Translational Relations Between Curatorial Concepts and Art Works:

See my Concept (you may skip the show…).
Remarks on curatorial decadence

Luchezar Boyadjiev


The main problem to be discussed during this cycle of sessions will be the possibility and responsibility of translation between what I see and what I read or write about whenever contemporary art is concerned. Or in the form of enumeration of pairs that always need a certain level and effort of reciprocal translation, plus a level of communicating this translation to third parties, the problem is the possibility and responsibility of translation between: word and image; curatorial concept and art works; concept and show; show and audience; curator and artist and vice versa; curator and board or jury (of a museum, of a biennial, of a funding body, of a administrative authority, and so on); curator and audience; artist and audience; etc.

The main premise of the cycle of sessions is that there is a certain responsibility involved in the practice of art today (from all possible positions and professional functions) that is often neglected when it comes to communicating with the audience. For the purposes of this workshop I will concentrate on the responsibility of the curator and will try to communicate/debate the notion that one of the main problems of contemporary curatorship is the often found lack of correspondence (or adequate translation) between the concept of a show, the artworks in the show and the overall space-message of the show that is ultimately meant to be communicated to the audience. This lack of correspondence is something that even when detected by both professionals and audiences alike is not usually discussed. Furthermore, it is a sign of bad taste if questions about such correspondence are asked. However, I think that both the progressively more pronounced lack of correspondence between concept and show as well as the lack of debate about it is a major problem of contemporary art practice. In the worst cases, after one hears the concept of a curator, one has the feeling that there is actually no need to see the show, the artworks are there only to justify the curatorial concept, the funding mechanism, the money spent and so on.

All of this, if really valid, is a sign of curatorial decadence or in other words, of curatorship for curatorship’s sake…

24.09. 10:00-13:00
Next Documenta should be curated by Zinedine Zidane, or whoever happens to be in his shoes next time around!
(Well why not, these are clones anyways…)

Who is David Byrne? Why do you think would he write about contemporary art in his blog/online journal? What do you think of his writing on contemporary art as you find it on this URL?
David Byrne http://journal.davidbyrne.com/art_projects/index.html

Next Documenta should be curated by an artist!
http://www.e-flux.com/projects/next_doc/index.html
http://www.artbook.com/3937577416.html

Venice 1999/2001 vs. Venice 2007 (The Chinese Pavilion…), what is Venice to Istanbul and vice versa?

On curatorial decadence – d 10, 11, 12
The least funny show on earth – which one was it? Is Documenta just another biennial – if yes, (d 12 team says so) then why do they need 3 ½ years to do what other curators do for other biennials on 1 – 1 ½ years? Is it the money and the influence they are after; or is it just that they are more stupid then the others?

25.09. 10:00-13:00
Concept vs. show – why do curators need to have a concept?
Who and why needs a curatorial concept? How is that possible to communicate to the museum/biennial/jury/funding boards, the artists, the audience, etc. in none-verbal and/or visual ways? Why do some curators get carried away with theory rather then art?
Who is Mauricio Cattelan? Who is Massimiliano Gioni? Why you never hear a word of concept from Mauricio Cattelan? Why does a curator agree to be the “mouth-piece” of an artist (Gioni is the only one authorized to speak on behalf of Cattelan)?

http://www.contemporary-magazine.com/profile77_3.htm

The 6th Caribbean Biennial (1999) vs. the 4th Berlin Biennial (2006)

http://www.postmedia.net/cattelan/caraibi.htm
http://www.lespressesdureel.com/EN/ouvrage.php?menu=1&id=12
vs.
http://www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/2006/05/4th_berlin_biennale.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_9_94/ai_n16807596
http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/44477

26.09. 10:00-13:00
Artist vs. audience – why does the audience never meet the artist?
If art works speak for themselves why do we need curators in the first place? If they do not, then why do curators talk not about art works in their shows but about their own concepts?

Who is Luchezar Boyadjiev?

