curator of the Start of the season 2014/2015 Ivan Isaev is taking part in the internship programme for young Russian curators, organized by the Association of cultural institutions of EU countries (EUNIC), in partnership with the Center for contemporary art WINERY and shares with us his diary entries.

Record first. Berlin

In Berlin I arrived three days before Hamburg so I can have time to watch the controversial Berlin Biennale, and Hiking tourists on the familiar city - before diving into the absolute institutional and contextual uncertainty. The campaign for museums, however, it's not too intense: the first night everything was closed, and the bright informative impression was a scattering of rabbits on the lawn near the road, in the district of Tiergarten.

the next day close was itself Biennale for Tuesday! I was waiting for the Museum Hamburger Bahnhof that, of course, symbolic, considering the point of my main destination. As always, I came around closing time - two hours, and they were not enough to see all the exhibitions. Sacrificing Carl Andre, I went to the fair with a great name "CAPITAL: Debt. Territory. Utopia". It was very tightly constructed exposition genre which can be characterized as "a bald attempt to work with the Museum's collection, raising global issues" - although many involved work taken from other museums and private collections.

In it are mixed in the bunch and far-fetched to each other: the mummy turtle from the red book, donated to the Museum in 2009 (because, according to the catalog, the turtle is known for the longevity, slowness and serenity that made them different cultures are a popular symbol of wisdom; but now this species, whose remains were solemnly exhibited in the showcase in the beginning of the exhibition, exterminated for their delicious meat and beautiful shell. I just hope donated to the Museum an instance died peacefully of old age) and the Flemish painters, showing human greed of its time; of various entertaining arrangements (a toy steam engine) and miniature replicas of tombstones; slave shackles, a fragment of Charlie Chaplin's, books in glass cases, which cannot be read, several giant works of Andy Warhol (rare surprise in the exhibition about the capital!) and even seascape by Gerhard Richter and early work by CY Twombly (they probably just strongly asked to show).  lacked the volume "Capital" of Karl Marx, but perhaps the curators felt this move obscenely obvious, so ignored.

Fragments among the mess can find many interesting things. There is an interesting architectural ideas (tight space, for example, structured empty transparent parallelepipeds Windows), here and there scattered quotes of philosophers and theorists, one of the exhibits is a promotional video of the company Goldman Sachs, which played an important role in the global financial crisis, is directly included in the exhibition, conversations with philosophers (interview Hannah Arendt günter GAUS, the conversation Heidegger and a Buddhist monk), pop songs (Hello, Rihanna) and the clips of musical groups (Bonaparte, "anti-anti").

But overall, the show operates as a benefit-antiprimer to the curator institution: speaker, preferably a fashionable topic and big names artists in the Museum, stuck in the Museum's mess, which Ministers to the audience in the pursuit of attendance. The entrance is 14 euros, by the way.

 

But such pompous words can be said about the second show that I watched, "Manifesto" Julian Rosefeldt. This is a very witty, subtle and spectacular at the same time history, which consist of compilations of manifestos for different areas, nested in the mouths of the characters living in modern times: a homeless drifter, funeral speaker, broker, scientist, housewife posh parties, etc.

Each of the actors speaks compiled by Julian text, being a hero kinoservice. The stories themselves ordinary, but a textbook, and the operator's work deserves enthusiasm. The entire exhibit weaves together the pathos manifests and the vanity of our time; presented separately, the manifest and the film is already able to testify about the era, but when they are imposed  on top of each other, there is a critical synergy, a completely new way, reflecting the ambivalent modernity and contemporary culture. Emerging hangs between sarcastic criticism and stating the apology is complemented by the pleasing to the art world a bonus is that through this work he still narcissicism watching itself. Not surprisingly, which lasted until 10 July, the exhibition was extended for more than two months, until the Berlin art week.

 

the Berlin Biennale, which I visited the next day, it is difficult to quickly digest and to characterize, despite the large number of works. In addition, the exhibition itself is located in five different places (including, in particular, and boat trip), of which visit I had only two in KW and the Academy ... and I almost missed the train. So I can't share the whole picture about the project. So all that remains is to post a selfie from the "curator at work" at least it will get a couple of works of the exhibition and the famous Brandenburg gate.

of Course, design the background of the curators shines through the whole exposition, structured and decorated more like a boutique fashion and the (allegedly and supposedly) critical work, a kind of surplas between appeal to serious issues and figs in your pocket. The General atmosphere created by the DIS, for me, was highly correlated with the lyrics of the song "Back together" from the new album the most ironic group today Metronomy: https://youtube.com/watch?v=T5nO2h1QOoI.

Curiously, he walked through the exhibition, I thought about how there was a transformation between the role of the curator and a change agent in the arts. Never a curatorial collective DIS, is clearly far from the existing curatorial disкурса performed, however, its role, having discussed and debated the project on the territory of art. Trite, but true - right now matter your specific action on the art scene, the dance of the moth to the lamp, no matter it again or not. Random twists a fair wind to bring on the scene may be completely different figures, moreover, the structure of the art world rather favors the volatility and randomness of the selected candidates; and self-criticism, condemning the curatorial isolation from the real problems and real aspirations of the artists, is designed to eliminate regulatory figure of the curator for the immediately flare of agents of influence. Another interesting fact that I thought about it some masochistic enthusiasm. It's like another dimension of pretaroli supposedly liberating agent is able to erupt, it is not required to go on long proceptivity the path, he can come out of nowhere and making a case on one stage, pereporhnut the next; its role should be strictly defined and can be generated on the spot. That's just not whether such freedom is illusory and are we able to use it?

speaking of excess uncertainty and pretaroli literally: in Hamburg I was traveling, with unresolved housing issue, literally – to nowhere. The adventure is just beginning.