Course 8: Institutional Critique and Institutional Practice
by Martin Fritz
15 – 20 August 2022
2 ECTS
Course Description
Artists are bound to the institutions in their field by an ambivalent relationship, and they are more aware than they have ever been of how their work is involved with the institutional framework of its presentation. At the intersection between the premises of Institutional Critique – which has developed step by step into a comprehensive method of artistic social contextualisation – and the different manifestations of site-specific art, numerous examples of works are to be found that adopt a close architectural, social, structural and processual relationships to the institutions of their presentation.
The starting point of the workshop is the assertion that there is a symbiotic-constructive relationship between production and institution, and that this takes shape as ideal, appropriation, co-creation, critique, and rejection. It was early to be observed that those works and the discourses and conflicts that were instigated by it had the potential to change institutional structures. This even more so as curators have appropriated Institutional Critique´s methodology. We will revisit some of the major controversies of the last decade (P.A.I.N, Whitney Museum, Liberate Tate) and we will look at examples of controversially discussed projects and artworks. The participants will be encouraged to share examples from their own professional practice. Based on the historical groundwork of initiatives such as “The Art Workers Coalition,” the group will develop its own contemporary “Statement of Demands.”
Biography
"Martin Fritz studied law in Vienna from 1981 to 1986. Since then, he has worked in the field of contemporary art production in Vienna, New York, and Germany. Among many other assignments, he has worked as Director of Operations for the re-opening of PS1 Contemporary Art Center (today: MoMA PS1) in New York; Managing Director of In Between – The Art Project of EXPO 2000 in Hanover; General Coordinator of Manifesta 4 – European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Frankfurt am Main; and as Director of the Festival der Regionen in Upper Austria. From 2001 to 2007, he was a member of the Board of the International Foundation Manifesta. From 2016 to 2020, Martin Fritz headed Merz Akademie Hochschule für Gestaltung, Kunst und Medien, Stuttgart as its Rector. As a writer, consultant, and researcher, Martin Fritz specializes in site-specific art, institutional critique, arts administration, cultural policy, and institutional governance. Martin Fritz is a corresponding member of the Vienna Secession and a member of the permanent jury for visual arts at the Austrian Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport."
"Martin Fritz studied law in Vienna from 1981 to 1986. Since then, he has worked in the field of contemporary art production in Vienna, New York, and Germany. Among many other assignments, he has worked as Director of Operations for the re-opening of PS1 Contemporary Art Center (today: MoMA PS1) in New York; Managing Director of In Between – The Art Project of EXPO 2000 in Hanover; General Coordinator of Manifesta 4 – European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Frankfurt am Main; and as Director of the Festival der Regionen in Upper Austria. From 2001 to 2007, he was a member of the Board of the International Foundation Manifesta. From 2016 to 2020, Martin Fritz headed Merz Akademie Hochschule für Gestaltung, Kunst und Medien, Stuttgart as its Rector. As a writer, consultant, and researcher, Martin Fritz specializes in site-specific art, institutional critique, arts administration, cultural policy, and institutional governance. Martin Fritz is a corresponding member of the Vienna Secession and a member of the permanent jury for visual arts at the Austrian Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport."
Participation
10 participants will be selected to participate in this course. Eligible participants must read the Terms information, fill out the application form, upload the required documents and submit the application form. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
The participation fee is 300€.
Scholarships are available for participants from Kosovo.