In Curating and the Educational Turn, O’Neil and Wilson have demonstrated that contemporary curating has shifted from pure visual display to meditation and reflection of ideas around art since the late 1960s (O’Neill & Wilson, 2010a). Following this idea, Terry Smith further develops into a sub-chapter titled Engaged, Activist Curating in the article Curatorial Practice Now, pointing out the importance of spectatorship by linking the engagement of public experiences with knowledge production in contemporary art events. By posing the question, “What is contemporary spectatorship”, Smith identifies the different content and formats the audience participates in contemporary curation and how they cease to be “passive and quiescent” and act as “prosumers”, actively involved in being the co-editor of curatorial context (Smith, 2012, p.236).
Consequently, curators must also consider public participation when formulating the curatorial plan. The currently on-view solo exhibition in Tate, YOKO ONO MUSIC OF THE MIND (2024) serves to be an example that exemplifies the participatory means in the exhibition (Artsy, 2024). The presented artwork, either Add Color/Refugee Boat (see Figure 1.) or Bag Piece (see Figure 2.), has transformed the untouchable iconography into open blank canvas, fostering an intergenerational dialogue between the audience and the artist through exhibitionary practices. With the involvement of kinesthesis and proprioception from participators, art is being interpreted and recontextualized to embrace a more collaborative approach.
Figure 1. Artwork Add Color/Refugee Boat (2024) I took in Tate.
Figure 2. Artwork Bag Piece (2024) I took in Tate.
Figure 3-4. A collaborative project My Mummy Is Beautiful (2024) by Yoko Ono. For more information see the article by Daisy Johnson. Link: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-44-autumn-2018/archive-yoko-ono-mothers-daisy-johnson.
In addition to onsite exhibitions, O’Neil and Wilson also highlight the incorporation of discursive educational formats in enhancing pedagogical impacts in art events, particularly mega art fairs. These formats include symposiums and lectures, which curators could utilize as platforms for fostering public discussion (O’Neill & Wilson, 2010b). It therefore inspires me to take interactive formats to enable discussions and encourage reflective thinking in my own project. Through this, it is anticipated to gather the public into the production line of art expertise and further amplify the pedagogical impact.
(words: 290)
Reference:
Artsy (2024) Yoko Ono Makes a Bold Plea for Peace at Tate Modern. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-yoko-ono-bold-plea-peace-tate-modern (Accessed: 28 March 2024).
Johnson, D. (2018) ‘In the Archive Messages to our Mums’, Tate Etc., Issue 44: Autumn 2018.
O’Neill, P. & Wilson, Mick. (2010a) Curating and the educational turn / Paul O’Neill and Mick Wilson (eds). London: Open Editions. pp. 19.
O’Neill, P. & Wilson, Mick. (2010b) Curatorial counter-rhetorics and the educational turn. Journal of visual art practice. 9 (2), pp. 184.
Smith, T. (2012) ‘Curatorial Practice Now’. Thinking contemporary curating. New York: Independent Curators International, pp. 230-238.
YOKO ONO MUSIC OF THE MIND(2024) [Exhibition]. Tate Modern, London, UK. February 15, 2024 – September 1, 2024.
Yoko Ono (2024) Add Color (Refugee Boat) [Installation]. Tate Modern, London (Viewed: 22 March 2024).
Yoko Ono (1969/2024) Bag Piece [Mixed Media]. Tate Modern, London (Viewed: 22 March 2024).
Yoko Ono (2024) My Mummy Is Beautiful [Installation]. Tate Modern, London (Viewed: 22 March 2024).
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