Thursday, February 18, 2010

Tino Sehgal at the Guggenheim

At the Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Avenue (at 89th Street), Exhibition dates: January 29–March 10, 2010. I liked the Tino Sehgal pieces very much but I am not interested in writing a review. Instead I am writing my responses and reactions to the piece in the comments section.

London-born, Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal constructs situations with people that defy the traditional contexts of museum and gallery environments, focusing on the fleeting gestures and social subtleties that define lived experience rather than the material aspects of conventional art making. His singular practice has been informed by his studies in dance and economics, yielding ephemeral works that consist only of the interactions among their participants and are not visually documented. Organized as part of the Guggenheim's 50th-anniversary celebrations, Sehgal's exhibition comprises a mise-en-scène that will occupy the entire Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda. One facet of the artist’s practice, quasi-sculptural choreographed movement, will transform the ground floor of the rotunda into an arena for spectatorship. On the spiraling ramp, another aspect—direct verbal interaction between museum visitors and trained participants—will predominate. Sehgal's works expand the concept of what constitutes a contemporary art object, offering the viewer an immediate engagement with the realization of the work presented.[Guggenheim PR]


A little slight of hand blogging separates this post from where it started in the comment section of the previous one.