B5365 - Lab - Curatorial Practices (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students learn the theoretical and practical approaches of curating exhibitions and they explore various curatorial methodologies and strategies for different forms of exhibitions (monographic, thematic, collection presentations, performances, media-based and interactive projects, etc.). They become also familiar with social practice and urban projects in public contexts, and with alternative or artist-run spaces. Through projects, readings and discussions, viewing assignments and journals, field trips, and guest lectures, they are able to analyse the role of curators and cultural producers in today's societies

Course contents

The course proposes to work on the practice of appropriation / interpretation / manipulation and restitution of images, conceived as "found objects" awaiting re-signification. The presence—or rather, the omnipresence—of images in students' daily lives is not only fulfilled through the creation of signs, but also through their reception, codification, and analysis.

The structure of the course includes a theoretical component focused on the phenomena of image appropriation and interpretation [from surrealism to new post-photographic practices], and a practical component involving exercises on the appropriation and restitution of found images.

Readings/Bibliography

John Berger, The act of seeing, London, Penguin, 2008

Aby Warburg, Atlas Mnemosyne, Torino, Aragno, 2010 Batia Suter, Parallel Encyclopedia Vol.I & Vol. II, Amsterdam, Roma Publication, 2007 Gerhard Richter, Atlas. Köln, Walther König, 2012 André Malraux, Le musée imaginaire, Paris, Gallimard, 1947

Garance Chabert, Aurélien Mole, Les artistes iconographes, Annemasse, Villa du Parc Éditions Empire, 2020

Teaching methods

The course will be organized in two phases. In the first phase, the exercise will focus on the appropriation, interpretation, restitution of images with the goal of building a visual encyclopedia, following a method of construction driven by visual analogy and oriented around two main themes: a contemporary reinterpretation of the sublime (or rather, of our relationship with nature), and our relationship with technology and technological evolution, following the question how we can image our future through images?

In the second phase, students will focus on practices of appropriation of this corpus in order to produce a restitution in the form of an installation—conceived as the construction of an imaginary museum that spatializes the accumulated images. The setup of this restitution is of crucial importance for the development of skills. Concretely, students will be asked to design an exhibition of images, focusing on the spatial framework in which the image exists, alternating between physical and digital presence.

Assessment methods

Final exam consisting of an assessment of the practical work produced and an oral presentation on the topics covered during the course.

Teaching tools

During the course, artists who have made image appropriation the core of their work (such as Gerhard Richter and Batia Suter, among others) will be presented, along with the various techniques of appropriation (including decontextualization and collage).

Office hours

See the website of Giaime Meloni