strong>g. ln a not so distant future, when<br />
television and the lnternet are no longer able to attract people <strong>in</strong><br />
the same way as today, art <strong>in</strong>stitutions will be among the few public<br />
places with someth<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>of</strong>fer-enterta<strong>in</strong>ment and diversion, <strong>of</strong><br />
course, but also reflection and question<strong>in</strong>g. At the same time, many<br />
<strong>of</strong> these <strong>in</strong>stitutions have arrived at an impasse, where they face<br />
an identity crisis. To get out <strong>of</strong> this situation, I agree with the social<br />
theorist, activist, and Harvard law pr<strong>of</strong>essor Roberto Mangabeira<br />
Unger, who proposes a k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> practical test<strong>in</strong>g-an <strong>in</strong>stitutional<br />
experimentalism <strong>in</strong> which us<strong>in</strong>g one's imag<strong>in</strong>ation is central. This also<br />
means hold<strong>in</strong>g one's own aga<strong>in</strong>st corporate <strong>in</strong>volvement and, not<br />
least, f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g other ways <strong>of</strong> communicat<strong>in</strong>g about art.<br />
30. SELECTED MAFìIA LIND WRITING 31. SELECTED NODES IN A NETWORK OF THOUGHTS ON CURATING