I went to Berlin and spent some time exploring the artistic landscape of the city while searching for inspiration for the floor plan of the project.
Technology
Titled Poetics of Encryption, the exhibition presented by KW opens the discourse between the impact of digital technology and the quotidian lives of the public (2023-2024). It was dissected into three parts and installed respectively in three floors of the museum. Nevertheless, in an exhibition aimed at decoding the mechanisms of technology and its relationship with humanity, as questioned by curator Nadim Samman in the introduction: “How do you feel when you think about how technology works (KW, 2023)”, it is rather disappointing to observe that nearly half of the machines and technological devices intended to power and engage with the exhibition narrative have failed to function properly. Admittedly, it did serve as a reminder to curators to thoroughly consider maintenance work for on-site technological devices. Ensuring the overall quality of the exhibition display is crucial for realizing the project successfully.
Editing
Despite some imperfections in the on-site display, the text of the exhibition remains appreciable and offers valuable insights for learning. In his article Editing as Metaphor, András Szántó compares the role of the editor to that of the curator, highlighting their shared skills in conveying information to audiences through written forms (Rand, 2007). He reminded that curators should avoid inserting “forced questions” and generating “bewilderingly complicated texts (Rand, 2007, p.75), ”. As for Samman, the text provided demonstrated her efforts and practices in fitting the criteria of András to be the qualified editor. Just like the title of the introduction of the exhibition, Plain Language, the text was executed in a succinct manner. Apart from this, all the wall texts were accompanied by discovery questions (see Figure 1-3). In a sense, it not only resisted authoritative ideologies from the institutions but also opened freely engaged discourses between the space and the audience.
Figure 1-3. Discovery questions on the wall texts.
(words: 307)
Reference:
KW (2023) Plain language/Discovery questions.Available at: https://www.kw-berlin.de/en/poetics-of-encryption-plain-language/ (Accessed: 06 March 2024).
Poetics of Encryption (2023-2024) [Exhibition]. Berlin. February – 26. May 2024.
Rand, S. (2007) ‘Editing as Metaphor’, in A. Szánto (ed.) Cautionary tales : critical curating / [edited by Steven Rand and Heather Kouris]. New York: Apexart, pp. 69-78.
11 March 2024 at 00:05
THE RELATIONSHIP
I like the ways that you are giving an indication into some of the key texts that you are working with in this course. This is great engagement with material about curating. To improve, it would be great if you were able to include some reference to live practice (exhibitions, events) that you are engaging with and which you can consider through the lens of these curatorial theories.
WEEK 4
Great to see you bring out these questions in a very succinct way. I like that you are bringing in some new references at the same time as you further apply your reading of the Whittle text. Again, I would suggest the importance of making sure you attempt to bring in fieldwork and your engagement with live practice as much as possible.
WEEK 5
I really like the kind of theory you are bringing into your writing in this post. Your choice to consider Barthes is useful in light of your thinking around photography. I know you are also considering the work of Hito Steryl. Can you perhaps consider the differences/tensions/rapport between what these writers each put forth? I like the listing of your references at the end of your blog post.
WEEK 6
Great work to see you combining the field work you have engaged in through your trip to theoretical texts on curating. This is a really interesting post, and I think provides a good model to work on going forward. How can you do some of the thinking that you did in Berlin within Scottish art institutions?
20 March 2024 at 11:55
1