Curious Lessons in the Museum: The Pedagogic Potential of Artists’ Interventions

260 Pages·2013·6.515 MB·English

by  Claire Robins

curious lessons in the museum
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Curious Lessons in the Museum
The Pedagogic Potential of Artists’ Interventions
Claire Robins
Institute of Education, University of London, UK
© Claire Robins 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Claire Robins has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Robins, Claire.
Curious lessons in the museum : the pedagogic potential of
artists’ interventions.
1. Artists and museums. 2. Artists and museums – History.
3. Art in education. 4. Museums – Educational aspects.
I. Title
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robins, Claire.
Curious lessons in the museum : the pedagogic potential of artists’
interventions / by Claire Robins.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-3617-1 (hardback)—ISBN 978-1-4094-3618-8 (ebook)—
ISBN 978-1-4094-7099-1 (epub) 1. Artists and museums. 2. Art
museums—Educational aspects. 3. Art museums—Exhibitions. 4. Museum
techniques. I. Title.
N410.R63 2013
707.5—dc23
2012045465
ISBN 9781409436171 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409436188 (ebk – PDF)
V
ISBN 9781409470991 (ebk – ePUB)
Printed in the United Kingdom by Henry Ling Limited,
at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, DT1 1HD
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction   1
Part I artIsts, museums and educatIon In
hIstorIcal context
1 Shiftingprioritiesforlearninginthemuseum 17
2 Historicaltracingsofartists’interventionsintheearlytwentieth
century 47
3 Historicaltracingsofartists’interventionsinthemid-twentieth
century 61
Part II Parody and Irony In the museum
4 Humour,ironyandparodyinartists’interventions 89
5 Jokers,trickstersandtheparafictional 105
6 An Elite Experience for Everyone:acasestudyinterventionatthe
WilliamMorrisGallery,London 119
vi curiouslessonsinthemuseum
Part III contemPorary museums and the role
of artIsts’ InterventIons
7 Theroleofartists’interventionsinopeningupmicro,counterand
affectivenarrativesinmuseuminterpretation 155
8 Artists’interventionsandthereflexivemuseum:addressing
difference 175
9 Theaffableinterventionists 197
Bibliography 217
Index   235
List of illustrations
Colour Plates 6 Sophie Calle, from The Appointment
(1999), Freud Museum, London.
1 Fred Wilson, Mixed Metaphors
Reproduced with kind permission of
(1993). © Seattle Art Museum,
James Putnam
Photo: Susan Dirk
7 Liberate Tate, Human Cost (2011).
2 Hubert Duprat, Trichopteres (2000).
© Photo Immo Klink
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London
2012 8 Willem de Rooij Intolerance
(2010), installation view, Neue
3 Mark Dion, Scala Naturae (1994),
Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Courtesy
stepped plinth, artefacts, specimens,
Willem de Rooij and Benjamin
taxidermic animals, bust, 238 × 100
Meyer-Krahmer. Photo Jens Ziehe,
× 297 cm. © Courtesy the artist and
Berlin. © The Artist
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
4 Alfred H. Barr Jr, Flow Chart (1936), Black and White Figures
cover of the exhibition catalogue,
Introduction
Cubism and Abstract Art, MoMA 1936,
New York, Museum of Modern Art
0.1 Andy Goldsworthy, Sandwork
(MoMA). Offset, printed in colour, 19.7
(1994). Reproduced with kind
× 26 cm. Digital image © (2012) The
permission of James Putnam
Museum of Modern Art/Scala, Florence
0.2 Joseph Kosuth, The Play of the
5a Michael Craig-Martin, An Oak Tree
Unmentionable (1991). © ARS, NY and
(1973), assorted objects and printed text
DACS, London 2012
under glass, glass on shelf, 5 7/8 × 18 ×
5 1/2 inches (15 × 46 × 14 cm); 5b text 0.3 Juan Capistran, The Breaks (2000)
panel 12 × 12 inches (30 × 30 cm).
Collection: National Gallery of
Australia
viii curious lessons in the museum
1 Shifting priorities for learning in 5 Jokers, tricksters and the
the museum parafictional
1.1 Andrea Fraser, Little Frank and 5.1 Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Cook.
His Carp (2004), video still. © Courtesy Aged 81 Years (c. 1830), oil on canvas.
of the artist Unsigned. (ML Ref: Z ML 430)
Mitchell Library. State Library of New
1.2 Ad Reinhardt, How to Look
South Wales. This image has been
at Modern Art in America (1946
digitally altered by Tim Mackrell with
version), 1961 reprint in ARTnews.
the permission of the Mitchell Library
Ad Reinhardt papers, Archives of
American Art, Smithsonian Institution 5.2 Maureen Lander, Pinagao Seeds
Sown in Museum. Digitally altered
by Tim Mackrell with the artist’s
2 Historical tracings of artists’
permission
interventions in the early twentieth
century
6 An Elite Experience for Everyone:
2.1 Marcel Duchamp, Fountain
a case study intervention at the
(1917), © Succession Marcel Duchamp/
William Morris Gallery, London
ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London
2012 6.1 News from Nowhere: Visions of
Utopia (2005), exhibition catalogue
produced in the form of a newspaper.
3 Historical tracings of artists’
Author’s own photo
interventions in the mid-twentieth
century
6.2 False Beard (c. 1875), from a
design by William Morris (1834–96),
3.1 Marcel Broodthaers, ‘Section des
human hair woven onto lace. Author’s
Figures’ in Der Adler Vom Oligozän Bis
own photograph
Heute (1972). Photograph copyright
Maria Gilissen. Musée d’Art Moderne,
6.3 Victoria Fielding, Volunteer
Département des Aigles, Section des
Guide. Author’s own photograph
Figures 1972
6.4 William Morris’ coffee cup.
Author’s own photograph
4 Humour, irony and parody in
artists’ interventions
6.5 History of the cup. Author’s own
photograph
4.1 Barbara Bloom, The Reign of
Narcissism (1989), mixed media
6.6 William Morris’ satchel. Author’s
installation, hexagonal room, 144 ×
own photograph
240 × 240 inches (365.8 × 609.6 × 609.6
cm). The Museum of Contemporary 6.7 History of the satchel. Author’s
Art, Los Angeles, Gift of the Frederick own photograph
R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los
6.8 Victoria wearing the beard.
Angeles, California
Author’s own photograph
list of illustrations ix
6.9 The William Morris replica 8 Artists’ interventions and the
beard. Author’s own photograph reflexive museum: addressing
difference
6.10 Victoria in replica beard outside
the William Morris Gallery. Author’s 8.1 Fred Wilson, Metalwork. Mining
own photograph the Museum: An Installation by Fred
Wilson. Maryland Historical Society,
1992–1993. Photograph from the
7 The role of artists’ interventions
Museum Department
in opening up micro, counter and
affective narratives in museum
interpretation 9 The affable interventionists
7.1 Susan Hiller, From the Freud 9.1 Jeremy Deller, Baghdad 5th March
Museum (1991–96) (below left), Detail, 2007 (2010). With permission from the
‘Nama-ma/mother’ (above), Vitrine artist
220 × 1000 × 60 cm, containing 50
9.2 Grayson Perry, You Are Here (2011),
boxes, each 25 × 32.5 cm, and video, 15
glazed ceramic, 43.5 cm × 39.2 cm.
mins. © Susan Hiller, Collection, Tate,
Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro
London
Gallery, London. © The artist
7.2 Maslow’s Pyramidal Hierarchy
9.3 Willem de Rooij, Intolerance
of Learning Needs (1943), redrawn by
(2010). Courtesy Willem de Rooij and
Jessica Barr
Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer. Photo:
Boris Kralj. © The artist
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders but if any have been
inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary
arrangement at the first opportunity.