An exhibition proposal by Kit Tran for KVB200 Exhibition and Display in the Visual Arts
The moment of a glitch exists within an environment that is constructed; we participate in it with out necessarily being aware of the rules governing it and how our expectations have been conditioned to accept it as natural. - Rosa Menkman
CONTENTS Exhibition proposal...................... 3 Proposed temporary architecture.......... 9 Featured artists, works, and numerical coding......................... 11 Arrangement design....................... 14 References............................... 16
“A glitch occurs on the occasion
where there is an absence of expected functionality, whether understood in a technical or social sense” (Stearns, 2013, p.3).
Rosa Menkman (2011, p.11) conjectures that “it is useless to place one perspective above the other – glitch studies need to take place in between, both, neither and beyond”. As such, the structural aspects of glitches have the potential to expose and critique systems that govern us individually and collectively (GLI.TC/H, 2012). Systems Interrupted is an exhibition proposal that utilises this aspect of glitch theory to expose and comment on contemporary museum exhibition and display discourse through surveying and comparing the ephemeral nature of digital glitch art and the permanence of aestheticized errors through trans-media techniques.
The exhibition will feature analogue works from Phillip Stearns, Patrick Lichty, Noah Eisenbruch, and Nerhol, with digital work from Rosa Menkman, Nick, Briz, Kyle Evans, James Connolly, and Jodi. As glitches must be an intervention or manipulation within a system in order to expose the system’s structure without breaking it down completely (Stearns, p.1), so this proposal’s design highlights the structures of public exhibition representation by rejecting some conventions whilst adhering to others. Through exploring choice of setting, arrangement, display techniques, and devices, System Interrupted will not only engage public interest in glitch art, but will provide a platform for conversation on the relationship between patrons, traditional gallery use, and digital works.
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In displaying the exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane, Systems
Interrupted will sit
in an institution whose typology comes with a history of
established
conventions.
The
prevailing
opinion
of “a contemporary museum’s primary function is that of housing objects in a neutral space within which they may be contemplated” (Duncan and Wallach, 2009, p.179). The modernist ‘white cube space’, of which GoMA has six, “preserves the repetition of a closed system of values” (O’Doherty, 1986, p.14), and it is within these whitewashed walls that this proposed exhibition will not be located. Instead, Systems Interrupted will be shown on the Pavilion Balcony – or more accurately, on the external walls of GoMA itself, accessed and viewable along the balcony (Figure 1). As Phillip Stearns (2013, p.13) suggested that a glitch occurs where there is an absence of ordinary functionality, the locus of this exhibition deliberately flies in the face of these traditions. The balcony, whose main use is for facilitating social events hosted by the gallery, will have a temporary structure attached to weatherproof the exhibition, as well as playing on the existing façade geometry to create a glitch aesthetic. Designed by Stéphane Malka (2013), this skin acts conversely to the architectural intent established by Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion (the prototype of modern transparent galleries) – that of reconciling the outside with the inside (Pedersen, 2014). By reversing this dynamic, the backdrop for a comparative conversation is set.
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The conversation is continued via the glitching of the traditional arrangement paradigms. According to Duncan and Wallach (2009, p.179), “museums almost everywhere sanction the idea that works of art should, above all, be viewed one-by-one in an apparently ahistorical environment”. It can be posited that this sequencing of works is required, especially in public galleries, in order to allow for a logical understanding of the exhibition concepts to be built, or at the very least, spoonfeed information to the layperson. Conceptual didactics displayed upon entering the space are essential to the public exhibition, and Systems Interrupted follows this protocol in order to function as such. However, the notion of logical sequencing or grouping of works is dashed. Menkman (2010, p.11) claims that “glitch studies search for the unfamiliar while at the same time de-familiarising the familiar”. By modifying one of Stearns’ methods in glitching – that of replacing all instances of a character with another (2013, p.2), an unfamiliar system of reading the works is created. All odd numbered items have their position swapped with their double valued counterparts (refer to Figures 2 and 3). In disrupting the continual eyeline, accompanying didactics, and logical
grouping
of
artists
and
medium, patrons
question the chaotic nature of the rituals of the modern art gallery “transposition
of
perception
values” (O’Doherty, p.15) is exhibit, as the essence of the interconnection of technology;
‘formal
antithesis of the
will
display.
In
be
provoked
doing
so,
to
the
will become apparent – the from thus
life
to
challenged
by
formal this
glitch artistry examines human culture (life) and values’
are
the
very
glitch.
