Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Curator As Artist Syllabus
The Curator As Artist Syllabus
RESIDENTIAL
COLLEGE
IN
THE
ARTS
&
HUMANITIES
|
MICHIGAN
STATE
UNIVERSITY
FALL
2011
|
RCAH
291
SECTION
002
PROFESSOR
INFORMATION
|
DAY
+
TIME
|
Dylan
A.T.
Miner,
PhD
Tu
Th
10:20
–
12:10
C230J
Snyder
Hall
[email protected]
OFFICE
HOURS
|
884-‐1323
Tu
Th
2:00
–
3:00
+
by
appointment
curator
(cu•ra•tor)
noun
One
who
has
the
care
or
charge
of
a
person
or
thing.
‘A
twenty-‐first
century
curator
is
a
catalyst–a
bridge
between
the
local
and
the
global.’
–
Hans
Ulrich
Obrist,
On
Curating
‘My
role
as
a
curator
is
as
somebody
who
is
intellectually
interested
in
art
and
the
meanings
that
it
produces
and
how
one
can
organize
that
within
the
limited
context
of
the
institutional
space
or
the
gallery
space
or
the
public
space
within
which
art
is
presented.’
–
Okwui
Enwezor,
‘Curating
Beyond
the
Canon’
COURSE
DESCRIPTION
|
According
to
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary,
a
curator
is
an
individual
responsible
for
another
person
or
thing.
With
the
rise
of
the
modern
and
contemporary
museum,
the
curator
came
to
be
defined
primarily
as
someone
in
charge
of
museums,
galleries,
and
other
cultural
institutions.
Beginning
in
the
1960s,
Harald
Szeeman
re-‐conceptualized
the
role
of
the
curator
into
an
iconoclast
and
commenced
the
era
defined
by
large
international
biennials
and
larger
than
life
curators.
Through
experiential
learning
and
conversations
with
professional
curators,
this
class
will
explore
the
creative
and
artistic
role
of
the
curator.
We
will
pay
particular
attention
to
curating
exhibitions
as
being
both
a
creative
and
artistic
practice.
Although
we
will
look
at
curation
as
practiced
in
dominant
institutions,
such
as
museums,
we
will
spend
the
majority
of
our
time
interrogating
alternative
curatorial
practices,
particularly
activist-‐oriented
and
Indigenous
exhibitions.
During
the
semester,
students
will
tentatively
help
curate
a
small
exhibition
for
Day
of
the
Dead
in
the
MSU
Museum
(Fall
2011),
as
well
as
collectively
organize
another
show
in
LookOut!
Gallery
(planned
for
Spring
2012).
Moreover,
students
will
be
expected
to
curate
smaller
‘exhibitions’
throughout
the
semester,
attend
gallery
and
museum
exhibitions,
curate
‘mini-‐exhibitions’,
and
write
reviews
of
shows.
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
2
OBJECTIVES
|
Due
to
the
interdisciplinarity
of
this
seminar,
the
goals
and
objectives
are
likewise
multiple.
By
discussing,
analyzing,
and
curating
art
exhibitions,
students
will
accomplish
the
following:
•
Investigate
the
history
of
art
and
visual
cultures;
•
Explain
how
and
why
we
create
meaning
through
art;
•
Interpret
the
multiple
meanings
of
art;
•
Recognize
the
potential
to
transform
the
world
through
art
and
its
exhibition;
•
Learn
the
basic
language
and
practices
of
exhibit
curation.
The
course
will
also
help
students
meet
general
liberal
learning
outcomes,
as
outlined
by
the
American
Association
of
Colleges
and
Universities.
These
include,
but
are
not
limited
to:
•
Develop
a
robust
knowledge
of
human
cultures
and
the
natural
world;
•
Improve
intellectual
and
practical
skills,
such
as
inquiry
and
analysis,
critical
and
creative
thinking,
communication,
visual
literacy,
and
problem
solving;
•
Enhance
personal
and
social
responsibility
through
direct
civic
participation,
ongoing
intercultural
competency,
and
continued
ethical
reasoning
and
action;
•
Demonstrate
integrative
learning
by
synthesizing
creative
and
analytical
thinking
across
disciplinary
fields.
CURATORS-‐IN-‐CONVERSATION
|
Leanne
L’Hirondelle,
Director,
Gallery
101,
Ottawa
Dr.
Marsha
MacDowell,
Michigan
State
University
Museum
Josh
MacPhee,
Justseeds
Artists’
Cooperative
Dr.
