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[new] curating criticality (Avg. Score: 3.00 / Raters: 1) (#10)
by ryangriffis on Thu Oct 23rd, 2003 at 06:51:53 PM EURODISCORDIA TIME
(User Info) http://www.yougenics.net/griffis

hi all,

"What did the facilitators learn from their organizational experience? How did they manage to go beyond token event in a privileged (maybe educational) setting? What were the results? How did they get funding for their programs or exhibitions? How can I contact them to collaborate with them on a new project aiming at setting up constellations of productive discontent? What were the conceptual means they used to address specific political situations?"

All very good questions that should definitely be discussed. As one who is fairly new to independent curating and with little connections, i have to say that the openness and willingness of those with some power to re-distribute power in ways other than the token events you mention is crucial. i think this also means being open to expanding contexts. my experiences have given me the impression that many initiatives are really about the appearance of events, so a lot of work may go into building up to something, but the something always has a definite end in mind, whether it's a conference, workshop or exhibition. The context, from the get go, is already muted - and its political import thin.
but like you mention, the 90s showed how "context" can be used to create a niche market for cultural tourism - i.e. the spoleto festival model of site specificity - that, in the end, only reinforces decontextualization.
i agree that the Degree Zero Archive is a great project, but one that also has the tendency to decontextualize, as most archives do. i've been thinking of a notion of a "counter-archive," a practice that could cross-reference activities and case studies with tangential information, or both direct and indirect paths into a specific topic. at the moment, i've been influenced by mike davis' writings on california as a method (with rosalyn deutsche's crits as an addendum).
could a network of pragmatic problem solving (addressing the questions above) be integrated into the network of issue-oriented curating practice, making the practice more thoroughly political?
i don't know if any of my comments mean much, but i'm very interested in what all of you think as more experienced workers.
ryan

[ Parent ]

Bags full of books by Aileen, 10/23/2003 10:00:42 PM EURODISCORDIA TIME (none / 0)

Critical Curating | 12 comments

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