WORDS Gabija Purlytė
I met Kate Strain and Rachael Gilbourne when they were both working on Conjuring for Beginners, where visual arts took over all of the spaces in Project Arts Centre. As they are now about to launch their new collaborative practice, I interviewed them on the various aspects of being a curator of visual arts.
Why and how did you realise you wanted to be a curator?
RG: “As an artist, I worked within a lot of artist collectives and tended to take on the more curatorial roles within the group, without being fully aware that this was what I was doing. Then later, during my Masters in Visual Arts Practices (IADT) I gradually became more interested in the frameworks and systems of artmaking even more so than the artmaking itself. My experience working with Tessa Giblin (Curator, Project Arts Centre, Dublin) again reinforced this interest, and gave me an invaluable insight into the various processes, strategies and codes of practice involved.”
KS: “Following my undergrad studies at Trinity (where I majored in History of Art and Architecture) I relocated to Kilkenny, undertook a craft apprenticeship and set up a little studio café in an old mill on the banks of the Nore. We had a hugely receptive audience, and realised quickly that there was a market for much more than a café. I began organising local events: screenings, theatrical feasts, exhibitions, candle-lit gigs etc. I enjoyed responding to the specific context of Thomastown, making things happen which otherwise wouldn’t, and bringing creative practitioners together in ways that led to unexpected crossovers, facilitating the making of new works. In pursuit of a more focused body through which to continue working specifically in contemporary art, I co-founded The Workhouse Test (an artist-led, year-long programme of events). Housed in an 18th century workhouse, in Callan, Co Kilkenny, The Workhouse Test served as a platform for the presentation of contemporary art practices in a rural location and allowed me to experiment with modes of display and mediation. Coming to realise how much I liked doing that, led me directly to doing a Masters in Visual Arts Practice (IADT), where I specialised in curating, and haven’t looked back since graduating last year (2012).”
What does a curator’s job involve?
KS: “Ultimately I see the curator as playing a key role in presenting art to a public, and in shaping the mode of presentation in a way that benefits both the artist and the audience. Often the nature of specific tasks change depending on whether the curator is working institutionally or independently. Either way, the job itself can involve many things – curators are context-makers, researchers, producers, instigators, administrators, facilitators, fundraisers, commissioners, organisers, interpreters, managers, historians, reporters, educators, agitators, respondents and so on.”
RG: “In this way, I think the job demands degrees of flexibility that allow you to juggle between practical and creative mindsets. Among the standard ins and outs as Kate mentions, in my mind, vision is paramount.”
How does a curator go about choosing works or inviting artists to participate in an exhibition?
KS: “Curators tend to use different methodologies, sometimes specific to each project. Some curators have a kind of “formula” that they repeat over and over, and others have a less systematic approach (the “open-call” format for example). Personally, I work in a project-responsive manner. I will choose works, or invite artists, depending on the context of the given situation. Often, a specific artist or artwork might be a starting point for an exhibition. I think it’s important for curators to research as much as possible (which can be difficult when working in a busy programming environment). Studio-visits are great ways to keep in touch with what artists are doing, and most curators would conduct these regularly. I would always see the studio-visit as the starting point for building a relationship with an artist.”
RG: “I think curators often follow definite lines of enquiry and through them, find opportunities to work with artists whose work resonates with their interest. In terms of the practical steps that can be involved, a curator is often the one to approach the artist, and/or their gallerist but sometimes it happens vice versa, with an artist choosing a curator they’d like to work with and getting in touch.”
the job itself can involve many things – curators are context-makers, researchers, producers, instigators, administrators, facilitators, fundraisers, commissioners, organisers, interpreters, managers, historians, reporters, educators, agitators, respondents and so on
Where do ideas for exhibitions come from?
RG: “My ideas for exhibitions come in the same way as my ideas came as an artist, often crystallising just before sleep.”
KS: “For me, ideas for exhibitions come from questions. I find I will have something I can’t quite figure out, or something into which I feel I need to investigate further. In this way, events and exhibitions can act like responses to questions. I find that a useful way to think about making exhibitions.”
Do you think creative curatorship is more important for modern/contemporary art than in traditional art?
KS: “No. I think curating is important across the board, with visual arts. When an artwork is displayed, the context of its presentation shapes a viewer’s subsequent interpretation of that artwork. The experience of that display matters – whether it’s a sixteenth century Dutch genre painting or Ryan Gander’s breezy contribution to Documenta 13, the context of how the work is presented and experienced still has an impact on how that work will be perceived, understood and remembered.”
RG: “I think by its nature modern/contemporary art could be seen to demand degrees of creative curatorship more than traditional art, though it’s never a bad thing when creative curatorship meets traditional art head-on. Take Van Abbemuseum’s re- imagining of their museum collection in the exhibition series Plug In (2006-09), or closer to home, how Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane collides experimental modes of exhibition-making with their permanent collection. These programmes reshape how we see our history, dispelling the constraints of conventional display and challenging our understandings of how art “works”.”
Is curatorship nowadays an international profession by definition, or are there curators working on different “geographical levels”?
KS: “Many curators tied to specific institutions are thereby tethered geographically, others who are freelance would tend to move about a bit more, in a nomadic kind of way. Lately there is a growing interest in site-specific curatorial endeavours, looking towards projects like Commonage (Kilkenny), Jerusalem (London) or Situations (Bristol), we see curators engaging more and more on a local level – commissioning works that respond to very specific local contexts, but that can still resonate on a global scale.”
Can placing an artwork in an exhibition with a strong leading concept change the way it is received and interpreted?
