London: Day 1

Currently I am sat in UAL student halls in London as I am taking a short course in curating contemporary art at the Chelsea school of art. Today was my first day and it has definitely been full on with lectures, gallery visits and reading homework!

The first lecture tackled the problematic question What is Contemporary Art? Well it was bound to be asked. It is difficult to define, but we can differentiate it from modern art. Modern art was always seeking the new, big ideas. Artists trying to revolutionize art for everyone. Contemporary art takes the smaller, everyday ideas along with looking back upon the history of art and attempting to re-arrange, re-appropriate and re-tell its stories within today's culture, society and technology. It is appreciating the new in relation to the old.
This makes it difficult to realise and view what is new, now. In this time frame. Perhaps a few decades along the line we will look back, evaluate and think 'yeah that was different'. But it seems that the lines between production, distribution and consumption are blurring as art is more integrated within daily life.

The second lecture was about the pivotal points within curating as a role or process. One of the first officially curated exhibitions was down to none other than Adolf Hitler. Brought together was a retrospective of art and modern art in the Degenerate Art exhibition. This was seen to transform the way in which art was displayed, not focusing on one particular artist but the story of art movements.
Classically art was categorized in museums by school or date, perhaps with a small modern art room tacked on to the end. But a groundbreaking exhibition revolutionized the display of modern art Das Abstrakte Kabinett by El Lisstzy, curated by Alexander Dorners.

It may not look like much now but for the time this was considered radical. Wallpapered walls and geometric, abstract hanging changed the relationship between place, event and the viewer.

We continued on to discuss Clement Greenberg, Brian O'Doherty's white cube and the art object. But if I want to keep this post relatively short I dint think I'll start down that path right now! Needless to say I found the first day of my course really interesting! I also visited the Serpentine Gallery today but more on that later...