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As Stearns (2013, p.3) conjectures, “we don’t notice language or the communication environment until it fails us or breaks or
becomes
the
investigation”. from
the of
of on
apparent
arrangement, language
subject Following
the
discord
of
communicative
display
devices
themselves
are
brought
in
to
question. This idea of glitching communication methods embedded in display techniques in order to expose hegemonic systems for discussion is further explored in the display devices of the digital works and didactics. Whilst current GoMA exhibition Trace: Performance and its Documents utilises small televisions, larger LCD screens, projections on to walls of varying scales, and entire dark rooms for its video and audio works, this hierarchy of presentation is neutralised in Systems Interrupted. No devices are provided on which to view works of this medium. Instead, QR codes are scattered throughout, linking to the works’ original digital domains. This raises an issue that art historians have become increasingly interested in understanding – works in their original physical setting, and the meanings that this context reveals (Duncan, p.178). By showing digital works in a white cube environment, discourses, meanings, and associated behaviours of
By
further
eschewing
readable
the digital culture are stripped from the work as the architecture of the cube
didactics related to individual works and instead providing this
imposes its own conventions. By allowing patrons to scan the QR codes (which in
information via QR codes, viewers are encouraged to explore,
themselves appear to be glitches) and access the works on their smart devices, the
discover, and connect more holistically with Systems Interrupted
digital domain to which the glitch belongs retains its conceptual human culture-
than a typical exhibit in which behaviours are dictated by
technology hold over the work and strips away the viewing behaviours associated
white cube conventions and architectural scripts. As the QR
with museum culture. In addition, this separation of trans-media works reveals and
codes show no differentiation between didactics and links to
comments on the accessibility of public galleries as institutions of education.
online works, the fleetingness of accessing this digital
Those without access to smart devices cannot experience the exhibition as a whole,
information in order to sift through to what the viewer is
bringing in to question the modern citizen’s relationship with technology and the
looking for highlights the comparison between analogue
role of digital art – a constantly changing and evolving genre, in contemporary
and digital processes – both within the creation of
display practices.
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the glitch works, and as a commentary on how patrons ‘consume’ art within a public gallery.
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Finally, fall
in
to line
once again with public exhibition norms – but this instance in a very current context, Systems Interrupted will include a social media element in response to culture based issues of marketing and branding. Tate Director Nicholas Serota argues that museums “are no longer just repositories, but sites of experience” (Hughes, 2010, p.43), and successful exhibitions need to create a ‘brand’ that sets the scene for the visitor before they come through the door, and a truly ‘immersive’ environment once they are inside (ibid). This proposal will involve using the iPhone app Glitché to immerse patrons in creating glitch art and sharing it on social media platforms before and during their visit to GoMA. Glitché will be available to download via QR code within the exhibit itself, meaning visitors can immerse themselves even further within a digital domain whilst in a typology with constructed histories and expected dialogues. This again draws attention to the relationships between traditional methods of gallery use juxtaposed by new digital media.
Rosa Menkman (2010, p.10) suggests that “the materiality of glitch art is not (just) the machine the work appears on, but a constantly changing construct that depends on the interactions between text, social, aesthetical and economic dynamics”. As an exhibition which aims to employ trans-media work in glitch theory to begin commentary on constructed conventions of the modern public gallery, Systems Interrupted proposes curatorial and exhibition design in such a way as to highlight this through a comparative lens. Occupying an unconventional space of GoMA, designed distortion of arrangement, redefining accessibility to works and didactics through display devices, and engendering an immersive digital culture in a traditionally analogue construct are strategies this exhibit proposes in order to fulfil its curatorial rationale.
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4
PROPOSED TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE D North-western facade
Pavilion Balcony - Systems Interrupted exhibtion
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The enclosing structure is an architectural intervention designed by StephanĂŠ Malka. In its original context, these rotated tents for the homeless cantilevered between public and private space, addressing the legal ambiguity of existing between two structures of property law. This installation is well suited for Systems Interrupted, as it conceptually highlights the human and institutional relationships at play.
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FEATURED ARTISTS, WORKS, AND NUMERICAL CODING 1
3
5
2
4
6
Rosa Menkman, Xilitla, 2013, digital videoscape.
Phillip Stearns, Mac OSX 10.4 No.5,
Phillip Stearns, Mac OSX 10.4 No.9,
2014, jacquard weaving, 53”x71”.
2014, jacquard weaving, 53”x71”.
11
13
12
14
11
Patrick Lichty, Into The Wild: AR-Embedded Tapestry, 2013, jacquard,
Kyle
Evans,
5’x21’.
Pixellation,
n.d.,
Synchronization/ electronically
modified digeridoo performance.
7
9
8
10
Nick
Briz,
Apple
Computers,
2013,
video.
Phillip Stearns, Mac OSX 10.4 No.6, 2014, jacquard weaving, 53”x71”.
15
17
16
18
James Connolly and Kyle Evans, Cracked Nerhol, Misunderstanding Focus No.025, No.12, No.18, n.d., collaged
Ray Tube, 2012, studio recording.
time-lapse photographs.
