May 30, 2018
MMCA Research Project 2
Symposium, “From Vertical to Horizontal: The Changed Conditions of Art Production”
May 30, 2018
“From Vertical to Horizontal: The Changed Conditions of Art Production” is organized to examine how social change in our times acts as an agent of transformation in the conditions of art production. Accelerated by developed networks and an increase in mobility, globalization is making the world more horizontal across national borders. In the art world, globalization has contributed to making the traditionally authoritative and vertical hierarchies of art institutions like museum, academy and residency to become more horizontal. Meanwhile, Neoliberalism, which proliferated alongside globalization, is also responsible for the application of market competition principles in the art field. And such change has giving rise to the emergence of a New Institutionalism that made art institutions more interested in their social role and the public interest of art. This symposium seeks to understand how contemporary social change affects both the art institution and the artistic practice.
The symposium is organized in three sessions. The first session, “From Canonizing Art Institutions to Commoning Art Institutions,” will discuss how the political, economic, and social changes such as post-Fordism and financial crises have impacted art institutions and artists, and what the conditions are that would effectively enable artists to continue their creative activities in such a context. The second session, “Art Institutions in Transition” looks into how art institutions have reacted to the new context. In particular, the directors of art institutions in the Netherlands directly affected by the financial crisis in Europe and the expansion of Neoliberalism will explain how they have adapted their institutions accordingly. The third session, “The Horizontality in Art Practice,” is an artists’ round table discussion. Participants will talk about how engagements such as international residency programs impact their own artwork, and what influence horizontality has had on their processes of art practice.
10:40am–12pm
Pascal Gielen
From Canonizing Art Institutions to Commoning Art Institutions
1:30–3:40pm
Lex ter Braak
Raising the Venetian Blinds
Els van Odijk
Embracing Ambiguity, Aiming for Excellence
Lee Young June
The (Un)Significant Significance of being Minor in Art
4:10–5:30pm
Park Hyesoo, Ksenia Galiaeva, Simone Trum
Round Table: Horizontality in Art Practice
For more information, visit MMCA’s website.
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