Curating

'Ghosts in the Machine: Experiencing Animation'

by Suzanne Buchan

Published in Greg Hilty (ed) : Watch Me Move. The Animation Show, pp 28-38, London: Merrell, 2011. ISBN 978 1 8589 4558 3

There are many stories, and histories, of animation film. Yet there are other ways of telling a story of animation... more There are many stories, and histories, of animation film. Yet there are other ways of telling a story of animation that peel back and go below the material, historical and factual surface of this cinematic technique. Because the seven thematic concepts of Watch Me Move have a specific thematic focus, it allows permeation between different animation techniques and historically and stylistically discrete canons. This essay concentrates on four of the themes that consider the viewer's experience of animation: apparitions, structures, fragments and visions. Many works in these themes share certain features, properties and experiential phenomena for viewers. They tend to:  undermine conventional narrative; lack dialogue and are sound and music driven; feature imaginative, impossible 'worlds' and non-anthropomorphic figures; offer philosophical/perceptual concepts that diverge from our everyday experience of 'reality', and they are often self-reflexive. Tex Avery, one of the most radical Hollywood cartoon directors, is purported to have said "You can do anything in an animated cartoon." Looking beyond the cartoon, this essay reveals the fabulous experimentation of some of the exhibition's works that fall outside the realm of commercial popular culture, foregrounding the viewers' experience of the creative imagination that the animated form presents.

Suzanne Buchan was a Curatorial Advisor for the exhibition.

The Happening is Over. Shreds of Memory of Allan Kaprow’s Ephemeral Work

by Imara Limon

Published in 'Kunstlicht', Vol. 32 (2011) no. 4

Please note that the paper is in Dutch.

English abstract:
A significant part of the retrospective... more Please note that the paper is in Dutch.

English abstract:
A significant part of the retrospective exhibition 'Allan Kaprow: Art as Life' (2007) at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven consisted of archival materials surrounding the work of the American artist Allan Kaprow (1927-2006), known for his 'happenings'. Since most of the artist’s work is deliberately ephemeral, the question arises what can or should be displayed as a recollection of his oeuvre. Curator Eva Meyer-Hermann "agreed" with Kaprow on presenting on one hand new versions of the work, so called 'reinventions', and on the other hand archival materials such as documentary photographs and the artist’s written instructions for the performance of the work. Visitors were encouraged to actively participate by interacting with the materials, although the curator chose not to make explicit which specific works from the past they represented, in order to carefully avoid an authoritative interpretation of the materials. In fact, the art historical context was omitted altogether. There was no reflection on Kaprow’s use of waste materials in the 1950s or the deliberate objectlessness in his later work, encompassing a critique of throwaway culture and a fixation on objects. Also, Meyer-Hermann did not seize the opportunity to consider the notion of the archive itself. Imara Limon argues that by dismissing the art historical framework, the significance of Kaprow’s work, addressing social relations and issues in the art world by insisting on ephemerality and participation, was lost. All that was left was a visual image or imagination of the work – shreds of memory from the archive. Limon provides both previously omitted contextualization, and an analysis of the mechanisms of the archive.

The Primcurator by Reiner Schneeberger

by Reiner Schneeberger

Conservation of 3D Art - made in various grids (Second Life, OSgrid, Metropolis, Avination, inworldZ, Simulacron-1 and more) in opensimulator database with stand-alone viewer for 100 years. First Prim is the given virtual name for the Primcurator

The Primcurator - Conservation of Digital Art in 3D
by Reiner Schneeberger, Planning a Retrospective of an Art... more The Primcurator - Conservation of Digital Art in 3D
by Reiner Schneeberger, Planning a Retrospective of an Art Form, printed in MUSEUM AKTUELL, Munich, September 2011, p. 32-35.

It will be seen in the year 2035 whether the project to archive the first works of Avatarkunst published on the occasion of the reopening of the Kunsthalle Bremen this summer will keep its promise: to conserve walkable 3D-worlds in the way they have existed since 2005. ... Lots of links provided as footnotes

EXTREMOS CONVERGENTES: UMA CURADORIA, UM EVENTO E UM ÂNGULO DA HISTÓRIA DA ARTE NO PARÁ

by Orlando Maneschy

Co-authored with Marisa Mokarzel

From the curatorial point of view we observe the Art Pará Project as a constituent of art history that being written... more From the curatorial point of view we observe the Art Pará Project as a constituent of art history that being written in Pará, describes and analyzes the event since its inception, with the prospect organization and concepts makers thought generator Project curated by 2009.