Schadenfreude Guided Tours (2003)
http://www.fridericianum-kassel.de/ausst/balkan03/kuenstler/07.html#english
http://www.universes-in-universe.de/car/sharjah/2005/deu/expo-centre/img-27.htm
http://www.sharjahbiennial.org/artistpage.asp?id=22

Guiding Agents of Belief (2006)
http://universes-in-universe.de/car/singapore/eng/2006/tour/other/index.htm
http://www.beliefinsingapore.blogspot.com/
http://lastboy.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Artist(s) in Residence Program (2000)
http://www.manifesta.org/manifesta4/en/projects/artist873.html
http://www.salzburger-kunstverein.at/day14418.html

d 10 – Hybrid Workspace, Deep Europe (1997)
http://www.medialounge.net/lounge/workspace/deep_europe/DOCS/mail/0230.html
http://www.medialounge.net/lounge/workspace/credits/participants.html
http://www.art-research-communication.net/weblog/?p=82#more-82
http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors2/boyadjievtext2.html
http://www.leftcurve.org/LC24WebPages/GlobCulNatHungary.pdfhttp://www.thing.desk.nl/bilwet/Geert/Workspace/LUCHEZAR.INT
http://www.cfront.org/cf00book/en/luchezar-overlapping-en.html
http://www.v2.nl/~arns/Texts/toc-de.html
http://framework.v2.nl/archive/archive/node/event/default.py/nodenr-131812
http://framework.v2.nl/archive/archive/node/text/default.xslt/nodenr-131862
http://rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread=905&text=849#849
http://amsterdam.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9707/msg00107.html
http://www.bard.edu/hrp/resource_pdfs/lovink.meetspace.pdf
http://neoscenes.net/hyper-text/text/third/templab.html
http://mail.v2.nl/v2east/1997/first/0120.html
http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/4/3/89.pdf
http://isp2.srv.v2.nl/~andreas/texts/1997/internetinosteuropa.html

Small Talk (2001)
http://www.msuskopje.org.mk/?sid=450&lid=1

Red Riviera Revisited (2005)
http://www.projekt-relations.de/en/get/pressematerial/visual_seminar.php?menuopen=3&lang=en
http://www.projekt-relations.de/en/download/53vs_redriviera_en.doc
http://ica.cult.bg/visual-project.php?idd=5

NOTE:
Please, read also:
Boyadjiev, Luchezar. “Off the Record”, Manifesta Journal, # 2 / 2004, Amsterdam/Ljubljana

Luchezar Boyadjiev
Is an artist, writer and curator based in Bulgaria.
1957 - Born: October 12th in Sofia, Bulgaria

One Person Exhibitions:
2006 - “Crawling Carpets”, EAF, Adelaide, Australia
2003 - “Hot City Visual”, ICA-ATA Center, interventions in the city, Sofia
1998 - “Revolution for All”, Holden Gallery, MMU, Manchester, UK (ISEA’98)
1994 - "The Fountain of Europe", CCS-Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
1992 - "Festigung des Glaubens" - installations, IFA Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Group Exhibitions:
2007 - “Plus Two”, MKM - Museum Kueppersmuehle fuer Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany
- “PragueBiennale 3. Glocal and Outsiders: Connecting Cultures in Central Europe”, Karlin Hall,
Prague
- “Footnotes: On Geopolitics, Markets and Amnesia”, 2nd Moscow Biennial, Moscow
2006 - “Belief”, 1st Singapore Biennale, Singapore
- “Periferic 7. Focusing Iasi. Social Processes”, Iasi, Romania
2005 - “Urban Realities: Focus Istanbul”, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin
- “Sus les ponts, le long de la rivière...”, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- “Belonging”, 7th International Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
2004 - “Cosmopolis”, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessalonica, Greece
- “Privatizations. The Post-communist Condition”, Kunstwerke, Berlin
2003 - “In the Gorges of the Balkans”, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
- “Blood & Honey / Future’s in the Balkans”, The Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg / Vienna, Austria
2002 - “In Search of Balkania”, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
- Manifesta 4, Frankfurt, Germany
- “The Collective Unconsciousness”, MIGROS Museum, Zurich
2001 - “Konverzacija”, MCA, Belgrade
- “Escape”, 1st Biennial, Tirana, Albania
2000 - “L’Autre moitie de l’Europe”, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris
- “Worthless (Invaluable)”, Moderna Galerja, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1999 - “After the Wall”, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
- “TEMP-Balkania”, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
1998 - “Money/Nations”, Shedhalle, Zurich, Switzerland
- “Revolution/Terror”, ISEA ’98, Manchester-Liverpool, UK
1997 - "Deep Europe", Hybrid Workspace, documenta X, Kassel, Germany
1995 - "Orient/ation", 4th Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
- "Beyond the Borders", 1st Biennial, Kwangju, South Korea
- "Beyond Belief", MCA, Chicago, USA
1994 - 22nd Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil