Opening A Certain MA Ness

EDITORIAL 3–4
A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 5–6
WILLEM DE GREEF
UNDER PRESSURE 7 – 13
U T E M E TA B A U E R
I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P… ? 14 – 22
CLEMENTINE DELLIS
POSING SINGUL ARIT Y 23 – 27
JAN VERWOERT
ROOM FOR THOUGHT 28 – 32
SIMON SHEIKH
U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 33 – 40
MICK WILSON
A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y 41 – 43
BART VERSCHAFFEL
RESEARCH REPORT
UTRECHT CONSORTIUM 44 – 46
COLOFON 48
5
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESE ARCH SUMMER 2008
EDI TOR I AL 3 – 4 EDITORIAL 3
Too many conferences currently being organized by art A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
academies draw attention to the recent development of 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
PhD’s in art trajectories. Yet an even more important issue WILLEM DE GREEF
today pertains to the specificity of MA Fine Art programs 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
of art academies. After all, it is the master’s program, U T E M E TA B A U E R
focused on research, that prepares artists for a possible PhD 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
trajectory; it is the master’s program that offers artists various CLEMENTINE DELLIS
perspectives on their professional careers; and it is the 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
master’s program and its strong emphasis on the specificities JAN VERWOERT
of its curriculum that force the bachelor’s program to reflect 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
on the particular structure of its own curriculum. SIMON SHEIKH
3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Moreover, in spite of the obligation to implement the Bologna rules by MICK WILSON
2010, many European countries interpret the concrete establishment 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
of the master’s program in various ways. In some countries, a one-year BART VERSCHAFFEL
program is offered, while other countries concentrate on a two-year

program. Some countries have had master’s programs in Fine Art RESEARCH REPORT
for many years, whereas others hardly adhere to the deadline for the 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
implementation of a master’s program.

These clear-cut urgencies indicate a definite need for an international 48 C O LO FON
symposium addressing the issue of the specificity of the MA Fine Art

programs. In order to explore these questions further the Utrecht
Graduate School of Visual Art and Design ( MaHKU ) started a long-
term collaboration project with the Brussels Sint Lukas Academie,
an academy which, similar to MaHKU, offers a one-year MA program
in Fine Art. A series of meetings last year between lecturers from
the Sint Lukas Academy and the MaHKU generated a number of
additional questions. It turned out that a variety of issues could be
categorized in three sub-categories: the student perspective or the
question of competencies; the lecturer’s perspective or the question of
specific didactic strategies; and last but not least, the perspective of the
institutional environment where the interaction between lecturer and
student takes place. Precisely these three perspectives – addressing the
same issue from different points of view – are departure points for the
symposium A Certain Ma-ness ( Amsterdam, Spring 2008 ) organized
by both academies in collaboration with VCH De Brakke Grond,
Amsterdam.
During the first two presentations ( Jan Verwoert, Clementine Deliss ) the
perspective of MA-competencies is the starting point. The issue pertains
to whether it is possible to map the various skills required for the MA-
program particularly with regard to a reflective and critical attitude, and
a conception of both knowledge production and research. How can we
assess these competencies? Could it be that specific, rhetorical qualities
are decisive? What will happen to traditional skills such as mastery of
technique? Is the artist unskilled despite having followed the graduate
program or are traditional skills reformulated during the course of the
program and its critical studies? What do critical and contextualizing
skills mean for the situation of the academy as such? Is the graduate art
academy eventually nothing more than a bastion of the neo-liberal art
system as is often the case with prominent American MFA program’s,
or is the academy still clearly defined as an outpost for a culture- 3 – 4 EDITORIAL 4
critical awareness?
During the next two presentations ( Simon Sheikh, Mick Wilson ) the A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
perspective shifts to didactic strategies. Can one determine how a MA 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
curriculum is characterized? What are adequate didactic strategies WILLEM DE GREEF
and educational models, and how do they differ from a BA program? 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
What are the differences and similarities between the various U T E M E TA B A U E R
European MA Fine Art programs? How does the Bologna-ruled, 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
curriculum-based program and its seminars, lectures, and various CLEMENTINE DELLIS
methods and bodies of knowledge relate to the still dominant studio- 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
based paradigm with its rituals of tutorials and studio visits? How JAN VERWOERT
do we prevent a more topical discourse based on critical studies and 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
artistic research becoming canonized into a novel form of academia? SIMON SHEIKH
Finally, how do the current educational strategies and models relate 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
to the research practice of lecturers? In other words, how could MICK WILSON
the lecturer’s own artistic research be strategically deployed in the 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
curriculum? BART VERSCHAFFEL
The question of the position of one’s own artistic research leads us

also to the theme of the research environment. Is it the task of the RESEARCH REPORT
academy to develop a specific artistic research environment? How 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
should such an experimental research environment be facilitated?

