Care, Curate and curiosity:
It is interesting to me that these three words, very central to my practice all come from the same latin root: Curare (Latin) meaning to attend to, to take care of, to provide for. To care.
Exhibition proposal – draft:
For my exhibition I will be curating my work with a combination of the following concepts mind: The curiosity cabinet (visual and concept), museology/scientific presentation (a visual influence), ecological expedition and documentary style (in video format).
The curiosity cabinet originally referred to a room. Also known as kunstkammer/Kunstkabinett (Art-room/cabinet) or Wunderkammer (Wonder-chamber) in Germany, they flourished in the court and centers of learning in Europe from the mid 16th to the mid 18th centuries. These rooms or cabinets transports us into the world of late Renaissance and Baroque emperors and princes as well as the intellectuals they associated with. Mystery, superstition and marvels that blend scientific discovery, philosophical, intellectual and artistic enquiry were all displayed in one place. A physical and intellectual setting. The typical categories for what was included were:
- Artificialia – antiques and works of art.
- Naturalia – natural objects animated by the will of God and creatures (often monsters-like)
- Exotica – exotic plants and animals
- Scientifica – scientific instruments, clocks
- Memorabilia – tokens and art from remote past
- Ethnographica – artifacts from foreign lands
- Apothecary – medicines, instruments.
Free association across what we today define as separate disciplines was commonplace and a natural way of thinking. The collectors were learned across many fields.
The symbolic underpinnings of the concept of the cabinet includes:
- Collectors were an elite, educated group including princes, librarians, pharmacists with whom they associated to establish socioeconomic status and learning but also as conversation point. It is fair to say that any curiosity cabinet, museum showcase or vitrine was representative of what its curator valued most.
- For aristocratic collectors – an acclaim to power.
- Learning through entertainment
- Showing intellectual field of interest
Source: The following presentation by Dr Inge Reist about Collecting and the European Cabinet (accessed 25 May 2024)
How this applies to my exhibition:
The reasons for using the Curiosity cabinet as inspiration for curating my exhibition are many. This interest was triggered when I looked at a little shelf in my studio. I have been collecting various items on my runs and hikes in the mountain during this MA. It serves as a reminder of the memorable journeys I have been on. I also have two printers-trays. One bought and one given to me by my aunt recently. When I was little, printers-trays often hung on a walls, filled with many trinkets and miniature porcelain ornaments fills my childhood memories from the 1980’s. Many houses had them and I assume this was the 80’s version of the curiosity cabinet. Since childhood I have always enjoyed collecting things and as an adult I have a type of obsession with antique shops, brocante markets or car-boot sales. In 2022 I visited the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam where I expereinced his ‘curiosity cabinet’. It was fascinating and made a great impression on me.
Besides this I see the cabinet as symbolising the following within my practice:
- Communicating what I care about/value most. Instead of the materialistic nature of the typical curiosity cabinet, my display will portray the implicit and ethereal/unseen in combination with natural foraged items and also with items that resemble an apothecary or alchemical cabinet. I feel this will be a good fit for they alchemical processes of material making but also echoing the alchemical transformation of psyche that happens in the material and art making process, relating to theory.
- It allows me to display the many fields that my research draws from. Almost frame the free association across disciplines into one place.
- I could display my raw materials and instruments which give me a way of sharing the emphasis I place on process over product.
- Curiosity as a mental state has proven to be key in helping to break the cycle of many mental health issues. I am not only referring to the fact that staying curious helps us to stay mentally stimulated, building new neural pathways and distracted from our mental state. I am also referring to the powerful yet very unnatural mindset that I call: ‘non-judgemental, curious and loving attention’ to your felt sense during times of mental and physical discomfort. Respecting our bodies for doing what they are doing in order to survive and be safe. Our natural instinct is to fear, fight, flee or freeze and to judge ourselves when in distress. As I display art-works that speak of an inner landscape within a curiosity cabinet, I can use the motivation behind the invention of ‘Wunderkammers’ to speak about the type of care we should be directing to our mental, spiritual and emotional condition. A kind curiousness that leaves room for imperfection and the occasional ‘uninvited guest’.
- Lastly, the curiosity cabinet, whether referring to the original room, the glass cabinet or the printers-tray on the wall, brings scenes of domesticity. Perhaps the domestic item of a cabinet as well as the ceramic vessels I am making has a good fit with the theme of my work in terms of the body as a home and cultivating a hospitable home within our inner landscape.
A recent visit to an antique shop:
I visited an antique shop I often go to and was surprised to find that they displayed many curiosity cabinets and collection that I found very inspiring. Here are some images:
I have been influenced by the following artists for this approach to curation:
Mark Dion – various exhibitions including Thames Dig:
Rosamond Purcell:
Rosamond W Purcell and Stephen J Gould and their book called Finders, Keepers. 1992, Random house, UK:
The work of Pippa Skotnes, Gwen van Embden and Fritha Langerman in their book titles: Curiosity CLXXV – A paper cabinet, 2004, Cape Town, SA.
Examples of apothecary or alchemical cabinet that inspires me:
Late 18th century apothecary cabinet
Exhibition in practical terms:
I hope to create a virtual galley space OR ‘fly-through’ video with narration of my exhibition. Alongside the cabinets I will display artwork, ortho maps of the areas I have hiked and foraged by materials as well as a video documentary showing my process. This can either be projected on a screen in the ‘fly-through’ video or as a separate digital element of my exhibition.
I feel it might be good to also create a pdf catalogue of each item as a separate piece for the exhibition.
Practical information – max 350 words – including a summary of media (e.g. 6 paintings and 1 video), notes on how the work is to be seen/encountered, notes of any specific technical or other requirements.
I hope to produce:
– 1 video documentary: this can be uploaded as a separate digital element. Notsure how long this will be. It can also form part of the walk-through video below.
– A walk-through video of my work displayed in a space accompanied by some narration. This could form part of the first video, following on from the process documentary OR be a separate video (entering the exhibition space).
– A catalogue in pdf form of my work with title and short description alongside.
Any other relevant information (this might include timing, audio format, etc.)
I am not sure about my timing for the video yet. I hope to export this as an MP4 file. There will be QR codes to follow in the catalogue to allow for sound and location access.