There are people who try to burn and bury contemporary art under the abyss of intellectualism and identity politics, there are people who try to rescue it and give a new life. I see myself in the second camp.

the typical type of hatred/ disregard of the contemporary art world is so common that the gasp is expected. a learned scholars, media studies folks, or a devoted marxist would bash at Koons, Hirst, Cattelan or Tiravanija with no hesitation. people love to hate contemporary art.

thinking about curatorship as a form of solidarity building, archiving as a form of resistance against oppression, of building infrastructure in places that have none.

also the professionalization of the art/design world is a product of neoliberal, western higher education. time to rethink that.

'curating' design opens up another uncertain territory, as design objects/systems defy the traditional notions of authorship, material conditions and art historical legacies.
there are experiments in curatorial practices that approach design as something more than process or outcome, but philosophy.

I never considered myself as a designer until recently, reviewing my contributions in larger organizational, collaborative works. I sometimes did design things, created branding directions and 'design systems' and worked on design 'research' so... I decided to reconsider my relationship to design.

it's like they know enough about visual & contemporary art to dislike the art world, but not enough to appreciate the significance of experimental, critical art.
Also, there are designers whose practice and process is essentially contemporary art, but they simply present themselves as designers.

Designers are interesting audience, because they are often familiar with contemporary art, but have complicated relationship to its institutions and discourses. They can have personal frustrations/grudge against artists and the art world, stereotypes of their wealthier friends who became artists.

I want to share what it's like to be an artist/curator in time of systems oppression against artistic freedom, what it means to stand up for free palestine while working in the US, EU and the global north, why it's important to preserve the role of arts in time of austerity.

from the grand statement, this initiative is not surprising or seems innovative. a mix of rca / stanford design thinking. the splash makes me wonder. what if there is an institution outside of the EU/US that does not replicate western pedagogy, and rethink in contemporary, decolonial context?

Ph.D in visual art feels like a symptom of bureaucratization in qualification and academic-industrial complex. On the one hand, various fields of music have had Ph.D programs for nearly 100 years. Academic research of creative inquiries are not useless or futile.

here are some links www.are.na/taeyoon-choi...