How does such a research environment relate to the artistic field 48 C O LO FON
mostly determined by the free market system? Is it the potential of

the experimental environment as one of the last asylums for deviant
forms of knowledge production ( or thinking ) that made a great
number of curators decide in recent years to proclaim the academy
as the starting point for their exhibition projects? Investigating the
issue of the academy as field of possibilities from the perspective of
the Graduate School appears urgent. In other words, in what way
– political, facilitative, infrastructural – could the Graduate School
contribute to the development of a research climate in art education?
These questions are approached during A Certain Ma-Ness in
two ways. First, artists Tiong Ang and Aglaia Konrad developed a
presentation in the exhibition space of VCH De Brakke Grond parallel
to the themes of the symposium. The exhibition shows the interaction
between the research of the lecturer ( Tiong Ang, MaHKU and Aglaia
Konrad, Sint Lukas ) and of the student ( Filip Gilissen, Sint Lukas,
Joris Lindhout, MaHKU ) as a didactic tool for creating a dynamic
research environment within the current educational system ( The
visual material printed in MaHKUzine 5 is a series of impressions of
this parallel exhibition ) . Secondly, Bart Verschaffel’s talk, Willem de
Greef’s introduction, and the presentation of the Utrecht Consortium
( see Research Reports ) all elaborate further on the conditions and
possibilities of an artistic research environment.
It was Ute Meta Bauer at the Vienna School of Art who was one of the
first people in the art academy field to address these questions and
issues in the context of institutional preconditions. Therefore, she
opens the symposium A Certain Ma-ness with a keynote statement. ( HS )!
A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 5
W IL L EM D E G R EEF WILLEM DE GREEF
7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
To make it very clear from the outset, the subject of this symposium U T E M E TA B A U E R
is not PhD’s or doctorates in the arts, or for artists, be they practice- 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
based or not. First and foremost, this symposium tries to deal with CLEMENTINE DELLIS
what we call in Belgium, or at least in Flanders, and believe me even 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
in Dutch it sounds also quite weird: “academizing”. Especially the JAN VERWOERT
academization of higher arts education. By this we mean that higher- 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
level art institutes, if they want to provide Master’s degrees, will SIMON SHEIKH
necessarily have to present or develop curricula for students which 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
are clearly “embedded in research”. Art students have to become MICK WILSON
academics or develop some basic competencies in research. Is there 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
really a need for this? And if so, what could it probably mean? This BART VERSCHAFFEL
is what this symposium is about. Let me give you some facts on the
educational system in Belgium. RESEARCH REPORT
Fact number one: since 1989, education has not been a national 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
matter. Instead there has been a complete devolution of competencies

for education to the different linguistic communities, meaning the 48 C O LO FON
Flemish and French groups in Belgium. Since then the Ministry

of Education for the Flemish Community is responsible for higher
education in Flanders, and only in Flanders.
Fact number two: arts education is a regular part of the Flemish
educational system. It has not always been so. Only in 1994, just one
decade ago, art education became a full part of the higher educational
system. Which means that only since then were its structure and its
qualifications aligned with the rest of the system.
At present, and probably as a consequence of this, the Flemish
government started to implement the Bologna declaration some years
ago, and no exception was made for higher arts education. Like all
the other higher education programs and courses, universities and
non-universities alike, higher arts education has undergone and is still
undergoing several reforms, including reform of the Bachelor-Master
degree structure.
Nevertheless, there are some peculiarities in the way the Flemish
government has implemented the Bologna Declaration. As adopted
by the Flemish Parliament in the 2003 Act on the structure of
higher education in Flanders, the largest part of the non-university
higher education programs and courses, those provided by what we
call the “hogescholen” ( higher educational institutes ), are generally
transformed into what are called “professionally oriented” Bachelor’s
degrees. Other programs or courses, provided by both universities and
“hogescholen”, are being transformed into “academically oriented”
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. In other words, professional
bachelor’s degrees are only provided by the “hogescholen”, while
academic bachelor’s and master’s degrees are provided by universities
and by the “hogescholen.”
Another important aspect is that there is only one kind of Master’s
degree in Flanders. Contrary to the Netherlands, for instance, the
Flemish government has chosen not to introduce a “professionally 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
oriented” degree at the Master’s level. One of the major consequences

