In. Practice

As the Renaissance Society enters our second century, we continue to grapple with a number of questions concerning the past, present, and future of the contemporary art institution. In. Practice—a gathering organized on the occasion of the Renaissance Society’s Centennial—offers a series of inquiries anchored in concerns relevant to practitioners from a variety of international contexts and scales.

The “In.” of the title refers not just to institution, but also nods to words like independence, in-betweenness, interaction, intention, and invention, concepts fundamental to these discussions. The event approaches “practice” in both senses of the word: as a way of working developed over a long period, but also as a perpetual experiment into the boundaries of exhibition-making and identity-building.

Follow the weekend’s proceedings at e-flux conversations as writers Karen Archey and Caroline Picard cover the sessions live.

Please scroll down to the bottom of the page for video of the symposium.

Fri Nov 20

Symposium check-in, extended hours viewing of Paul McCarthy, Drawings, and the opening reception for Let Us Celebrate While Youth Lingers and Ideas Flow: Archives 1915–2015 at the Gray Center Lab.

Sat Nov 21: Models and Conditions

The Saturday program addresses global conditions that exert influence over institutions and the production of new works, knowledge, and identity; a number of institutional case studies in functional and theoretical terms; institutional and artistic needs; and the power of the image.

Key questions include: What are the financial, emotional, physical, political, infrastructural, and formal terms that govern practice within an institution? How do we define “in-betweenness” vis-à-vis the contemporary art institution and how might that affect forms of representation? How are global conditions exerting influence over the production of new works, knowledge, and identity?

• Solveig Øvstebø: introduction
• Nina Möntmann on the evolving role of art institutions in response to recent global, social, and economic shifts
• Sarah Rifky on Beirut (2012–2015), an art space in Cairo, Egypt investigating politics, economy, education, ecology, and the arts
• Aaron Flint Jamison and Robert Snowden on Yale Union, an art institution in Portland, Oregon founded by artists Jamison and Curtis Knapp in 2011
• Rifky, Jamison, and Snowden in conversation with Øvstebø
• Park McArthur on what artists need from institutions and what institutions need from artists?
• Irena Haiduk and Kerry James Marshall in conversation with W.J.T. Mitchell: on inclusion, exclusion, and the making of the art historical image canon

Sun Nov 22: Time and Materials

Sunday investigates materiality, both in and out of the artist’s studio; institution as material; the relationship between the origins of conceptualism and ever-evolving modes of production and dissemination; and the manifestation of archival tendencies in artistic research and practice.

Key questions include: How can institutions best serve evolving ideas? Where do fundamental elements of artistic practice and institution-building intersect? How does instability figure in the construction of the past and the future? What is the relationship between the stuff of artworks and the ways in which they are presented and preserved?

• Jordan Stein: introduction
• William Pope.L in conversation with Anthony Huberman on temporality, power, and institutionalism
• Anne Rorimer and Karen Archey in conversation with Hamza Walker on how conceptualism, immateriality, and dispersion exist within the contemporary art institution
• Ranjit Hoskote on retaining a critical relationship to narrative, the archive, and the phantom of the art historical
• Alberta Mayo on custody, caretaking, and the individual as institution and anomaly
• Hoskote and Mayo in conversation with Blake Stimson
• Solveig Øvstebø and Jordan Stein: closing remarks

This event is part of the Renaissance Society’s Centennial program. Read more.