‘One’s work in a creative field is autobiographical as reflection of one’s interests, values and sensibilities’
(Rand,
p.7, 2007).
In the project
Rephrasing Memory that I have realized together with Oscar Roldan Alzate I was
always inspired by personal connections. In Fragemented Narration, I see a
stronger link with personal attachment, involved with the realization of the
project that is being curated.
In
an interview with curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, Walter Hopps said, ‘to me, a body
of work by a given artist has an inherent kind of score that you try to relate
to or understand. It puts you in a certain psychological state.’ (Hopps, p.31,
2007)
The understanding
of a curator should be broad and sensitive, regarding the work that is
exhibited. There must be knowledge that goes beyond the visual presentation of
an exhibition. Communication with an artist should be on a personal level.
Active engagement with an artist’s work is a central part of curating that
requires dialogues and the forming and reforming of opinions between the
curator and the artist. In Fragmented Narration this method will be applied.
When curating a
new project the involvement of earlier aspects discovered in a practice based
artwork should be present. The elements that I would consider in this new
curatorial project, are closely related to the idea of autobiography and
environment. Certainly the methodology of working on a curatorial project
should not be consisting of autobiographical elements only, but also with the
motivation consisting of ideas relating to the personal and the intimacy of a
project.
Surely the artist
nowadays is not always connected to the work that is displayed. The person
behind the work might not be important when viewing an exhibition. I think that
the importance of the personal connection of an artwork is often made by the
way it is displayed. This is an aspect I would like to reconsider when thinking
of curating.
Location
influences the circumstances of an exhibition enormously. The work might be disconnected
to the location where it is exhibited or the work might have an intense
relationship with the location. What does the work bring to the location where
it is exhibited? Does the work give something to the community, what kind of
social interaction will take place?
In
the essay about Temporary Artistic Communities in When Attitude Becomes Form I
was interested by the comments made by Piero Gilardi.
‘My
proposal was to put social life and therefore the work symbolic interaction in
its social context in a dominant position.’ ( Giraldi, p. 237, 2008)
For me this is an
example where we can speak of real engagement disconnected from immediate
commercial strategies. The artist is in some cases present and communicates
with the public in a direct way.
‘This
necessarily takes it beyond the norms and conventions of an object-based art
world, rather seeing it as a function of my work to transform peoples’
perceptions of a deterministic culture of objects and monuments, into the
possibilities inherent in the community between people, the richness of its
complexity and self-organization. The artwork having a dynamic, interactive
social function.’ ( Willats, website 2011)
Once again I am
interested in the personal level of communication and the idea of a wider meaning
of an artwork. The curator should also be aware of the social engagement of art
during the process of creating an exhibition.
In my proposed project the
social engagement would be important. Whether this is made by the final outcome
of the exhibition or by being part of the artwork that the curatorial group is
dealing with.
I think the
aspect of the physical experience during the exhibition is important and
propose that this is done by using performance art in combination with visual
art. This could be made possible by working together with a set group of
artists that work with such an approach and use similar methods during the
process of creating an exhibition.
Sarojini Lewis
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