New Interpretive Paradigm in Curating the Contemporary

Objects in Conversations, Fictional Language and Exhibition Design Interventions

Essay , 2013 , 39 Pages , Grade: Distinction

Art - Installation / Action/Performance Art / Modern Art

Curating contemporary exhibitions is now more than a profession of connoisseurship, but rather a creative and artistic venture. Due to a paradigm shift in the heart of interpretive ideology, exhibition-making is going more experimental even in museum context. One might observe that there is a changing status in museum objects, and a progressive transformation in the exhibitionary language - shifting from descriptive to fictional, poetic and novelistic. Artworks are also functioning as text initiating dialogues, while exhibition designs are no longer merely fabrications, but becoming artistic interventions that could re-contextualize the experience of space. Unprecedentedly, curators nowadays could embrace huge potentials in creating imaginative narratives for the present time, and thus, to further produce innovative museum experiences. This essay aims to examine the changing attitudes and assumptions in the new interpretive paradigm. Through three case studies, it goes on to uncover the dynamic interpretive strategies undertaken which have created various unique curatorial voices. Cases include: The Surreal House (Barbican Art Gallery, 2010), David Bowie Is (V&A, 2013) and The Concise Dictionary of Dress (Blythe House, 2010).

Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Discussion

Section 1 A Critique on Conventional Interpretive Practices Museum Objects in Mausoleum and Fixed Interpretive Approach

Section 2 A Paradigm Shift in Contemporary Interpretations
2.1 Art Objects as Text and New Poetic/ Fictional Language 9
2.2 Exhibition Design as Artistic Intervention : Re-contextualize Experience of Space

Section 3 Case Study
3.1 The Surreal House(Barbican Art Gallery, 2010) A Cross-disciplinary Narrative Labyrinth Space Design and Labyrinthine Aesthetic Novelistic Language and Artwork Dialogues : An Orchestration
3.2 David Bowie Is(V&A, 2013) 20 Narrating a Living Figure The Fictional Language - Open-ended-sentence Title Museum as Immersive Stage - Archive Comes to Life
3.3 The Concise Dictionary of Dress(Blythe House, 2010) A Sartorial Interpretation in Fashion Reserve Poetic Exhibitionary Language Installation Designs as Artistic Interventions

Conclusion

Appendix - Image Sources

Bibliography ( word count : 5,058)

• College: Kingston University London (Kingston University London, in Partnership with the Design Museum, London, U.K.)
• Course: MA Curating Contemporary Design
• Grade: Distinction
• Author: Margaret Choi Kwan Lam (Author)
• Publication Year: 2013
• Pages: 39
• Catalog Number: V266357
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656569619
• ISBN (Book): 9783656569572
• Language: English
• Tags: Curating, Museum, Exhibition, Exhibition Design, Ficitonal, Language, Object, Exhibit, Interpretive, Interpretive Tool, Narrative Space, Performative Space, Contemporary Curating, Curator, Curatorial, Experiential Art, Artist-curator, Barbican Centre, Blythe House, David Bowie, Fashion Curation, Surrealism, Cross-disciplinary, Interdisciplinary, Museum Studies, Criticism, Theory, Art, Installation Art, Critical, Art Object