Week 2-Preliminary Exploration of the Roaming Outdoor Exhibition
During the Week 2 course, I noticed several key words. Here, I would like to share with you my thoughts on the deep connection of phrases, some issues I discovered, and some inspirations for my own curatorial ideas.
The first one is “dematerialization”, which marks a shift in artistic practice. Art is no longer confined to physical objects but focuses more on concepts and processes. This transformation has opened up new channels for artists and groups that have been marginalized in the traditional art system to express themselves, and to some extent, has loosened the inherent “central-periphery” model.
Then there is “Contemporaneity”, a theory that precisely depicts the current diverse but unequal global situation. This complex reality has given rise to new forms, such as organized Networks, and some large group exhibitions, especially international ones, respond to the challenges brought by globalization by establishing decentralized connections.
Counterspace: Cultural Strategy by Cristina Morales, London, 2021
“Decoloniality” and “Intersectionality” are important tools for implementing ideas. Platforms, such as “Counterspace”, not only build a decolonisation toolkit and resource network, but also want to fundamentally change the power structure of the art world.
Based on these understandings, I also raised a question for further reflection. When to go to a settlement as the core concept of curatorial practice, such as “Documenta Fifteen”, into a large institutional framework, how can such “radical” ideas avoid being diluted by institutionalization? How can one effectively collaborate with mainstream art institutions to expand their influence without losing critical thinking?
In the afternoon group discussion, everyone shared their curatorial ideas. I also shared mine, although it’s still just an unfinished concept. I want to create a new style of exhibition viewing. My initial idea is to hold the exhibition outdoors, create a check-in map and distribute it to the audience, and connect multiple exhibition sites into a route. The audience can experience each recommended route one by one, just like completing a travel list, or they can design their own route. And finally reach the destination, connect the routes to complete your own storyline. This can enhance the audience’s sense of participation and autonomy, and at the same time guide them to think actively rather than passively accept preconceived viewpoints.
Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern, London, 2010
Finally, when looking for an artist for the class discussion in week 3, I noticed that Ai Weiwei’s work “Sunflower Seeds“.This work, which was exhibited in theTurbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London in 2010, has greatly inspired me. It explores issues such as the individual and the collective, labor and power, with 100 million handcrafted ceramic sunflower seeds. The artist’s placement of the “sunflower”, a metaphor for the people in Chinese political propaganda, within the context of Western art galleries is itself a critical response to ethics and institutions, fully experiencing the profound thinking beneath the surface of the artwork.
