Art Curation - Research Paper Example

Art Curation Introduction Art curation is a process through which artifacts are collected, organised and displayed in anorderly manner or in line with a given theme. The information is usually displayed in a strategic manner that gives a vivid picture of the specific topic or area of choice. Art curatorial practice is not a new feature in museums or in art galleries where curators have had to pick on items that they wish to collect and display. Art curation in museums is a rather complicated cognitive process that is under constant evolution during the 20thcentury (Barker, 1999). With the accommodation of terms such as performative, or self-reflexive, it is clear that curating is no longer only about exhibitions. This form of discourse proves that curating is slowly turning into a visible, self-critical and transparent process. The rising transformation and visibility of the exhibition since the 20th century has encouraged students to develop a motivation for engaging with the history of curation. On one hand, the transformation narrows down to the foundation of new institutions that accommodate for the exhibition of contemporary art, increasing temporalisation of museums as well as expanding the art market with countless art fairs and gallery shows(Vogel, 2013)1. Besides the need to renovate museums and enlarge their temporary exhibition spaces for marketing and other economic-related reasons, an artistic engagement with the museum’s collection has become a critical requirement for everymuseum. Regardless of the fact that these strategies are based on permanent collections, the presentation approaches have replaced the atemporal collection displaythat is viewed as rigid and authoritative(Altshuler, 2012)2. On the other hand, the art exhibition is changing to an extent that it encourages us to appreciate a range of typologies that overshadow the conventional formats of solo, group or thematic shows. The discourse in art curation considers the growth of new artistic practices that include institutional critique or conceptual art(Bourriaud, 2002)3. This essay will focus on Tate Modern art gallery in London. The four wings that make up the gallery function independently giving a precise coverage of the set themes. Such topics include poetry and dream, energy and process, transformed visions and finally structure and clarity. The terms given to the themes are still abstract, and they, therefore, give minimum guidance on what is available at the various wings. Only the poetry and dream theme directly assures the viewer that the art on the display is on surrealism and beyond. The thematic concept assumed by the curators is that when an audience first sees the art, the disjointed structure is similar to that portrayed by a temporary exhibition.Each of the autonomous wings gives the viewer a closed narrative concerning a given topic. As a result, the viewer enjoys a set of four different artistic approaches in the 20th century(Obrist, 2008)4. Permanent Collection at the Tate Modern London The Tate Modern London has the largest permanent collection of latest art in Britain. Figure 1The weather project in Tate Modern The gallery is one of the best modern art collections around the globe. The collection that is located in within an extensive ex-power station and the building itself inspire awe. The available collection and the schedule of the exhibition are not in a good state and, therefore, call for a breathtaking setting. The collections in the gallery are made up of artistic work of contemporary and modern art that dates back from 1900 to date. The collection displays are made up of four wings each. Each of the wings takes half of the main building’s floor space. The wings are named according to the theme or subject. Inside these wings, there exist several rooms that are designed to change periodically and portray the various worksin agreement with the overall theme of the wing. When the gallery was opened in 2000, the available collections were hung thematically and not in a chronological manner. The thematic hang is divided into four wide categories each given a wing on level 2 and level 4. The four broad groups comprised of history, body, landscape and real life. A chronological survey of modern art arrangement would have exposed the wide gaps that existed in the collections.As a result, the art gallery first rehung its permanent collection in 2006 and accommodated a thematic hang. The style of curatorial hang enables the gallery to focus on pivotal movements of the art developed in the 20th century.To develop some coherence, every Tate Modern wing starts by providing a comparison of two artistic works that were developed in different times. The juxtaposition is necessary to set the mood for the artistic display bound to occur. What usually followare some rooms that are wholly dedicated to a given theme or a specific artist. The current hang also gave room for the shorter exhibitions that would be carried out in between the wings. However, the change was hit by strong opposition from Burlington Magazine for its lack of continuity(Editorial, 2000)5. As a result, this thesis on the limitations of thematic hang comes about. Five years after the assumption of the thematic hang in the Tate Modern, the Burlington Magazine still complained of the sudden change in mood, appearance and information. These changes were thought to hinder the viewer from developing any sustainedcumulative knowledge.Regardless of the fact that modern curators such as Blazwick and Nittwewere not rounding up support for the evolutionist aspect of the chronological hang, it is quite clear that chronology is fast gaining foot and spreading fast like an epidemic (Blazwick and Wilson, 2000)6. Since its commencement in 2000, the art gallery has re-hung the permanent collection twice and still sticks to the same old thematic curatorial approach instead of changing with the passing time. The next section, therefore, discusses the implications, benefits and pitfalls of its indigenous curatorial design. Implications and Hindrances of the Tate Modern hang. The thematic curatorial approach has its advantages and several disadvantages. To begin with, the themed hang is flexible from its setting thus allowing for the viewers to