of this choice is that all Master’s degree programs have to be A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
“embedded in research”. All Master’s degrees in Flanders are 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 6
supposed to be academic. WILLEM DE GREEF
Moreover, for most of the Flemish politicians it is widely accepted 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
that the “hogescholen” cannot possibly meet this requirement for U T E M E TA B A U E R
“academization” without a helping hand from the universities. 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
Therefore, each of the “hogescholen” has been affiliated with a CLEMENTINE DELLIS
university. My own institute, the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
is associated with the Catholic University of Leuven. All this JAN VERWOERT
undoubtedly poses many questions. Let me just point out some of 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
them. SIMON SHEIKH
Firstly, today nearly all courses in higher arts education in Flanders 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
are supposed to be leading to a Master’s degree. Some have called it MICK WILSON
the academic drift of the arts institutes or departments. Is there really 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
a need for this ? Do all students in the arts really need to follow this BART VERSCHAFFEL
academic track, or is there still a need for more professionally oriented

programs? Or, to put it differently, does the difference sharply evident RESEARCH REPORT
in Flanders between professionally oriented and academic course 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
programs make any sense in higher arts education?

Secondly, if higher arts institutes want to transform their traditional 48 C O LO FON
programs into academic programs, they will necessarily have to reset

their targets and to rethink the curriculum. How would an academic
curriculum look which still made sense for higher arts education
and for art students? What are the academic competencies they are
supposed to develop? More profoundly, is the identity as such of
higher arts education not at stake here?
Thirdly, how do we make a clear link, if we want to, between arts
education and research? Does it mean, for instance, that in the near
future all staff members of art schools should hold doctorates or a
PhD? Or are their artistic or professional qualities more important?
Does it mean that higher arts institutes have to develop their own
research programs? If so, what type of research should they develop?
Importantly, how can one evaluate the quality of the research done by
higher arts institutes or departments?
Fourthly, does all of this not demand a change in the structure
of higher arts education itself? For instance, should higher arts
institutes become fully embedded in the universities and evolve
into a full faculty department at the university? Do universities have
enough experience with performing arts? At least in Flanders it is no
secret that artistic research is an underdeveloped, if not undeveloped,
scientific domain. Even the Flemish minister of education himself
stated recently that the helping hand of the universities in the process
of academization cannot be more than a small finger.
All these issues are not unique to Flanders. Many arts institutes,
all over Europe, are looking for the best way to deliver excellent art
education within an outstanding academic context. I believe this
symposium offers us a wonderful opportunity for discussing these
issues!
UNDER PRESSURE 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
U T E M E TA B AU ER A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
The art system, especially the art market today has become part of the WILLEM DE GREEF
educational system. The art schools and universities – previously more 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 7
free and open zones for experiments – gradually became incorporated U T E M E TA B A U E R
into a suspiciously commodified system. Art students have more 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
knowledge of the art market than ever before, and “creating” successful CLEMENTINE DELLIS
artists has become a standard promise on the mission statements of 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
and calls for applications to MA programs. This is not only for programs JAN VERWOERT
in the United States. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
What might be more specific within the US American setting is the SIMON SHEIKH
very short path from the art school to the gallery into a collection. This 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
might be the case in London as well. The exorbitant tuition fees in MICK WILSON
the US put a certain pressure to “succeed” on both the institution and 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
the student. The strong market has made art education red hot, and BART VERSCHAFFEL
has become an increasingly, attractive field within education. Culture

and art are significant economic factors leaving their mark on how RESEARCH REPORT
art education is shaped. MA courses have expanded both in the field 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
of artistic education and curatorial studies to serve an ever-growing