Nancy
Marie
Mithlo,
University
of
Wisconsin
Ryan
Rice,
Museum
of
Contemporary
Native
Art
TEXTS
|
You
are
required
to
purchase
the
following
books.
Additional
readings
will
be
available
for
download
from
Angel.
1. Ivan
Karp,
Corinne
A.
Kratz,
Lynn
Szwaja,
and
Tomás
Ybarra-‐Frausto,
eds.
Museum
Frictions:
Public
Cultures/Global
Transformations
(Durhman,
NC:
Duke
University,
2006).
2. Paula
Marincola,
ed.
Curating
Now:
Imaginative
Practice/Public
Responsibility
(Philadelphia:
Philadelphia
Exhibitions
Initiative,
2001);
available
as
free
PDF.
3. Brian
O’Doherty.
Inside
the
White
Cube:
The
Ideology
of
the
Gallery
Space,
expanded
ed.
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
2000).
4. Steven
Rand
and
Heather
Kouris,
ed.
Cautionary
Tales:
Critical
Curating
(New
York:
Apex
Art,
2007).
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
3
Selections
from
the
following:
1. Paula
Marincola,
ed.
What
Makes
a
Great
Exhibition?
(Philadelphia:
Philadelphia
Exhibitions
Initiative,
2006).
2. Paul
O’Neill,
ed.
Curating
Subjects
(Amsterdam:
De
Appel,
2007).
3. Paul
O’Neill
and
Mick
Wilson,
ed.
Curating
and
the
Educational
Turn
(London:
Open
Editions,
2010).
4. Carolee
Thea.
On
Curating:
Interviews
with
Ten
International
Curators
(New
York:
Distributed
Art
Publishers,
2009).
5. OnCurating.org.
GRADING
|
•
exhibition
review
10%
•
curate
mini-‐exhibitions
15%
•
class
exhibition(s)
25%
•
participation,
including
outside
attendance
30%
•
final
project
20%
ATTENDANCE
|
As
part
of
the
Residential
College
in
the
Arts
&
Humanities,
attendance
is
mandatory!!
Although
I
will
not
be
actively
‘taking
roll,’
you
will
be
obliged
to
actively
discuss
art
within
the
creative
workshop.
Therefore,
continued
absences
will
alter
your
ability
to
comprehend
the
overall
themes
of
the
workshop.
Your
presence
in
the
workshop
is
needed
for
full
participation
credit.
As
such,
your
attendance
may
positively
and/or
negatively
affect
your
final
grade
through
multiple
venues.
PARTICIPATION
|
Active
discussion
is
paramount
to
intellectual
development.
As
such,
thirty
percent
of
your
final
grade
is
based
on
participation.
You
are
expected
to
arrive
to
class
(on
time)
having
thoroughly
read
all
of
the
assigned
readings
and
prepared
to
critically/creatively
discuss
the
material.
You
are
expected
to
speak
during
each
and
every
workshop,
however
quantity
of
participation
is
not
a
surrogate
for
quality.
Your
participation
grade
will
take
into
consideration
the
frequency,
as
well
as
excellence,
of
your
engagement
in
workshop
discussions.
POLICY
ON
ACADEMIC
FREEDOM
AND
INTEGRITY
|
In
agreement
with
Article
2.3.3
of
the
Academic
Freedom
Report
which
states
that
‘the
student
shares
with
the
faculty
the
responsibility
for
maintaining
the
integrity
of
scholarship,
grades,
and
professional
standards,’
it
is
expected
that
students
neither
plagiarize
nor
copy
from
a
peer’s
intellectual
or
creative
work.
In
addition,
the
RCAH
adheres
to
the
policies
on
academic
honesty
as
specified
in
General
Student
Regulations
1.0,
Protection
of
Scholarship
and
Grades,
and
in
the
All-‐University
Policy
on
Integrity
of
Scholarship
and
Grades,
which
are
included
in
Spartan
Life:
Student
Handbook
+
Resource
Guide
(http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife/index.htm).
Students
who
engage
in
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
4
academically
dishonest
activities
may
receive
a
0.0
on
that
given
assignment
or
for
the
overall
course.
POLICY
ON
ACCOMMODATIONS
FOR
STUDENTS
WITH
DISABILITIES
|
Students
with
disabilities
that
may
interfere
with
completing
your
assigned
course
work
may
speak
with
me,
as
well
as
contact
the
Resource
Center
for
Persons
with
Disabilities
to
establish
reasonable
accommodations.
For
an
appointment
with
a
counselor,
call
353-‐9642
[voice]
or
355-‐1293
[TTY].
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
5
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
6
Miner,
Curator
as
Artist
7