draw key impressions between the various artists that would previously not be visualised. A thematic hang is, therefore, capable of displaying group works in terms of their ability to illustrate and reflect on a given subject. A chronological hang on the other hand is rounded towards putting an order in a range of movements in line with the action and reaction pattern. It has been favored traditionally to display art to the public in many sections of the world. The chronological hang gives an image of the seamless process of art development. It gives a process through which the art develops from one stage to a further complicated stage(Morris, 2006)7. The thematic approach as used by Tate Modern London gallery has a greater advantage over the chronological hang due to its ability to present modern day art. The sheer multiplicity of the 21st century art across the globe cannot simply be supported by a chronological hang, unlike a thematic curatorial approach. The thematic hang approach deployed by Tate Modern boasts of an ability to expose several readings without introducing the slightest view concerning the development of art. For this art gallery to choose such an approach, factors such as the actual layout and the size of the available space that call for a less systematic approach had to be considered (Blazwick and Wilson, 2000).8The thematic curation also comes with its limitations. For example, when a viewer is enjoying the Rothko’s Seagram Murals in the suite that is dimly lit, the overarching themes become irrelevant regardless of the bemusement associated with them. The historiographical issues at this moment become more of irrelevant as the viewer is overwhelmed by the joy of looking at art. 2 Mark Rothko Black on Maroon 1958 Tate. Any exhibition of the 20th or 21st century art is required to engage to a given extent with the existing historical debates and questions relating to art. The art galleries are therefore supposed to articulate the above considerations in such a manner that can be easily reflected upon by a wide array of audiences. This objective should be considered regardless of the complications related to achieving such a goal. Despite the presence of the department that is given the mandate to teach and interpret the artistic works to the viewers, the curators are the vital intermediaries who exist in between the art and the target audience(Kossmann, 2012). In reference to Carrier(2006), the curators are required to have a good understanding of their audiences in addition to a good background in scholarly knowledge. The curatorial approach that is adopted by Tate Modern although at times serendipitous9 hinders the accessibility of the artistic work. Itfails to provide adequate textual and visual information concerning the actual environment in which a given artist created his or her work. Any institution that looks forward to enhancing art through exhibitions has to consider the fact that art can overrun the boundaries of geography or time. Art is a product of a particular circumstance and it is therefore expected of such institutions to outline clearly the specific circumstances of a given work of art. A good example is in the thematic hang formulated by Tate Modern.The absence of contextual information is usually frustrating especially when one comes to look at artistic works that are highly conceptual. The Tate Modern’s energy and process wing has such art referred to as the Arte Povera works. These artistic works were primarily designed to explore various materials and found objects that constantly refer to the classical past of Italy. The Italian past includes the political and social issuesthat took place back in the 1960s. Figure 3 turning one's Eyes inside out However, the thematic hang approach that is used by Tate Modern obstructs it from addressing such historical aspects in its four wings.In figure 4 below, the artistic work carried out by Giuseppe Penone on the twelve-meter trees appear to lack any form of information amidst a range of visually jarring works that are often not connected contextually. Figure 4 Conclusion In conclusion, the thematic hang embraced by Tate Modern gives a punctual artistic experience where it only emphasizes a variety of selected moments in time instead of giving a deeper picture of the artistic work. It becomes more complicated when trying to obtain a sense of the elements highlighted by the collection since the artistic works are not located at one point. The works are more of scattered around the four wings that are totally unrelated. We can, therefore, state that the thematic hang in Tate Modern encourages a greater mediation by curators where anyone viewing the arts can think about what is shown in the exhibitions and how it is done. The target audience is encouraged to think about the history of art as a multiplicity of stories and not just one history. The Tate Modern’s thematic hang thus emphasizes on adeep artistic reflection on the current items on display.The permanent collection affiliated with Tate Modern is, however, a difficult task as it calls for the viewers to challenge their imaginative and thinking capacity. It results in a complicated and involving activity that does not give viewers a direct chance to learn about the cultural or fashion aspects of various artistic works. Bibliography Altshuler, B. (2012). A Canon of Exhibitions. Manifesta Journal No. 11, 2010/2012, 5. Barker, E. (1999). Contemporary Culture of Display. Open University. Bourriaud, N. (2002). Relational Aesthetics. Les presses du réel, Dijon, 18. Carrier, D. (2006 ). Museum skepticism: a history of the display of art in public galleries. Durham, London: Duke University Press. Editorial. (2000, August). The Tates: Strutures and Themes. Burlington Magazine, p. 480. Iwona Blazwick and Simon Wilson (eds.). (2000). Tate Modern: The Handbook. London: Tate Publishing. Kossmann, H. (2012). Narrative Spaces: on the art of exhibiting. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers. Morris, F. (2006). Tate Modern: The Handbook. London: Tate Publishing, pp.24-25. Obrist, H. U. (2008). A Brief History of Curating. Zurich, Dijon: JRP Ringier & Les Presses du Reel, p. 7. Vogel, F. (2013, December). Notes on exhibition history. (New) Institution(alism)(21), 46-54. Read More