market. 48 C O LO FON
Art academies invent new programs ranging from MAs in public art,
to critical studies, critical curatorial studies, and so forth, which is a
indeed a welcome specialization disrupting the dominance of hundreds
of years of European “master schools” established in order to select
and form “the best.” Nevertheless, being a critical scholar myself, one
wonders where will all these students go when they leave the institution
with their degrees in their pockets? If you invest so much into your
education, you want to know what the pay-off might be. In order to
serve these expectations, there is a certain pressure on the art schools
to connect early with the art market and to generate a smooth entry into
the system while the future artist is still in school.
This is a major shift as compared to, say, even ten years ago. Then the
debate centered around what the majority of art students would do who
never entered the golden triangle of the academy–gallery–museum.
Would they instead become more creative web designers, producers of
video clips, and so on? But with the expansion of the market through a
new generation of collectors and the globalization of the market itself
including the biennial boom, the chance of grabbing a seat on the art
carousel has sharply increased.
On the one hand, the desired and demanded accessibility to this
“ field of distinction” for a larger number of people has finally become
a reality. Today there are more exhibitions taking place, more art
institutions opening their doors and more museums for contemporary
art being established than ever before. More private collections, in
more countries, are opening their doors to the public. But was this
what we meant when we asked for more visibility as young art students
twenty five years ago? Weirdly enough, it feels as if the art market has
replaced the music industry, with its annual top of the pops and one-hit
wonders. Although I appreciate that today almost everyone can be a
producer of some kind, I am not sure this is a positive development.
The art market is growing rapidly. Where there is a biennial today, 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
tomorrow there is an art fair as well, and are we not in need of art
schools too at all these newly emerging locations? Again I am of two A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
minds. I support the improved access to discourse and modes of 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
production in many places of the world, as I still believe in artistic WILLEM DE GREEF
practice as a necessary critical contribution to the formation of 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 8
societies. The market embraces all too quickly, however, each new U T E M E TA B A U E R
spot popping up on the global map. Yesterday it was China, today 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
India, and tomorrow Dubai and the Gulf; art has become a huge CLEMENTINE DELLIS
globally operating machine in need of skilled labor. 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
This brings us back to the art schools. Are they still places to JAN VERWOERT
discuss the meaning of artistic production within the larger field of 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
culture? Do they negotiate the role art plays in contemporary society? SIMON SHEIKH
Previously, art academies and art schools were pre-market, a kind 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
of playground and creative laboratory when the academy was more MICK WILSON
innovative. Solid educational foundations were provided by a ”master” 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
when a school’s focus and reputation rested more upon skills and BART VERSCHAFFEL
techniques. Additionally, the academy provided a somewhat sheltered

“biotope” encouraging experience and wild growth. Yet now the art RESEARCH REPORT
schools seem pretty much part of the canon, as today no one can 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
afford such naiveté. Myriad strategies are incorporated to serve the

system. 48 C O LO FON
Art and its different manifestations have become a powerful

economical factor, a growing industry producing scores of new job
opportunities. Art is now a lifestyle. There is a huge demand for fresh
artists, young curators, new host sites for biennials, galleries and so
on. The questions we need to address are: What is communicated
through this new art, through current exhibitions and their various
formats? What is their content and for whom are they being staged?
The society of spectacle, as Guy Debord presents in his text and film,
is rife everywhere. But what will be left after the glory days have
faded?
A recent debate on New Institutionalism in “Bureaux de Change”
by Alex FarquharsonΩ referred to a number of us freelance curators ΩFRIEZE, I S S U E 101 I S S U E 101 , B A LT I C B A B EL .
H T T P :// W W W . F R I E Z E . C O M / F E AT U R E _ S I N G L E . A S P ? B AC K = 1& F = 119 8
joining the “safe haven” of the institutions for higher artistic

education. I don’t necessarily agree with that argument as grounds
to support an opinion and debate. To me there is no outside to the
institution, no outside to the art market and vice versa. The market
is part of the discursive field. The art world is and has always been a
complex system, a field of constellations and interrelations; some are
amicable, some more antagonistic. The critical field defines itself as
distinct from the commercial sector. However, as stated above, it is a
system of interconnected relations, where each “actor” decides where
we position ourselves, and in which direction we move. These are
not fixed configurations and an institution today does not represent
the same thing it did twenty years ago. “Off” spaces nowadays are
not necessarily more political than a museum, as this depends on
how and by whom a space or institution is run. To assume the same
clear divisions exist as did maybe twenty-five years ago would be
overly simplifying, a black-and-white understanding of this complex
system. Therefore, some knowledge of system theory, some reading of
Bourdieu, Rorty and Luhmann never hurts in becoming aware of our 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
very own entanglements.

