Installation detail of Hello..Clk..Bzz..whrr..Nice To Meet You, October 1999, Kunstbunker, Nuremberg. Curated by Gavin Wade & Kathirin Bohm. With works by L-R: Mark Titchner (wall); Manuel Franke (floor); Albrecht Schafer (white florina); Elke Haarer (wallpaper); Nick Bolton (video); Kathrin Bohm & Stefan Saffer (straw); Gavin Wade (tape); Keith Wilson (pallet lifter).

The interview was conducted by Ilana Stanger of TheArtBiz.com.

You’ve recently published a book titled “Curating in the 21st Century.” What are the challenges for 21st century curators?

There are a lot. The book was about asking that question and attaining perspectives on it. I wanted to consider how much more the curator could be involved in providing solutions for the future--implementing ideas within government, politics, and religion. I asked, how could art be used as a resource tool, as a way to make change happen?

When I worked on the Cadbury project [Wade invited 28 artists and architects to install new work in Bournville, England, a 19th century Cadbury Chocolate factory-village] we produced all this amazing artwork, but I was still left questioning whether we could have affected the fabric of that place more. That led me to developing the Quick Response Unit (QRU.) idea. The QRU would access the best people to respond to unique situations. I researched past scenarios--for instance, in 1966 the British “Artist Placement Group” formed. Their mission was to place artists at the boardroom level and pay them to make decisions and provide reports. They worked in government and in the prisons and had real impact, but in the 1970s the art council cut their funding because they felt the group wasn’t doing art but “social engineering.” I think that’s an amazing story--one of the most important developments in twentieth century British art--but no one has heard of it. QRU isn’t about being naïve and trying to create a perfect world; it’s about not being afraid to set-up a discourse.

What’s the role of the curator in artists’ political activism?

You still need a stimulus. The curator cares about the development of art and provides stimulus. I’m looking for space for art to emerge. It isn’t just about archiving and maintaining art and reshuffling objects, but pushing boundaries of responsibility for what art can take on.

You’ve planned exhibitions in the US, Germany, and Norway, among other countries, and you draw artists from all over into your shows. How did you develop international art contacts?

Quite naturally. For the first exhibition I organized I just went into galleries and got phone numbers of artists whose work I liked. That was 1996. It’s all just completely through meeting artists, and then one introduces you to another. And then also I’m always actively looking--one rule I have is that every time I do an exhibit it has someone new. But it’s very everyday, just like you meet other people.

“Curating in the 21st Century” was an amazing project for meeting people. I had a research fellowship at the University of Wolverhampton and they wanted a conference. I organized the conference like I would an exhibition--I just met and interviewed lots and lots of curators and got a sense of how it’d all fit together. That led to many new connections and new ideas. I like the vision of conference as exhibition--bringing people together not an audience but as a group.

How did you end up getting your own show to curate in 1996?

I studied painting at college, and organized exhibits of my own work. After college I did a show at a corporate building in London and realized art wasn’t just for the studio or the blank gallery wall. I was interested in the whole system of presentation, and I started knocking around ideas and thinking about artists I’d want to show. I got the opportunity from an artist I’d showed with previously. He met a guy in a pub who was opening a gallery, and he called me to be in a show there with him. I asked, ‘Could I curate a show?’ Then my second show developed through an artist I’d put in the first show. It’s been about just following what occurs and responding to it.

You’ve worked on several exhibitions where you’ve produced your own work, but always in relation to another artist’s vision (for instance, a support structure for Brancusi’s sculptures and a reconstruction of a Bas Jan Ader installation/performance). How do these creations fit into your view of the curatorial profession?

I gave up my studio, which was a conscious decision, but this year I made a few works. I call them “curatorial artworks”--other people participate in them. Recently I’ve been remaking early twentieth century structures, like L type and T-type display units. I came across these while preparing the 21st century curator book, and wanted to try them out. For me they’re the opposite of QRU, which I like. Along with trying to deal with the public and socially aware side of curating I also want to try small, useless art projects. I hope abstract thoughts lead to useful objects. A gallery is just a space for laboratory experiment, a place to try something out.

What are your impressions of the British vs. American art scene? Any noticeable differences?

I was already plugged into a collaborative art scene in Britain, so I may be biased, but it’s difficult to find artists here who are willing to interact and collaborate and allow their work even to sit on top of someone else’s. There’s a certain individuality here; New York is so much about standing alone.

What’s your advice to emerging curators?

Meet artists. I think that’s the best thing really. Go to meet people for the right reasons--because you’re interested in their ideas. That’s the best way to learn and to engage artists. They want to be asked interesting questions, and to be supported. Curators should be a support mechanism for artists--we need to be that.

This article was originally created for TheArtBiz.com. It appears on NYFA Interactive courtesy of the Abigail Rebecca Cohen Library.

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