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AS: Do you mean that we should somehow handle a problem of
artists being unprepared for fame? I don’t know. I think as they agreed
to participate, they should also be aware, as we were aware when we
agreed to curate the biennial, of what the consequences are. Namely,
that we are talking to you and you are asking us questions about the
show that doesn’t exist, and we have to, you know, run fast and try to…
EF: Sleep less.
idea of artistic influence and this genealogy, as Adam was saying earlier. AS: Yes. Come up with some answers and so forth. But I think the
And so there we have artists who are creating shows of older figures, biennial gives these artists a unique opportunity to realise work that
but not only that, because those same artists that are curators at one they were maybe not so much dreaming about but imagining in detail.
moment in the Schinkel Pavilion are also making new works. They’re We are trying to help them to do it, involving all the resources that we
shown elsewhere in the biennial, and either visibly or invisibly relate to have and are able to arrange and provide. And I guess that in this sense
the question of influence and transmission, aesthetics and knowledge, we providing some sort of duty of care to these artists, because we
that happens over generations. And these historical figures are really are enabling them to articulate things that in other circumstances they
not the avant-garde or typical modernist figures, but actually, in most would not really be able to articulate, or at least not at this point. And
cases, strange, forgotten or almost-forgotten antimodernist figures. also they simply have a chance to have their work exposed to a huge
It was interesting to give artists the possibility of showing this, and to and very diverse audience, which is not exactly the situation when you
emphasise the fact that their work doesn’t come ex nihilo, but that there are showing in a small gallery space in your hometown. I mean, this is
are sometimes important questions that influence or inspire other work. Berlin, and it’s the centre of the artworld – apparently.
It also relates to the catalogue for the show, in which we asked artists
about a very different sense of influence – what they are reading and Is it?
what it is that enables them to create the works they do.
AS: That’s what they say. So people will see this work, and I don’t
Can you explain that a little bit more… think that artists will be unhappy about it. I think dealing with fame is a
universal problem, and we are not an emergency service to help artists
EF: Instead of producing a catalogue that would, as the name suggests, cope with an excess of fame, and we will see. I mean, I very much hope
‘catalogue’ and ‘document’ an exhibition that has yet to be made, we that they will all become very famous, because many of them aren’t
realised from a very early point that we wanted to incite production at the moment, and I wonder why. But seriously, we are working with
and wanted to give artists a completely free hand, without their being people who don’t seem to put so much attention to these questions.
bound to represent it in a book, to represent something that was not yet So far, I think all artists with whom we have talked are so completely
imagined or made. Neither did we want them to represent themselves focused on making the work in the best way possible. So the strategic
by previous works, so instead we asked them to submit source material, positioning will come later, when the work is done. And this is a normal
things that inspired them, like the books they’re reading, photographs. part of the game. Once the work is finished, you can look around and
And the work they turned in – the texts, the visual materials, the see who is coming and what people want from you when you are an
newspaper clippings – were wildly different and give a much more artist. You have to play the game, but I guess it’s not the main issue
interesting and broader picture of where artistic production comes or the main problem that the biennial brings with it. It’s just natural or
from. The rest of the book is constituted in that way, too, because inevitable.
it includes poems and pieces of fiction and other sources that were
Adam’s and my source materials. Things that we were interested in, in It is of course a part of the art market. All the gallerists and a lot
the process of thinking about this exhibition, or things that interested of collectors will come, and whatever you may say, the biennial is
the authors we commissioned to write for this book. somehow feeding into it.
When you are talking production and the condition of production, EF: Sure, and that is always the case. But if you start worrying too
does that become a way in which you support your artists? Some much about it, then the only option you’re left with as a curator is to
of them are very young, so do you as curators feel a responsibility show work that is only very firmly placed in that market, that already
towards them? has big galleries, sufficient representation, brand recognition, etc.
Berlin.indd 85 5/3/08 10:39:34
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