To return to Farquharson’s mention of freelance “curators A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
[re-] entering or flirting with educational art institutions”: today’s 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
conference topic does indeed raise the question of why curators in WILLEM DE GREEF
recent times have been accepting leading positions at art schools, 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 9
universities etc., specifically those who previously held high- U T E M E TA B A U E R
profile curatorial positions. From my perspective, one reason is the 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
increasing commodification and instrumentalization of the position CLEMENTINE DELLIS
of the curator for all sorts of agendas and desires. A second reason is 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
that today’s director of a museum or a “Kunsthalle” is more involved JAN VERWOERT
in management and fundraising activities than in working on shows 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
or directly with artists as was the case in the past. Art schools seem SIMON SHEIKH
to offer a kind of temporary refuge for those with a desire to sustain 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
a more critical and discursive practice. I do not want to criticize MICK WILSON
my colleagues in art institutions and do not want to sound all too 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
negative, but I want to express – and this I share with a number of BART VERSCHAFFEL
my colleagues – a strong feeling of unease about the economic and

political pressures that those who run museums increasingly have to RESEARCH REPORT
face today. Furthermore, one should not underestimate the potential 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
and pleasure of working with students, the inspiration to be found in

other related research fields, and the option of getting away from the 48 C O LO FON
sheer pragmatism of running the day-to-day business of a museum.

To be mainly involved with satisfying trustees and/or local politicians
rather than investing time researching fields that might be not that
popular – this is not everyone’s cup of tea. The wish to renegotiate the
role of art through an expanded notion of artistic education allows
a certain degree of distance, and some independence, from what
the art field represents, at least in the Western hemisphere. I have
been studying art myself, extended by post-graduate studies in art
theory. Therefore, I am quite aware of the influence of teachers and
the impact of innovative institutional leadership in higher artistic
education upon students. In my case, a European male-dominated
art school setting, although a very open and liberal one, affected my
desire to understand not only art theory, but also the social topography
of the art world at large. But what I currently see happening is the
`take - over’ of the, at least so far, more distant locations by the market
and its protagonists – and the pressure attached to the market is
already felt.
The motivation actually causing my shift from working as an
artist and organizer to curator and educator seems outdated. The
exclusion of a younger generation of artists, specifically women,
from mainstream art institutions in those days, was a catalyst for
me and some artist friends to generate something else. We – as an
artists’ group, called “Stille Helden” – were not completely opposed to
art institutions; but there was no space for us available and what we
saw exhibited, did often not address what mattered to us or was not
linked to our discussions about art. Instead of complaining, we simply
created our own formats and spaces and generated our own audiences.
We were students of the visual arts, performance and theater, film,
music, and poetry. Today this all seems so far away.
It was not until later that I understood that art history is not made
in the garage; the authority on the art historical cannon is to a 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
certain extent still in the hands of the major museums and based
on their collections. More and more, though, the market dictates A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
what art is produced and, thus, shown. I can only hope that at one 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
point the necessity to interfere becomes strong enough to enter the WILLEM DE GREEF
history-producing apparatus. I still see certain gaps arising within 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 10
the dominance of the market, within art history that mattered to my U T E M E TA B A U E R
generation – such as the already mentioned lack of female positions 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
etc.. We have to demand a review and a correction of public collections CLEMENTINE DELLIS
and force a change in outdated focus points. 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
So, there is a need for crucial debates within universities and other JAN VERWOERT
societal institutions focusing on those issues. For obvious reasons 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
they should take place as well within an apparatus of representation SIMON SHEIKH
such as an art museum, or within opinion-creating blockbusters such 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
as Documenta, the Venice and Whitney biennials, and the Carnegie MICK WILSON
International. One should not forget, they have the budget, the 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
infrastructure, and also the media power to “correct” and re-write art BART VERSCHAFFEL
history. But are there any shared intentions to do so at present? In that

respect, those “institutions” are indeed highly interesting. RESEARCH REPORT
To come back to teaching, I see teaching in art schools as a practice 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
in line with my curatorial work. I keep in mind the BBC’s founding

