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[new] curating critique, critique of institutions (Avg. Score: none / Raters: 0) (#8)
by Anonymous Stranger on Tue Oct 21st, 2003 at 05:47:33 PM EURODISCORDIA TIME

hello everyone. ryan just made the remark that "institutional critique does seem to be in an interesting position at the moment" and if that is true, which I have no idea if it is or not, it could be a very positive thing. when robert smithson stated that "a work of art when placed in a gallery looses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world." I belive that he, in many ways, has a good point: the museum has a strong tendency to isolate what ever is showed inside its walls from the outside, making the museum the place for contemplation and the ouside world a place for work and sleep only. the problem is, however, that smithsons intention was to put art outside the institution instead of putting life inside the institution, i.e. smithson was more than willing to confess that he saw what is usually called art as activities superior to (all) other human activities. although I like lots of smithsons work aesthetically, his critique is, but didn´t have to be, an aesthetic one only.
todays debates (not only this one, but also generally) about critical curating, intsitutional critique etc has, I belive, a lot in common with the critique robert smithson stated. the "new" critique is also a critique which have a lot of points, I am the first to say that, but also a critique of the institution which is fruitless in its usual outside/inside polemics which, I belive, is rather pointless. maybe the question is not at all should we deliver critique from as outsiders or insiders but rather where will this particular project fit best and where will my next project fit best? I believe the debate regarding institutions is a more or less dead end from the beginning. an institution or a curating practice "containing its own critique" is in many ways as (un)useful as a conceptual artwork that contains its own critique: it does not lead anywhere except to itself. a constant critique from artists and curators etc. regarding their own proffesions does not gain anything more than the sleeping lefts non-existing critique of society in favour for the critique of itself (the big difference, though, is of course that the left is a 100 years behind while the curating critiques are up to date). what I am trying to say, I guess, is that I am not the one who really wants to tell you that critique of institutions is bad, but that it is insufficient.
this short statement is not at all ment to insult anyone (if it is insulting and dogmatic, I just claim it´s my lack of knowledge in english:), it is just a try to wider the discussion.
thanks. henning, malmo, sweden

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