Curatorial Thinking: Exhibition as Medium
The exhibition, where objects are grouped
together for a limited time to elucidate a
particular thesis or argument, has been a key
curatorial practice since the establishment
of the public museum in the course of the
long nineteenth century. But all exhibitions,
whether time-bound or “permanent,” tell
stories, communicate meaning, and
establish values by presenting objects and
ideas mediated through space. This course
will examine how curators and exhibition
designers construct aesthetic, historical and
didactic narratives, and how they deploy
text, graphic images, and digital
components, to interpret and complement
objects. Assignments will include the
preparation of an exhibition using Google
SketchUp, entailing interpretive components
and object/images. Weekly assignments will
focus largely on curatorial practice and
interpretation, including critical evaluation
of current exhibitions. Midterm
presentations will be an opportunity to
workshop the proposed exhibition project.
This course is a pre-requisite for those
intending to submit an Exhibition QP. As in
other QP tracks, topics should come out of a
pre-existing paper. The faculty advisor
under whom the original paper was written,
together with the instructor of this class, will
share advising for the project. Deadlines and
other aspects of the QP process will remain
consistent with other tracks. 3 credits.
Satisfies the digital literacy project
requirement. MDP.