mandate: “Educate, Inform, and Entertain” as a healthy mix and a 48 C O LO FON
valid model. I feel the relation between art and exhibitions offers
the option to test situations and combinations. The exploration of
thoughts and work is a necessary focus in art education. An exhibition
is equal to a seminar for me; both formats produce a communicative
space through artistic and intellectual means, so nothing is wrong
with involving students in exhibitions. It must be made clear,
though, what the idea behind such participation is; it is not to create a
showcase for students entering the market.
When I studied art in the early 1980s as part of the group of young
artists called “Stille Helden”, this was my interest. Being part of an
artist group allowed us not to get pigeonholed; being unpredictable
prevented us from being co-opted. I must have internalized this
attitude, and this made me sensitive towards being identified with
an institution rather than with a distinct practice. And last, but
not least, in those days as young artists we were far removed from
having a master plan to develop and to manage a career. Facing
today’s powerful art market with huge cash flow on one hand, and
an inflation of temporary exhibition formats such as the exploding
number of biennials on the other, there is a definite advantage to
“duck and cover” within an educational structure for a while. One
should also not forget that a number of conceptual artists, such as
Hans Haacke at Cooper Union and Michael Asher at CalArts could
only sustain their practice during previous high art markets due to
their teaching positions, offering them some independence.
Yet teaching is also about the possibility and responsibility of
transmitting a specific understanding and notion of a critical artistic
and cultural practice to a younger generation of art students. Even
today I seek to find “company” to explore, to discover, to reflect, and
to analyze, to share what I perceive, in order to be able to implement a
correction through a multitude of voices whenever necessary. As the
conceptual artist Joseph KosuthΩonce stated so clearly: “...an audience Ω KO S U T H , J O S EP H : A R T A F T ER
3 – 4 EDITORIAL
P H I LO S O P H Y A N D A F T ER –
C O L L E C T E D W R I T I N G S 19 6 6 -19 9 0 .
separate from the participants does not exist.” I consider myself C A M B R I D G E , M A S S AC H U S E T T S /
LO N D O N , E N G L A N D : T H E M I T
always to be the primary audience for my projects. As an audience, P R E S S , 19 91 .
you have to engage in what you perceive, you have to participate 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
to produce a discourse and to understand an art work. One of my WILLEM DE GREEF
teachers in art theory at the Academy in Hamburg, Michael Lingner 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 11
claimed that only the combination of a work of art, its perception, and U T E M E TA B A U E R
the communication about it generates what we consider art. During 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

Ω K Ü N S T L ER H AU S
the years I directed an artists-run space in StuttgartΩ, I developed S T U T TG A R T F R O M 19 9 0 -19 9 4
CLEMENTINE DELLIS
a view of the audience as informal participants over time, i.e., as 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
an entity sharing and debating experiences. This understanding of JAN VERWOERT
generating an audience to develop a space of communication, a public 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
space sphere within an institution for education, is still crucial and SIMON SHEIKH
important to me, but is more difficult to achieve. Later, while working 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
as a curator for large-scale exhibitions such as Documenta11 or the 3rd MICK WILSON
Berlin Biennial, my self-understanding of my position as a curator did 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
not differ much from my self-understanding and way of working as a BART VERSCHAFFEL
practicing artist right after finishing art academy.

For me, it remains essential to enter institutional spaces and at RESEARCH REPORT
the same time not to become too comfortable within them, to be 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
challenged, to be committed for a certain time span and then to

move on to new territories. That keeps one alive and very sensitive 48 C O LO FON
to cultural developments. Today, I realize that the art schools are

too involved in the markets, possibly caused to a certain degree by
curators entering the field. At the same time, I view both art and
curating as ephemeral and process-oriented work, work not so easily
absorbed. Therefore, we should maintain a laboratory-type situation
in the academies. Since raising theoretical questions through both
artistic and curatorial practice is one of my driving forces, I regret
that the awareness of colonial, postcolonial, gender, and class debates
that once appeared in the curricula of art education disappear almost
immediately through the back door now that they have a whiff of
“PC ” about them. Today, these issues are addressed to pressure artists
into being “do-gooders”, while they should really be “free” thinkers.
But free of what? That question reminds me of Antonio Gramsci
and his notion of the artist as organic intellectual whose role is not
to act, to subordinate or to serve a system, but to be a critical and
independent voice negotiating civil society. Such understanding has
been continued by a number of recent political philosophers such as
Toni Negri.
Surely one should not fall into the trap of considering art, artists,
curators, museums, and art schools as fixed entities. These notions
are in constant flux, and the speed of the transformational process
has been increased alongside the development of high consumption
in general. For example, although the market is strong today, I
recall that in the 1990s it was the curators who were considered
the strong players in the field. Before that, the institutions were the
opinion makers. In other words, art takes part in the economical
and political reconfigurations on this planet as much as everything
else. Globalization as such does not stop when it comes to art. Power
positions are not static or written in stone. As long as we are able
to address that in our educational positions, and communicate that
constellations are constantly shifting, we are still doing fine. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Let’s return to the topic of curators connected to art schools. The

