I am interested in the politics
of power and its manifestations. I consider curation both as an authoritarian
position which deals with complex mechanisms of authorship and control and as a
peculiar, relatively new recognised profession that allows investigating deeply
within the contemporary art discourse.
My dissertation about curation
starts around authority and authorship; the latter then becoming a concept
which groups together the notions of neutrality, power and the paradox of
denying authorship so to come to a point where all these ideas lead
specifically up to the one of curatorial positioning.
What is the role of the curator
nowadays?
I am investigating the
possibility of a neutral curatorial position or, on the contrary, of an art
completely subdued to the curator’s authority.
In my opinion, every time we
have the possibility to express ourselves we inevitably place us in the world.
Roger Caillois in the essay Mimicry and Legendary Psychastenia underlines the
importance of the decision and the responsibility of the subject. He describes
the act of mimicry as the space in which the individual can become embodied and
at one with the environment. If the position of the subject goes astray, the
individual loses the privilege of being the origin, the one who rationalises:
using our ‘élan vital’ is the only way not to get embodied
and consequently lose our power to be an independent subject. In fact, the
subject has a responsibility and being a subject implies a responsibility.
The Caillois’ notion of
being a subject is the central aim of my research, which deals with the concept
of curatorial positioning and responsibility of being a subject.
My work concerns a particular
curatorial attitude which uses the act of questioning as a research method. Is
questioning just for itself or for something else? The act of questioning can
create a sort of non-dialogue: a question against a question. A position
against a position. Knowledge against knowledge. These kinds of questions do
not need and, most probably, do not have an answer. They are actually
questioning themselves and, with this gesture, they represent themselves, like
a mirror which reflects repeatedly the same image.
Questions that are just for
themselves do not create a dialogue. Reflecting upon issues concerning power,
what is the power mechanism within a dialogue?
Are these clear examples of
questions of power? Is this an obvious methodology of power?
I am dealing with this
particular language and the results coming from the use of questions that live
just for themselves without actually interrogate. From a conceptual point of
view, the methods I decided to use become themselves part of the research: a
particular language and the act of questioning show an approach to the concept
of curator and curation which is both critical and ironic. Any subject who is
not able to face himself and to question himself about his role and aims
cannot, in my opinion, be considered. The meta-curatorial discourse has in my
research the goal to understand a position that, even if still uncertain in the
art world, is nowadays becoming more and more important.
mafaldasusin@virgilio.it
I am interested in the politics of power and its manifestations. I consider curation both as an authoritarian position which deals with complex mechanisms of authorship and control and as a peculiar, relatively new recognised profession that allows investigating deeply within the contemporary art discourse.
My dissertation about curation starts around authority and authorship; the latter then becoming a concept which groups together the notions of neutrality, power and the paradox of denying authorship so to come to a point where all these ideas lead specifically up to the one of curatorial positioning.
What is the role of the curator nowadays?
I am investigating the possibility of a neutral curatorial position or, on the contrary, of an art completely subdued to the curator’s authority.
In my opinion, every time we have the possibility to express ourselves we inevitably place us in the world. Roger Caillois in the essay Mimicry and Legendary Psychastenia underlines the importance of the decision and the responsibility of the subject. He describes the act of mimicry as the space in which the individual can become embodied and at one with the environment. If the position of the subject goes astray, the individual loses the privilege of being the origin, the one who rationalises: using our ‘élan vital’ is the only way not to get embodied and consequently lose our power to be an independent subject. In fact, the subject has a responsibility and being a subject implies a responsibility.
The Caillois’ notion of being a subject is the central aim of my research, which deals with the concept of curatorial positioning and responsibility of being a subject.
My work concerns a particular curatorial attitude which uses the act of questioning as a research method. Is questioning just for itself or for something else? The act of questioning can create a sort of non-dialogue: a question against a question. A position against a position. Knowledge against knowledge. These kinds of questions do not need and, most probably, do not have an answer. They are actually questioning themselves and, with this gesture, they represent themselves, like a mirror which reflects repeatedly the same image.
Questions that are just for themselves do not create a dialogue. Reflecting upon issues concerning power, what is the power mechanism within a dialogue?
Are these clear examples of questions of power? Is this an obvious methodology of power?
I am dealing with this particular language and the results coming from the use of questions that live just for themselves without actually interrogate. From a conceptual point of view, the methods I decided to use become themselves part of the research: a particular language and the act of questioning show an approach to the concept of curator and curation which is both critical and ironic. Any subject who is not able to face himself and to question himself about his role and aims cannot, in my opinion, be considered. The meta-curatorial discourse has in my research the goal to understand a position that, even if still uncertain in the art world, is nowadays becoming more and more important.