#curater

VL Lecture--03/04

James Gardener

24 yrs old when he opened his own gallery in Rome.

Whilst at uni he didn't really paint, and he just fell into textiles.

People think that galleries are static. This is wrong. People look passively in galleries, they don't truly look at the artworks.

Network with other galleries and artists.

Curating a show is a personal journey.

There is a quota of artists that they work with.

Attend art fairs- sell work, and network

Take risks with art.

Review

He was interesting to listen to, knowing what he was talking about, the exhibitions and artists they worked with.

He clearly likes what he is doing, working in this way, with these people.

I couldn't resist using the above image because it's the stairs from the Rocky movies but with Salvidor Dali's face on it. That's perfection.

I love museums. I've worked for several museums in varying ways, creative work, educational work, research and evaluation. Museums really were my first and best access point to information, culture, ideas that were different from what I was encountering at school or at home. They provided, for the young me, a place where it was a little less uncool to want to learn about something. 

Now as a parent I also get the experience of seeing my daughter engage with museum exhibits. She notices and retains things in ways that are wildly different than how I'm experiencing the same things. And a museum exhibit provides a great way to have a conversation and explore the world of ideas. I also just like watching random people go through museum exhibits and components to see them become truly interested in something and also sometimes see them do what seems to be an impersonation of what a person looks like while being smart in a museum.

Having worked in museums and as I've gotten a chunk of years producing my own live shows and events I often find myself now thinking not about the science, history, or art being showcased in a museum but rather the people who put the exhibits together. Someone, and there's usually a team but at the end of the day one person typically ends up calling the shots, decided what components would make up an exhibit and how those components would be laid out in the space available. I'm talking about the museum curator. 

The museum curator has to always consider the integrity of the thing they're making an exhibit about and always consider the human experience of engaging with that content. The decisions curators make have a tremendous impact on how information is experienced. Curators have to be genuinely interested in the exhibit they're working on, even if that interest is fleeting. But they also have to be able to move on to the next thing. 

The thing is, though, is that we are all becoming more and more our own curators. We get to pick what information we take in and how we take it in. The idea that I think we should all steal is to approach our consumption of information more like professional curators. Consider the information before you as it stands and think about how you could best experience it. And make conscientious choices about the experiences you're creating for yourself. Does that sound complicated? Don't worry.