The Curator As Artist Syllabus

CREATIVE WORKSHOP CURATOR AS ARTIST
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE IN THE ARTS & HUMANITIES | MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
FALL 2011 | RCAH 291 SECTION 002

PROFESSOR INFORMATION | DAY + TIME |
Dylan A.T. Miner, PhD Tu Th 10:20 – 12:10
C230J Snyder Hall
dminer@msu.edu OFFICE HOURS |
884-‐1323 Tu Th 2:00 – 3:00 + by appointment

curator (cu•ra•tor) noun One who has the care or charge of a person or thing.

‘A twenty-‐first century curator is a catalyst–a bridge between the local and the
global.’
– Hans Ulrich Obrist, On Curating

‘My role as a curator is as somebody who is intellectually interested in art and the
meanings that it produces and how one can organize that within the limited context
of the institutional space or the gallery space or the public space within which art is
presented.’
– Okwui Enwezor, ‘Curating Beyond the Canon’

COURSE DESCRIPTION |
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a curator is an individual responsible for
another person or thing. With the rise of the modern and contemporary museum,
the curator came to be defined primarily as someone in charge of museums,
galleries, and other cultural institutions. Beginning in the 1960s, Harald Szeeman
re-‐conceptualized the role of the curator into an iconoclast and commenced the era
defined by large international biennials and larger than life curators.

Through experiential learning and conversations with professional curators, this
class will explore the creative and artistic role of the curator. We will pay particular
attention to curating exhibitions as being both a creative and artistic practice.
Although we will look at curation as practiced in dominant institutions, such as
museums, we will spend the majority of our time interrogating alternative
curatorial practices, particularly activist-‐oriented and Indigenous exhibitions.

During the semester, students will tentatively help curate a small exhibition for Day
of the Dead in the MSU Museum (Fall 2011), as well as collectively organize another
show in LookOut! Gallery (planned for Spring 2012). Moreover, students will be
expected to curate smaller ‘exhibitions’ throughout the semester, attend gallery and
museum exhibitions, curate ‘mini-‐exhibitions’, and write reviews of shows.

Miner, Curator as Artist 2
OBJECTIVES |
Due to the interdisciplinarity of this seminar, the goals and objectives are likewise
multiple. By discussing, analyzing, and curating art exhibitions, students will
accomplish the following:
• Investigate the history of art and visual cultures;
• Explain how and why we create meaning through art;
• Interpret the multiple meanings of art;
• Recognize the potential to transform the world through art and its
exhibition;
• Learn the basic language and practices of exhibit curation.

The course will also help students meet general liberal learning outcomes, as
outlined by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. These include,
but are not limited to:
• Develop a robust knowledge of human cultures and the natural world;
• Improve intellectual and practical skills, such as inquiry and analysis,
critical and creative thinking, communication, visual literacy, and problem
solving;
• Enhance personal and social responsibility through direct civic participation,
ongoing intercultural competency, and continued ethical reasoning and
action;
• Demonstrate integrative learning by synthesizing creative and analytical
thinking across disciplinary fields.

CURATORS-‐IN-‐CONVERSATION |
Leanne L’Hirondelle, Director, Gallery 101, Ottawa
Dr. Marsha MacDowell, Michigan State University Museum
Josh MacPhee, Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative
Dr. Nancy Marie Mithlo, University of Wisconsin
Ryan Rice, Museum of Contemporary Native Art

TEXTS |
You are required to purchase the following books. Additional readings will be
available for download from Angel.
1. Ivan Karp, Corinne A. Kratz, Lynn Szwaja, and Tomás Ybarra-‐Frausto, eds.
Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations (Durhman, NC:
Duke University, 2006).
2. Paula Marincola, ed. Curating Now: Imaginative Practice/Public
Responsibility (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, 2001);
available as free PDF.
3. Brian O’Doherty. Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space,
expanded ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000).
4. Steven Rand and Heather Kouris, ed. Cautionary Tales: Critical Curating
(New York: Apex Art, 2007).


Selections from the following:
1. Paula Marincola, ed. What Makes a Great Exhibition? (Philadelphia:
Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, 2006).
2. Paul O’Neill, ed. Curating Subjects (Amsterdam: De Appel, 2007).
3. Paul O’Neill and Mick Wilson, ed. Curating and the Educational Turn
(London: Open Editions, 2010).
4. Carolee Thea. On Curating: Interviews with Ten International Curators (New
York: Distributed Art Publishers, 2009).
5. OnCurating.org.

