‘Art as Experience’ by John Dewey, in which, he talks about the creation of art are made up of ‘artistic’ and ‘esthetic’ when an artist creates a work of art, ‘artistic’ is the action of making, the dexterity from the artist, ‘esthetic’ is the perception from the process of making the art. He also said that art is also a process of creation, perception and enjoyment, it has nothing to do with the creative act. He said that ‘Until the artist is satisfied in perception with what he is doing, he continues shaping and reshaping. The making comes to an end when its result is experienced as good and that experience comes not by mere intellectual and outside judgment but indirect perception’.
The reason for citing those quotes is to clarify the purpose for art-making…in general.
For artists it is great to have group shows, they get to show their work, often or not in different countries, get to be a part of different communities and it’s good for exposure. Which is something I’ve talked about in the post ‘Great Opportunity’, the reasoning for an artist to get their work shown in different situations, creating opportunities for the artist to show their work and the opportunities that come with it.
So what are the cons of having a group show?
When a curator puts together a show, he or she would get to choose which artist to become part of the upcoming show (usually well known, or already have good connections with). The show would have a theme, an overall concept, that way it’s easier to put the show together.
For me, that’s where the problem begins. When a work of art hangs next to another work of art that is halfway across the world, that has completely different context but has a similar connection to the theme; the work of art has lost its meaning. It is difficult for the audience to look at each piece of art individually and understand the process of art-making and they would have to remind over and over again that the work belongs there, because it fits the theme.
I understand it is easy for the curation for the show to have a theme and put everything together. It is also easy to find pieces of a puzzle and put them into a box, but it would just become a pop-up show with lots of strong individual art which has nothing to do with curating. The challenge is to select and put together a group of works that enhance the meaning of the theme or give the work of art a different context and it adds to the show; instead of putting a group of work together because it fits the theme.
