Question: Cross Disciplinarity

The genesis of BLURRED BOUNDARIES was motivated by my personal interests in a variety of creative disciplines and the desire to explore practices that concern inter-disciplinarity. Studying Product Design as my undergraduate degree I was disappointed with the lack collaboration between the design and art (fine and applied) departments; since I have pondered how my practice would have differed if an approach similar to that of the Bauhaus movement would be more prevalent within the art school syllabus.

“The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art-sculpture, painting, handicrafts, and the crafts-as inseparable components of new architecture. The ultimate, if distant, aim of the Bauhaus is the uni-field work of art in which there is no distinction between monumental and decorative art.”

Walter Gropius, http://www.mariabuszek.com/kcai/ConstrBau/Readings/GropBau19.pdf

Question:

1. From your experience do you think there should be more collaborative interaction between creative disciplines within the Art School structure? If so what do you think the main benefits would be? 


2. Can you identify current of previous exhibitions, publications, projects, communities etc that tackled the issue of cross disciplinarity? How would you rate their success? 


Examples: 
What If? Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design - Exhibition 
If You Could Collaborate - Exhibition 
Jotta - Digital community exploring collaboration in contemporary art and design

o-gil-vie.com - Coming Soon

www.o-gil-vie.com

coming soon

o-gil-vie.com will be the new home to (o-gil-vie)

o-gil-vie.blogspot.com will continue as a research hub and a place to share and comment

Marc Chaimowicz @ Inverleith House

Marc Camille Chaimowicz. Installation view, Inverleith House. ‘For I.H.’, 2010 (1980 and 1987), (detail). Courtesy of the artist and Cabinet, London.  © RBGE 2010. 

Marc Camille Chaimowicz

31 October to 6 February 2011

Inverleith House: Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

The exhibition can be considered as a series of interconnected installations featuring major new and recent works by the artist and referencing elements of interior decoration including furniture, hand-printed panels and screenprinted wallpapers. The work of Marc Chaimowicz truly embodies the philosophy of BLURRED BOUNDARIES. Well worth a visit!

A new way to curate: The Independent Group (1952-1955)

The artists from the This is Tomorrow exhibition catalogue.

The (o-gil-vie) platform desire for profuse exchange and inclusivity was undoubtedly influenced by my readings into the Independent Group. The challenge of creating a contemporary open discursive network, based on the Independent Groups conceit and a platform to achieve it was one in which I wanted to adopt and achieve.

They recognised the importance of the participation of culture and its society had in shaping its discourse. The foundations of the group were based on:

“...providing a forum for public debate through lecture, dialogue and exhibitions, its project aimed to be 

ant-elitist and anti-academic, discussing art as part of a communication network that also included movies, advertising, fashion and product design.” Fowle, K,  pp. 29

How can I create a modern day Independent Group? The introduction of a project blog, robbyogilvie.blogspot.com, was initiated to break down certain boundaries between the curated exhibition and the audience; the audience including not only fellow theorists, artists, writers but also the general public, in doing reducing the perceived traditional hierarchal image of the curator and the curated exhibition. 

For my information on The Independent Group

(o-gil-vie) audiocast, episode one: Francis Mckee

For a copy of the audiocast please email: robbyogilvie@hotmail.co.uk

Exhibition Opportunity, Call for Submissions: BLURRED BOUNDARIES

If you would like to exhibit in BLURRED BOUNDARIES please get in touch.
For exhibition details follow the link to the projects Central Station Page
Contact Details: robbyogilvie@hotmail.co.uk

project: (o-gil-vie): BLURRED BOUNDARIES

We, every one of us, are always in search of the new; fashion, fad, golden boy, get rich quick scheme. Contemporary art isn’t any different; theorists, curators, artists and gallerists have always had a desire (not all of course) to define the new, whether this desire is for the critical development of the field or for marketing ambitions is a matter for another time. (o-gil-vie): BLURRED BOUNDARIES is not in search for a definable new, opposed to prophesying a new ‘modern’   within contemporary creative discourse it intends to discuss the now, continuing and expanding existing topical debate; no answers or predictions just questions and thoughts.


(o-gil-vie): BLURRED BOUNDARIES will explore cross disciplinarity and collaboration within the creative fields; artists, designers, makers, practitioners that go out with (not confined by) the perceived traditional boundaries of their own specialised discipline; in a sense creating a non definable type of making and critical theoretical thought and discourse not constrained by historical archetypes and erstwhile canons. 


“We aim to create not just a physical space, but also a space for reflection and cross-fertilisation between the different worlds and working methods developing at a time when the distinction between artistic endeavour and design is increasingly blurred. The project is rooted in a strong yet open idea of the contemporary, allowing design and art to chime together in new ways.”[1]


[1] Milan based design and art collective, PlusDEsign

discuss: what is the role of the curator?

The (o-gil-vie) platform is exploring the role of the curator and how exhibitions are curated, in doing so providing a critique of previous models, reviewing current and seeking future modes and exemplar. Some questions to get you thinking: What are the different goals between the institutional and independent curator?
How close should the relationship between artist and curator be? How much influence do curators have/ should(not) have in determining the modern?


The following piece by Kate Fowle maps the 'role' of the curator from the 17th Century to present, have a read through and leave your comments on the overall topic of curator and curating below in the comments section. 


(note: pdf may take a minute to load)

Who Cares - Understanding the Role of the Curator Today

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video: A Conversation with Alex Coles & Jorge Pardo

Jorge Pardo

Alex Coles

link (exhibition): Super Vision Design Art Show

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SUPER VISION DESIGN ART SHOW


Time: 16 May - 2 June 2010 Venue: Pure Space, Beijing Curator: Stephen Higginson


Design Art is a name coined in the last few years for a category of work which is not craft – with its basket work and potters wheel image, nor is it fine art – with its astronomical prices. Currently, it is a booming sector in Europe and the U.S., where it has spawned new shows in London, Paris, Basle and New York. The word embraces three dimensional one–off objects from furniture to jewellery, glass and ceramics, .created by a new brand of artists often working in mixed media, and calling themselves ‘designer makers’ to distinguish them from artists in the normal sense of the word - painters and sculptors. Exhibition Website

image: Tobias Rehberger Venice Bar

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Tobais Rehberger

book: Design and Art edited by Alex Coles

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Design and Art, edited by Alex Coles, is one of a series documenting major themes and ideas in contemporary art. This title comprehensively surveys and looks beyond the phenomenon of ‘designart’ that has emerged since the Pop and Minimalist era: cutting-edge, hybrid practices that blur traditional boundaries between art, architecture, graphics and product design. Key debates about form and function, the everyday, the collective and the utopian are contextualized historically and theoretically by leading practitioners and critics from both the art and the design worlds.

Alex Coles is a London-based art critic and editor. He is the author of DesignArt (London: Tate Publishing, 2005). 
Available at Whitechapel Gallery

(o-gil-vie) defined

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'They Do Things Differently There'

As part of my MA Contemporary Art Theory degree at Edinburgh College of Art I am, with my fellow class members, in the process of curating an exhibition at the Talbot Rice Gallery. 'They Do Things Differently There' aims to disrupt, break down and re-evaluate linear histories. In examining the remnants of time, an eternal present emerges, a collective cultural memory appears, and chronological time becomes replaced with a mnemic delineation of time. The exhibition will run from the 5th-19th June, the preview evening will be on the 4th between 6-8 pm followed by a well deserved after party at the Roxy Art House. I look forward to seeing you there.