KS: “Absolutely. Perhaps I can best respond to this question with a quote from John Moriarty (from his book Invoking Ireland) – ‘Taking a particular shade of red, let us place it in two different colour contexts. First, let us place it between purple and black, then, between yellow and blue, and now we find that, modified by the different colours on either side of it and modifying them in turn, it looks and it actually is different in these, its two occurrences, the one from the other. Similarly with a literary text or with a leit-motif within a literary text: to locate it in different semantic contexts is, in each case, to have it mean and do different things.’
I would argue that exactly the same may be said for curating. Placing an artwork amongst other artworks, against different backgrounds, and within other contexts changes the associations we are ready to make with said work. No work of art is immune to the circumstances of its display, yet almost every work of art must be displayed – in order to exist.”
Can good/bad curatorship save/ruin an artwork?
RG: “Absolutely, I think where there is a real meeting of minds magic can happen. I’m thinking of the Australian artist Mikala Dwyer’s exhibition Panto Collapsar at Project Arts Centre (2012), where there was a palpable fusion between the artist’s and the curator Tessa Giblin’s ideas with each complementing and extending one another. Likewise, a difficult or non-existent artist-curator relationship can significantly influence the nature of the work.”
KS: “However, artworks are autonomous creatures. The context in which they are presented, and the conditions under which they are displayed, can certainly influence their reception. But I don’t believe curating has the power to definitively redeem or destroy a solid work of art.”
No work of art is immune to the circumstances of its display, yet almost every work of art must be displayed – in order to exist.
Do you think well-curated exhibitions nowadays become “artworks” in themselves?
KS: “No. To me they are just well-curated exhibitions. Personally I think it’s important to maintain that distinction, because there are curatorial practices which blur the line between artist and curator, and they do so with intentionality. I’m thinking of practices such as those of Triple Candie, Francesco Pedraglio, or even looking further back into art history – Marcel Broodthaers or Marcel Duchamp. These practitioners manoeuvre in the territory between artist and curator. I do think it’s important to mark and remember particularly well-curated exhibitions, but as exhibitions, and not as artworks in and of themselves.”
RG: “It’s totally dependent on the curator and if they have a particular intention for how the show “works”. I think the process of exhibition-making can bring in real artistry, imagination, wit, sensitivity, and allow for an almighty vision to come into play. And then I guess, if you have a particular perspective, an exhibition could be seen to function as an “artwork” in itself. However, I totally agree with Kate that it is important to maintain the distinction. Artworks function in very different ways than exhibitions. I think it’s important to note that although your question seems to imply a hierarchy, for me, none exists.”
I imagine curating a group show is very different from organizing a solo exhibition. Could you comment on that?
RG: “It depends on the curator and their style of working. In my mind, a group show allows and requires more curatorial input and direction, and artistic scope on the part of the curator, whereas with a solo show, it can benefit from more of a supporting role. Within that, the nature of the relationship between artist and curator can vary dramatically.”
I have noticed curators often come from either an artistic or an art-historical background. Do you think they approach the task differently?
RG: “It’s difficult to give a straight answer to that, as two curators with the same background may have a completely different approach. With KSRG, Kate is an Art History graduate while I studied sculpture at NCAD, yet we both have quite a similar curatorial vision.”
KS: “And so despite coming from different perspectives, wherein our approach (or conceptual impetus) may differ, our shared vision allows us to head in the same direction.”
How much say does a curator have over the interpretation of a work and its display in relation to the artist? It must be different in each individual case, but how much coordination is there on average between the curators and the artists? Is it helpful to have the opportunity to consult with the artist?
RG: “I think it is imperative that a curator consults with an artist in any instance of showing their work. The authorship and intended meaning is the artists, not the curators, and while the curator can link in various other perspectives, or highlight a particular aspect of the work through display and/or mediation, I don’t believe it should ever fully negate that of the artist’s. Unless of course, it is the intention of the artist that the curator does so.”
Because we recently had a specific example, could you comment on the process of organizing a new commission such as Ruth Lyons’ The Forgotten Works? Where does the idea and initiative come from (the artist, the curator, someone else), who contacts who, what other steps need to be gone through?
KS: “Ruth’s work The Forgotten Works was curated by Tessa Giblin, who approached the artist following a studio visit, and invited her to propose the work for the balcony of Project Arts Centre. An application was then made to the Arts Council (for a Project Award), and the funding received was matched in-kind by Project Arts Centre. Before the installation process began, the curator went on maternity leave. This left Rachael (as Exhibitions Manager) and myself (as Assistant Curator) to the task of realising the practical installation of The Forgotten Works working closely with the artist, her assistant technicians, and our crew.”
Is being a curator a rewarding job?
KS: “Super rewarding. Perhaps not financially (yet), but certainly I think I have a wonderful life, and that’s because I’m doing what I’m passionate about.”
Can you also tell me about this collaborative practice – how it will work, how you decided to embark on it, whether you are already planning a specific project?
RG: “KSRG/RGKS is a curatorial partnership that evolved out of myself and Kate’s working dynamic at Project Arts Centre throughout 2012. Since leaving Project, it felt like a natural progression to go on to work on independent collaborative projects. We share a common vision and ambition and know each other’s strengths. Within this, as paradoxical as it may sound, we come from different perspectives which I think heightens our co-authored ideas and adds interest both for ourselves and hopefully the organisations, artists and viewers we work with. Crucially, we’re able to be brutally honest with each other, which helps. In terms of projects, we’re brewing several meaty ideas so to be totally twee about it – WATCH THIS SPACE.”
