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What we’re doing is giving an opportunity to artists who are not so So I think what we are trying to do – so there is a big masterplan – is
visible, who haven’t had a chance, for the most part, to show in such a avoid showing too much work that has an inbuilt capacity to surrender
large-scale exhibition, and giving them the means to realise projects to this fetishisation, which means, for instance, that we have relatively
that they might not otherwise have realised, or that they might only little painting in the exhibition. We don’t have these splendid sculptures
have been able to realise by fully entering some kind of market system. that seem to be more like caricatures of themselves. As curators we
We’re managing to do for the large part without that system. What are pursuing a number of interests, and each of us has slightly different
that system does with these works afterwards is maybe an inevitability, ones, but what this show has in common is that it’s not so focused on
but I think it is far more important to give a chance to those artists that an object that gains extra value as an object for the viewer, but more
are doing incredibly strong, consistent, engaging work, but for some in what kind of content is transported through it. The contemporary
reason are remaining under the market radar. I won’t pretend that the market focuses mostly on appearances, while the market for conceptual
biennial is their family or anything like that, but we are all committed to propositions is not particularly strong at the moment. There are not
helping them to all realise their productions in the best possible way. I that many museums that buy, and the museums are getting weaker
really believe what Adam was saying: our responsibility is to help them and weaker and buying less and less. Consequently, the shape of the
to articulate those things that they want or need to say as artists. The market is dictated by a number of big collectors and, after them, by a
rest, we can’t control. whole range of smaller collectors, and many of them really go for things
that bring them some a kind of splendour or something that can fulfil all
AS: We are curators; they are artists. The dealers are somewhere else. these kinds of desires, and many of them need to have something that
We are not going to be looking into what happens with works… is very expensive, very spectacular and so forth. I don’t think we have
much of that in our show, so it might be a disappointment in that sense.
EF: We’re not naive about the system, but on the other hand Adam But of course, if you talk about collectors in the plural, you can easily
and I have done what we can to make a biennial that doesn’t rely on fall into these kinds of generalisations and just turn down the whole
very much either. And that’s already been quite a challenge. issue of the art market and your relationship with it. But you can also try
to talk to a collector and try to explain the work, and I think that some
AS: Artworks are unique objects, and people want to have something understanding can be established.
unique. It creates a much stronger bond between the work and those
who buy art. But with the biennial, our approach to catalogue texts, for The 5th Berlin Biennial of Contemporary Art runs from 5 April to 15 June.
instance, is not very different from our approach to artworks. We feel See listings for further details
that you can achieve an intensity while reading a book that’s similar to
the one you feel while engaging with an artwork. Given the fact that the
catalogue exists in millions of copies and the artwork is unique, there
is an obvious quantitative difference, but I don’t think there is a major
qualitative difference. The demand for uniqueness is a secondary thrill
that we are not really interested in. We are interested in the content
of the statement. The interest that comes later from the market is a
certain type of fetishism. And whether a video by Patricia Esquivias,
in which she is trying to read aloud can be fetishised is an interesting
question. Probably it can, but I think it is rather funny if it is. And perhaps
it should not be.
Berlin.indd 86 5/3/08 10:39:53
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