CURATING NEW MEDIA ART

jonCates
ARTHI 4673-001
Mondays 1 PM - 4 PM
Michigan 1307
FALL 2010
jonCates
Associate Professor
Film, Video, New Media & Animation dept
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
JCATES AT SAIC DOT EDU
Nick Briz
Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student
Film, Video, New Media & Animation dept
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
NBRIZ AT SAIC DOT EDU
ABOUT
CURATING NEW MEDIA ART is a Media Art Histories investigation into multiple well
-known, repressed, lost, firmly established, forgotten and/or canonized historie
s of New Media Art curatorial/organizational/developmental/programmatic/algorith
mic theorypractices from the last 50 years. These recent futures are represented
in the nearby pasts of exhibitions, events, platforms, frameworks, etc... spann
ing a time period from the early 1960’s until the present moment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
New Media Art poses new challenges to artists as well as curators. The range of
tasks is broad and requires new skills for those professionally involved with ex
hibitions. This class investigates this new type of curating in all its aspects,
from organizing and administrating to studying its history to develop the backg
round knowledge necessary for curating New Media Art. Its precedents, such as ea
rly installation art like monitor- and broadcast-based work are also examined. T
he class will give insight into the theories, history and practices of curating
New Media Art, as professionals in this field are sparse but desperately needed.
REQUIRED READING
Rethinking Curating: Art after New Media - Beryl Graham and Sarah Cook (2010)
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12071
CALENDAR
WEEK 1
SEPT 13 2010
Introduction
What Is New Media Art? 2
What Is Curating? 10
The Structure of the Book 11
WEEK 2
SEPT 20 2010
The Art Formerly Known as “New Media” 19
The Hype of the New 22
New Media Art—Modernist or Avant- Garde? 27
From Postmodernism to a Postmedium Condition 29
Art Example: Cornelia Sollfrank, Net Art Generator(s), and Female Extension 32
Rethinking Curating 38
Exhibition Example: Harwood@Mongrel, Uncomfortable Proximity 43
Summary: Curating in a Postmedium Condition? 47
WEEK 3
SEPT 27 2010
Space and Materiality 51
Dematerialization—From Conceptual Art to Systems Art 52
How New Media Art Is Different 60
Art Example: Thomson & Craighead, Light from Tomorrow 67
Rethinking Curating 69
Exhibition Example: Let’s Entertain and Art Entertainment Network, Walker Art Cent
er 73
Summary: Dematerialized or Just Distributed? 83

WEEK 4
OCT 04 2010
Time 87
Time- Based Arts—Video and Performance 88
How New Media Art Is Different 92
Art Example: Rachel Reupke, Pico Mirador 94
Rethinking Curating 99
Exhibition Example: Medialounge, the Media Centre 103
Summary: Curating in Real Time? 109
WEEK 5
OCT 11 2010
Participative Systems 111
Interaction, Participation, and Collaboration 112
How New Media Art Is Different 117
Art Example: Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July, Learning to Love You More 120
Rethinking Curating 120
Exhibition Example: Serious Games, Laing Art Gallery 134
Summary: How Participatory Are These Systems? 138
WEEK 6
OCT 18 2010
II Rethinking Curating—Contexts, Practices, and Processes 145
Introduction to Rethinking Curating 147
Curating in Context—In and Out of the Institution 148
Models and Modes—The Practice of Curating 153
Summary: Curating Now—Distributed Processes? 157
WEEK 7
OCT 25 2010
On Interpretation, on Display, on Audience 161
Education, Interpretation, and Curating 162
Example: Tate Media 164
On Display 170
Audiences 177
Summary: A Useful Confusion? 184
WEEK 8
NOV 01 2010
Curating in an Art Museum 189
Why Would a New Media Artist Want to Exhibit in an Art Museum? 189
The Building or the Immaterial Systems? 192
Working across Departments 194
Example: 010101, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 194
Documentation and Archiving 200
On Collections 202
Summary: Networking the Museum 210
WEEK 9
NOV 08 2010
Other Modes of Curating 215
Festivals—New, Hybrid, and (Upwardly?) Mobile 216
Example: Vuk C´ osic´, Documenta Done and Net.art per me 218
Arts Agencies and Public Art—Located, Engaged, and Flexible 224
Example: New Media Scotland 227
Publishing and Broadcast—Distributed, Reproducible, and Networked 230
Example: Kate Rich 233
The Lab—Experimental, Interdisciplinary, and Research- Led 234
Example: V2_, Rotterdam 238
Summary: From Production to Distribution and Beyond 242
WEEK 10
NOV 15 2010
Collaboration in Curating 247
Artist- Run—Alternative Spaces and Independent Organizations 247
Swapping Roles—Artists as Curators 253
Example: NODE.London 260
Collaborative Practices—Networks and Audiences 266
Summary: Artist- Led or Audience- Led? 275
WEEK 11
NOV 22 2010
III Conclusions 281
Conclusions: Histories, Vocabularies, Modes 283
A Set of Histories 285
Critical Vocabularies—Which Verbs, Which Systems? 288
Beyond Novelty—Curatorial Modes 299
The Task at Hand—Translation
WEEK 12
NOV 29 2010
Alternatives and Multiplicities
WEEK 13
DEC 06 2010
NO CLASS. CRITIQUE WEEK
RESEARCH TEXTS DUE
WEEK 14
DEC 13 2010
Final presentations/discussions part I
WEEK 15
DEC 20 2010
Final presentations/discussions part II
REQUIRED RESEARCH TEXT
All students are required to write a research text on the subject of the Media A
rt Histories and theorypractices of Curating New Media Art. Subjects may be chos
en from those discussed in class or in supplementary materials. The resulting re
search text must accurately cite sources and discuss the subject matter in detai
l. This research text will be evaluated on the basis of personal investment, the
oretical as well as Media Art Historical criticality and creativity. Standard re
search approaches to critical theoretical analysis, personal essay and/or hybrid
s of these writing styles that may include experimentation with form are encoura
ged.
THE WRITING CENTER
The Writing Center is located in MC B1-03 (the basement of 112 S. Michigan), whe
re tutors are available to help you with any stage of the writing process. The W
riting Center is open Monday through Saturday. Sign-up sheets are posted in the
hall outside of the tutoring suite. If you have any questions, contact the Writi
ng Center Coordinator, Leila Wilson, at lwilson@saic.edu or 312.345.3588
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ecords will be kept.
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