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FEATURED ARTISTS, WORKS, AND NUMERICAL CODING cont. 19
21
20
22
JODI, Untitled Game, n.d., videoscape.
Noah Eisenbruch, Concrete, 2012, concrete, 52”x160”.
*
GLITCHE app download link
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FIGURE 1: ORIGINAL ARRANGEMENT
1
2
3
5
7
4
6
8
Original arrangement: Logical sequencing of digital and analogue works (REFER TO featured works FOR NUMERICAL CODING OF WORKS AND DIDACTICS)
11 9
10
12
13 14
15 16
19 17 18
20
21 22
FIGURE 2: ORIGINAL ARRANGEMENT WITH NUMERICAL CODING
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ARRANGEMENT DESIGN
14
1
6 2
4
3
14 8
9
5
11 12
13
7
15 16
19 17 18
20
*
21 22
FIGURE 3: RECONFIGURED ARRANGEMENT WITH NUMERICAL CODING
*
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Reconfigured arrangement: Using Stearns’ method of glitching by finding and replacing all types of characters with another (2013, p.2), all odd number items were replaced or switched with their doubled value counterpart. For example, item 5 (Textile work by Phillip Stearns, Mac OSX 10.4 No.9) was switched with item 10 (QR code displaying didactics for Nick Briz, Apple Computers, 2013, video). This process was repeated until item 11, which could not be glitched due to spatial confines. Finally, a QR code to download the Glitché app was added to each entry point, and all QR codes were made black and white to hide any
FIGURE 4: RECONFIGURED FINAL ARRANGEMENT
differentiation between information destinations.
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IN-TEXT REFERENCES FOR PROPOSAL
IMAGE REFERENCES FOR ARTISTS AND WORKS (PP.11-13) IN NUMERICAL ORDER
Duncan, C. and Wallach, A. (2009). Chapter 13: The
Menkman, R. (2013). Xilitla [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xilitla.
Museum of Modern Art as Late Capitalist Ritual: An
beyondresolution.info/
Iconographic Analysis. In F. Frascina (Ed.), Modern Art Culture: A Reader. London: Routledge.
Stearns, P. (2014). Mac OSX 10.4 No.5 [Image file]. Retrieved from http:// glitchtextiles.com/collections/binary-blankets/products/bb-macosx104_rgb_05-jw
GLI.TC/H. (2012). Why make glitch art?. Retrieved from http://gli.tc/h/faq/
Stearns,
P.
(2014).
Mac
OSX
10.4
No.9
[Image
file].
Retrieved
from
http://
glitchtextiles.com/collections/binary-blankets/products/bb-macosx104_rgb_09-jw Hughes,
P.
(2010).
From
Exhibition
to
Experience.
Architects’ Journal, 231(15), 43-45.
Stearns,
P.
(2014).
Mac
OSX
10.4
No.6
[Image
file].
Retrieved
from
http://
glitchtextiles.com/collections/binary-blankets/products/bb-macosx104_rgb_06-jw Malka, S. (2013). A-Kamp47. Retrieved from http://www. stephanemalka.com/en/2013/10/a-kamp47/
Briz, N. (2013). Apple Computers [Video file]. Retrieved from http://nickbriz.com/ applecomputers/
Menkman, R. (2010). Glitch Studies Manifesto. Retrieved from
http://rosa-menkman.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/
glitch-studies-manifesto.html
Lichty, P. (2014). Into The Wild: AR-Embedded Tapestry [Image file]. Retrieved from http://www.voyd.com/sculpture_digital_tapestries.html
O’Doherty, B. (1986). Notes on the Gallery Space. In B.
Evans, K. (n.d.). Synchronization/Pixellation [Video file]. Retrieved from http://
O’Doherty (Ed.), Inside the white cube. San Francisco:
www.kyleellisevans.com/#!syncpix/cqss
The Lapis Press. Nerhol. (n.d.). Misunderstanding Focus No.025, No.12, No.18 [Image file]. Retrieved Pedersen, C. (2014). KVB200 Exhibition and Display in the
from http://www.nerhol.com/
Visual Arts: Week 4 – The Modernist Exhibition [Lecture Audio Presentation]. Retrieved from https://lecturecapture.
Connolly, J. and Evans, K. (2011). Cracked Ray Tube [Video file]. Retrieved from
qut.edu.au/ess/echo/presentation/b93c7990-0e1f-45ea-a5ed-
http://crackedraytube.com/videos.html
9a665dd07501?ec=true Eisenbruch, N. (2012). Concrete [Image file]. Retrieved from http://noaheisenbruch. Stearns, P. (2013). Glitch Workshop. Retrieved from http://
com/project/concrete/
phillipstearns.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/stgo_glitch_ workshop_day1.pdf
JODI. (n.d.). Untitled Game [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.untitled-game.org/ ug6.html
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