I'm surprised by the defensive tone of some comments about this news
snippet. Somehow I suspect the statement by Hans Ulrich Obrist and
Philippe Parreno has been (perhaps unwittingly) misinterpreted.
I don't think they are claiming that this is the first time something
like this has EVER happened. The way I read it was that this is the
first time that their particular notion for a curatorial
collaboration, in the new context of this festival, could occur;
implying that they may do something similar again, somewhere else.
Note that the statement "this group show aims to redefine how visual
arts can be experienced" is NOT a quote from the curators; most
likely some marketing copy written by the Festival's PR department.
Meaningless hype is nothing new in the world of theatre, or the arts
in general!
I can't see anything to worry about...
On 15 Jun 2007, at 11:23, Sarah Cook wrote:
> hi crumbs
>
> as a complete aside from the interesting discussion re Second Life,
> I just got this notice in my inbox about a series of commissions to
> happen in Manchester curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe
> Parreno (http://www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com). It reads:
>
> >The question becomes... what if having an exhibition is not a way
> to occupy space, but a way to occupy time...?
> >With up to 15 minutes of ‘exhibition time’, each artist is
> creating their own distinctive work - inviting guest performing
> artists, specially commissioned music - but none using film or
> video - to create this new form of group show.
> >By focusing on time-based work, this group show aims to redefine
> how visual arts can be experienced. Set in a theatre, it transforms
> the established gallery model into an exhilarating, shared audience
> experience.
> >“The title of the piece relates to my notion of ‘postman time’,
> and the idea that this exhibition is delivered to the audience
> rather than the audience walking through it in their own time,”
> comments Philippe Parreno.
> >Hans Ulrich Obrist adds, “One of the things that Philippe and I
> have been discussing since we met each other is what would happen
> if you have a group show exhibition where each artist would not get
> space, but each artist would get time? And so that is the point of
> departure. And through a dialogue with Manchester International
> Festival – where everything is new – there was a possibility for
> the first time to actually realise this.”
>
> Gosh, is the gap between the Media arts world and the contemporary
> art world so big??
> (the list of artists includes the likes of Matthew Barney, Douglas
> Gordon, Rirkrit Tiravanija)
> First, none using film and video?
> Second, the first time this has been possible? What about artists-
> TV projects? Streaming web projects? make-tv.net?
> Third, is there no sense here of a history of performance art? or
> artists interventions in theatre spaces (such as Janet Cardiff and
> George Bures Miller's videowalks)?
> It seems as though they've asked artists to become commissioners
> (or impressarios?). Is it all to be 'live'?
> Hmmm. If anyone is going, please report back.
> Sarah
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