Key words: Pará Art, Contemporary Art, Art History

A partir do ponto de vista curatorial observa-se o Projeto Arte Pará como constituinte da história da arte que está sendo escrita no Pará, descreve-se e analisa-se o evento desde sua criação, tendo como perspectiva a organização e os conceitos formuladores do pensamento gerador do Projeto de curadoria de 2009. A intenção foi trabalhar a constituição dessa história levantando as questões locais inseridas no campo mais amplo da arte contemporânea realizada no Brasil e outros países, para promover a articulação entre as obras selecionadas e premiadas com as dos artistas convidados.
Palavras-chave: Arte Pará. Arte Contemporânea. História da arte.

At the Coed Dance (on artists as curators)

by Naeem Mohaiemen

Published in "Take on Art" journal, India, 2011
Reprinted from "Art Lies" journal, USA, 2008

Re-curating Testimony: Toward a New Pedagogy for Learning from the Past

by Monica Eileen Patterson

Co-authored with Erica Lehrer

The last few decades have seen an upsurge among anthropologists (and others) of critical attention to memory in its... more The last few decades have seen an upsurge among anthropologists (and others) of critical attention to memory in its various manifestations. Simultaneously, there has been a proliferation of museums, memorials and media-based interventions seeking to represent and remember past atrocity. Experimenting at the intersection of these trends, we have developed a “curatorial pedagogy” that engages students in both critical thinking and creative production around the question of what it means for public audiences to “learn from the past” in the face of ongoing global violence.

Turner, S. 1975. Notes on the collections in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle. Magazine of Museum Assistants' Group News Aug., 13-17. [written July]

by Susan Turner

includes Zoology and Geology donors and collectors.

The curatorial complex: marking the bicentenary

by Ross Wilson

in Representing Enslavement and Abolition: Ambiguous Engagments, edited by Laurajane Smith, Geoff Cubitt, Kalliopi Fouseki and Ross Wilson. London and New York: Routledge, pp.131-146.

The marking of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in museums, galleries, archives and libraries in... more The marking of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in museums, galleries, archives and libraries in Britain during 2007 was for many within the heritage sector a ‘watershed’ moment. Across the country, institutions of varying sizes took the opportunity to develop exhibitions and displays that ‘revealed’ the nation’s ‘hidden’ history of participation in the enslavement of millions of individuals from Africa (Paton 2009). For some of these museums, the bicentenary also provided the first opportunity of operating consultation processes with communities, community representatives and academics (Lynch 2007). The release of funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund for museums to engage with the bicentenary also enabled institutions to develop existing installations, build new facilities and improve their outreach and educational programmes (Weedon 2008). Within the midst of these developments inside the heritage sector, as a greater focus was placed on the exhibitions and displays developed to mark the bicentenary, by the government, by funders and by communities, the experience of the museum professional has been strangely neglected. The absence of discussion regarding the curatorial experience with regards to the bicentenary is all the more puzzling as these individuals would be at the nexus of the developments and changes within institutions. As museums applied for funding, developed consultation plans and evaluated visitor responses the curator or curatorial team were central in witnessing, enacting and experiencing these alterations within their institutions. This chapter addresses the issue of the experience of the curator during the marking of the bicentenary and outlines the existence of a ‘curatorial complex’, a term given to a set of common responses and perceptions associated with the curatorial role. The effects of this ‘complex’ and its impact on the work of curators during the development and delivery of exhibitions and displays will be the subject of this chapter.

Fragments for a Future Present

by Richard Streitmatter-Tran

Fragments for a Future Present. Published in 'Who Cares? 16 Essays on Curating in Asia"
ISBN: 9789889896393
Para/Site. Editor: Michael S. Lee

The Dennis Curry Collection at the Natural History Museum, London

by Lucy Muir

Published in Whittaker, J.E. & Hart, M.B. (eds) Micropalaeontology, Sedimentary Environments and Stratigraphy: A Tribute to Dennis Curry (1912–2001). The Micropalaeontological Society, Special Publications.

Please contact me if you would like a pdf.

Dennis Curry was both a businessman and a geologist. He was Chairman of Currys for many years, a job that still... more Dennis Curry was both a businessman and a geologist. He was Chairman of Currys for many years, a job that still allowed him to spend significant time on scientific research and fossil collecting. His achievements as a scientist were impressive, with more than 120 publications and various awards from the scientific community. His collection, containing in excess of 90 000 molluscs, 700 micropalaeontological slides and other material, was donated to the Natural History Museum, London. The collection contains material from all over the world, but mostly from southern England and France. His family have made funds available to ensure proper curation of the collection. The material has been sorted, reboxed and organized, and is available to researchers.