opening of Documenta11 took place in March 2001 at the Academy of A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Fine Arts Vienna with Platform_1. This meant there were eighteen 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
months before the initial scheduled opening date of Documenta11 WILLEM DE GREEF
in June 2002 ( then called Platform_5 ). Platform_1 was focused 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 12
on a series of talks, workshops etc. on “Democracy Unrealized”. U T E M E TA B A U E R
Such topics triggered some highly sensitive reactions amongst my 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
colleagues on the faculty at the Vienna academy. Some of them CLEMENTINE DELLIS
wondered how debates on democracy related to the agenda of an art 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
school. Several art critics, art dealers, and art collectors asked why JAN VERWOERT
such an important exhibition as Documenta11 was launched in an 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
art school context and on a topic unrelated to art. Those questions SIMON SHEIKH
indicated that antagonism was already on the rise. What I shared 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
with Okwui Enwezor and my colleagues from Documenta11 – Carlos MICK WILSON
Basualdo, Sarat Maharaj, Mark Nash, Octavio Zaya, and last but not 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
least Susanne Ghez – was the view that Documenta is a knowledge BART VERSCHAFFEL
production machine. In other words, we considered Documenta as

Ω P L AT F O R M 5 O F D O C U M E N TA 11 ,
an educational tool. An exhibition of that scale reaches many peopleΩ, T H E E X H I B I T I O N I N K A S S EL I N
RESEARCH REPORT
20 02 , H A D A R O U N D 650,0 0 0
many for the first time encountering contemporary art. The so-called V I S I TO R S .
44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
professionals have to re-encounter art each time they experience new

works, too. 48 C O LO FON
So Documenta11 was criticized mostly for resembling a seminar for

higher cultural education. But since the Documenta11 curatorial team
understood this exceptional exhibition format as a form of knowledge
production, why not launch Documenta11 at an art academy, and why
not view it as an expanded series of seminars? Platform_1 - 4 correlated
with the discourses artists invited to Documenta11 were currently
exploring. In order to focus on the specifics of these discourses,
we had to go to the places of origin or of relevance for each of the
platform topics. For example, to debate creolité in Kassel does not
make much sense, but if you debate it in St. Lucia, a place with an
everyday experience of this fairly recent academic discourse, it feels
quite normal. Automatically one is confronted with criticism of people
who share the experience and have deep convictions on the topic.
One needs a “critical mass” to interact with you if you raise such
questions. That is immensely important in order to establish a serious
kind of back-and-forth debate and to delve deeper into a topic.
I see an exhibition as a zone of activity, a space one has to produce; it
is not a given. An exhibition has to clarify the questions raised and
share this process with the audience, rather than educate them from
the position of those “in the know.” Such a “zone of activity” marks
the effort one makes to create discursive art – through a curatorial
decision. What do we generate as curators when we put art works,
artistic views, next to each other, and what do we generate by what is
then written about it?
When it comes to research I consider curatorial practice well-situated
within an art school context, also because museums are withdrawing
more and more from curatorial obligation. Once, museums were the
places for serious historical research. Today they are forced to take
part in a tourist industry and have started to become fundraising
machines in order to survive. Curators are under pressure to
continuously produce art shows that create media attention and attract 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
large audiences. That leaves them with less time for research. No
wonder some curators migrate to educational institutions in order A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
to do research. Exhibitions are not being created to simply satisfy us. 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
An exhibition should be able to create a space for critical reflection, WILLEM DE GREEF
a space for discourse that challenges the way we think and the way 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 13
we perceive the world. A “good” exhibition leaves one irritated, U T E M E TA B A U E R
troubled, stimulated. Aren’t those the exhibitions that stick around the 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
longest?! CLEMENTINE DELLIS
23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
JAN VERWOERT
28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
SIMON SHEIKH
MICK WILSON
41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
BART VERSCHAFFEL
RESEARCH REPORT
48 C O LO FON
I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P ... ? 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
CL ÉM EN T I N E D EL I S S A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Is it possible to map the various skills required for the MA - program WILLEM DE GREEF
particularly with regard to a reflective and critical attitude, and a 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
conception of both knowledge production and research? U T E M E TA B A U E R
My contribution to this discussion is based on ‘Future Academy’, 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 14
a curated research initiative set up in 2003 that has been driven CLEMENTINE DELLIS
primarily by voluntary and non-paying cells of postgraduate students. 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
Supported by host institutions from Europe, Africa, India, USA , JAN VERWOERT
Japan, and Australia, Future Academy has effectively spanned five 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
continents in its attempt to discern the context for independent SIMON SHEIKH
research in art in times to come. Currently part of Edinburgh 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
College of Art, Future Academy does not provide an MA or MFA MICK WILSON
and, in fact, has no formal legitimacy in terms of official diplomas 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
or exam qualifications. However, what it has provided for students BART VERSCHAFFEL
studying at both large-scale institutions as well as smaller protozoan