GRADING |
• exhibition review 10%
• curate mini-‐exhibitions 15%
• class exhibition(s) 25%
• participation, including outside attendance 30%
• final project 20%

ATTENDANCE |
As part of the Residential College in the Arts & Humanities, attendance is
mandatory!! Although I will not be actively ‘taking roll,’ you will be obliged to
actively discuss art within the creative workshop. Therefore, continued absences
will alter your ability to comprehend the overall themes of the workshop. Your
presence in the workshop is needed for full participation credit. As such, your
attendance may positively and/or negatively affect your final grade through
multiple venues.

PARTICIPATION |
Active discussion is paramount to intellectual development. As such, thirty percent
of your final grade is based on participation. You are expected to arrive to class (on
time) having thoroughly read all of the assigned readings and prepared to
critically/creatively discuss the material. You are expected to speak during each
and every workshop, however quantity of participation is not a surrogate for
quality. Your participation grade will take into consideration the frequency, as well
as excellence, of your engagement in workshop discussions.

POLICY ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INTEGRITY |
In agreement with Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report which states that
‘the student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity
of scholarship, grades, and professional standards,’ it is expected that students
neither plagiarize nor copy from a peer’s intellectual or creative work. In addition,
the RCAH adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General
Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the
All-‐University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in
Spartan Life: Student Handbook + Resource Guide
(http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife/index.htm). Students who engage in

academically dishonest activities may receive a 0.0 on that given assignment or for
the overall course.

POLICY ON ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES |
Students with disabilities that may interfere with completing your assigned course
work may speak with me, as well as contact the Resource Center for Persons with
Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a
counselor, call 353-‐9642 [voice] or 355-‐1293 [TTY].

WEEK ONE | INTRODUCTION READINGS

September 01 Introduction + Syllabus O’Doherty 13-‐34
Rand 11-‐25

WEEK TWO | MUSEUMS V. GALLERIES
September 06 Karp 1-‐31
Rand 26-‐35

September 08 O’Doherty 35-‐64
On Curating 01/08

WEEK THREE | INSIDE THE WHITE CUBE
Rand 79-‐90


Assignment Curatorial Assignment 1 10 Dorm Objects

WEEK FOUR | NO CLASS | PROF. MINER IN SLOVENIA
September 20 Visit LookOut! Gallery On Curating 06/10
and MSU Museum

September 22 Watch Films On Curating 03/10

Assignment Curatorial Assignment 2 10 NFB Films

WEEK FIVE | CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVES
September 27 Keevin Lewis Rand 46-‐78
Smithsonian Institution

September 29 Rand 91-‐98, 108-‐118

Special Activity Closing Reception, LookOut! Gallery
Anishinaabensag Biimskowebshkigewag

WEEK SIX | GIVING PERMISSION
October 04 Jacob PDF
Sheikh PDF

October 06 O’Neill + Wilson PDF
Verwoert PDF
Graham PDF

WEEK SEVEN | CURATOR AS ACTIVIST
October 11 Rand 36-‐45, 99-‐107

MacPhee, Signals PDF

On Curating 04/10

October 13 Josh MacPhee MacPhee, Signs PDF
Justseeds MacPhee, PP PDF
MacPhee, History PDF

WEEK EIGHT | EXHIBITIONARY COMPLEXES
October 18 Curatorial Interns Karp 35-‐69
(Scene) MetroSpace
October 20 Karp 70-‐101

WEEK NINE | TACTICAL MUSEOLOGIES
Karp 247-‐256


WEEK TEN | RESEARCH WEEK
November 01 Dr. Marsha MacDowell MacDowell, PDF
MSU Museum www.quiltindex.org

November 03 No Class On Curating 07/11
Attend Gallery Exhibition and/or Opening

WEEK ELEVEN | REMAPPING THE MUSEUM
November 08 Karp 347-‐356
Karp 504-‐535

November 10 Ryan Rice Rice PDF
Museum of Contemporary Jessup PDF
Native Art (MoCNA)

WEEK TWELVE | CLASS EXHIBITION
November 15 On Curating 09/11

November 17 None.

WEEK THIRTEEN | ARTIST-‐RUN CENTERS
November 22 Leanne L’Hirondelle L’Hirondelle PDF
Gallery101 Decentre PDF
Faguet PDF

November 24 Thanksgiving None.

WEEK FOURTEEN | CLASS EXHIBITION

November 29 Dr. Nancy Marie Mithlo Marincola, selections
University of Wisconsin

December 01 Group Presentations None.

WEEK FIFTEEN |


FINALS WEEK| FINAL EXAMINATION PERIOD
16 December 2011
Friday at 7:45-‐9:45

The Curator As Artist Syllabus

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CREATIVE WORKSHOP CURATOR AS ARTIST

WEEK ONE | INTRODUCTION READINGS

MacPhee, Signals PDF

WEEK FOURTEEN | CLASS EXHIBITION

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