May 2005 in Artforum
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This month the magazine focuses on a range of artists, including Daniel Buren, Olafur Eliasson, Tino Sehgal, Seth Price, and Rudolf Stingel, who variously negotiate the total proliferation of the institution, in Burens words. He and Eliasson contribute a keynote conversation, discussing architectural interventions and the effectiveness of institutional critique in an age when, as Buren provocatively puts it, the rise of contemporary art museums represents a kind of technical revolution that may actually be as significant for artmaking as the invention of oil paint.
Really, its useless to try to pinpoint whats inside or outside of the system, because drawing that line doesnt take our thinking any further. It just doesnt matter anymore. I think the interesting question is what impact art can have on society, and the institution is one of the main communicators of that. –Olafur Eliasson, In Conversation: Daniel Buren & Olafur Eliasson
If the museum can be a medium, then why not the art fair? Claire Bishop deciphers the cryptic practice of Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal, who, for last years Basel art fair, had his dealers enact a range of his works, which found them speaking disjointedly and even kissing or writhing on the floor.
Sehgals pieces are at their most poignant in situations where the ecosystem of the art world is most evident: art fairs and large group shows, where they function as mischievous insertions into ideological circuits of the market and the not-for-profit cultural institution alike. –Claire Bishop, No Pictures, Please: The Art of Tino Sehgal
And: Cay Sophie Rabinowitz talks to Rudolf Stingel about his electrifying Photorealist portrait of gallerist Paula Cooper for this issues 1000 Words. The challenge was to do a show with a painting that wasnt a painting show. By painting the floor white I shifted attention to the space and its history: a temple of Minimalism and its high priestess.
Plus: David Rimanelli goes to Queens to offer his verdict on P.S. 1s Greater New York 2005, while Elizabeth Schambelan introduces the work of one of its artists, Seth Price, who aims to take up the Duchampian challenge of making art not of art partly through the use of distributed media such as CDs.
And: Mark Wigley reflects on the complex personage of Philip Johnson. Jeffrey Kastner takes a good, long look at Christo and Jeanne-Claudes Gates in Central Park and decides that the true art lies in the duos administrative skill. Bruce Hainley visits the Larry Clark retrospective at the International Center of Photography. James Quandt interviews Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul about his forthcoming feature, Tropical Malady. Michael Wilson offers an in-depth reading of London artist Mark Titchners (often) text-based work. Mark Godfrey examines the meandering process behind Tacita Deans investigative curatorial endeavor. Tom Vanderbilt goes shopping, post-Pop style.
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