Projects 2005

OPACITY

Current Considerations on Art Institutions
and the Economy of Desire



15 April - 15 May 2005
UKS, Oslo, Norway

UKS - Unge Kunstneres Samfund/
Young Artists Society
Lakkegata 55 D
N-0187 Oslo, Norway
www.uks.no

The starting point of the exhibition is the observation that institutions have changed, following the ‘institutional critique’ in the 70s, as well as, in the 90s. What could be the future impact of current critical tendencies? Today, critique is no longer addressed against the institution in order to deconstruct it. Instead, a certain opacity, which has been criticized in the work of powerful institutions, can be useful for smaller institutions. Opacity can be used in order to try out new forms of collaboration between different positions in the art field (artists, curators, academics or activists), and create an alternative agenda for institutional work. Considering the internal perspective of the artist, as an involved team mate in cultural production, the question arises, how can an art institution be used from within – as an arena or a tool for repoliticization. Where lie the possibilities, and what do the presumable failures tell us about the societal role and reaching area of diverse art institutions?

The exhibition will propose and discuss a collaborative and productive model, which researches current conditions of institutional work and develops alternative strategies – be they activist, appropriated, mocking, actual or purely utopian.


Participating artists:

Kajsa Dahlberg
Danger Museum
(Øyvind Renberg og Miho Shimizu)
Markus Degerman
Stephan Dillemuth
Gardar Eide Einarsson
Sofie Thorsen


Curated by Nina Möntmann (NIFCA) in collaboration with Trude Iversen (UKS).
Opacity is initiated by Nina Möntmann, NIFCA
Produced by NIFCA and presented by UKS
Graphical concept: Halvor Bodin



UKS - Unge Kunstneres Samfund/Young Artists Society
Lakkegata 55 D, 0187 Oslo, Norge
www.uks.no