organisations is a recursive and transitional model for learning how RESEARCH REPORT
to conduct focused research as artists, whilst simultaneously coming 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
to grips with survival, economic models, and responses to fieldwork

in foreign locations. As a self-reflexive investigation that relies on 48 C O LO FON
the free will and engagement of students from different institutions

and faculties it is necessarily heterological: it appears to disturb the
existing coordinates of fine art education by tracing paths across
geopolitical locations that throw up earlier colonial cartographies
and question current affiliations of power and knowledge that are in
the process of being re-negotiated.Ω Over the last five years, Future Ω“ T H E N OT I O N O F ‘ H E T ER O LO GY ’ R EF ER S TO T H E WAY I N W H I C H T H E M E A N I N G F U L
FA B R I C O F T H E S EN S I B L E I S D I S T U R B E D : A S P E C TAC L E D O E S N OT FI T W I T H I N T H E
S E N S I B L E F R A M E W O R K D EFI N E D BY A N E T W O R K O F M E A N I N G S , A N E X P R E S S I O N
Academy students have acted as the diagnosticians of their own art D O E S N OT FI N D I T S P L AC E I N T H E S Y S T EM O F V I S I B L E C O O R D I N AT E S W H ER E I T
A P P E A R S .” J AC Q U E S R A N C I ÈR E , T H E P O L I T I C S O F A E S T H E T I C S , I N T ER V I E W W I T H
education, a process, which can only be successful if they view their G A B R I EL R O C K H I L L , C O N T I N U U M , 20 0 4 , P. 71
current condition as closely aligned to that of a future environment

for research, production, and community. Interestingly, students
who take on Future Academy either leave quickly because they do not
understand its apparent lack of course structure, or became so fully
involved in it that their ownership of it is unrelenting.
As a procedure that involves the elaboration of new proposals and
their execution, Future Academy characterises my activity as a
curator over the last ten years. This has involved generating work
with artists and writers through the independent organ Metronome
and led to a backstage approach to curating for which the art college
has proved to be the most efficient and responsive institutional
ΩIT
setting.Ω In 1999, I published Backwards Translation based on the I S D EB ATA B L E W H E T H ER T H E D E V ELO P M E N T O F M E T R O N O M E W O U L D H AV E
B EE N AC H I E V E D I N T H E M I D TO L AT E N I N E T I E S I F I H A D W O R K E D W I T H I N
M U S EU M S W H ER E T H E EM P H A S I S O N P U B L I C V I S I B I L I T Y A N D AC C E S S M AY H AV E
ex-curricula of students, setting up a situation of parallel research R U N C O N T R A R Y TO T H E F O C U S O N ‘ C O N C EP T UA L I N T I M AC Y ’ T H AT I C H O S E TO
WORK WITH.
and co-production between the Städelschule in Frankfurt ( where I
was a guest professor) and the art academies in Vienna, Bordeaux,
Edinburgh, and finally Biella, with Michelangelo Pistoletto who
was setting up the Cittadellarte and University of Ideas. In 2001, I
transited around Scandinavia for eighteen months, building up an
analysis of the use of rhetoric and the voice in art practice with a
voluntary posse of postgraduate students who were studying at the
various art colleges. This research deepened until we decided to make
voice recordings in a studio in Oslo and develop another Metronome
publication called The Bastard, co-funded by art academies in Oslo, 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Bergen, Malmö, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. In 2002, nine ex-

postgraduates and I set up base for ten months in the derelict, yet A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
high-security Royal Army Medical College that had just been acquired 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
by Chelsea College of Art and Design. Navigating through this vast, WILLEM DE GREEF
sinister site next to Tate Britain with guest artists while imagining its 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
past and future led to The Stunt and The Queel, a publication and 12- U T E M E TA B A U E R
hour event held in the unconverted Millbank building. At that point, I 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 15
developed Future Academy, turning back onto itself the environment CLEMENTINE DELLIS
in which I had been given so much conceptual freedom and means 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
of production. Once again I set up informal research units, and was JAN VERWOERT
able to knit together institutional support, first between the London 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
Institute ( now University of the Arts), Chelsea College of Art and SIMON SHEIKH
Design, Tate Britain, and later Edinburgh College of Art, and Glasgow 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
School of Art. Finally, in 2006 and 2007, I published the last two MICK WILSON
editions of Metronome for documenta 12, collating materials from 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
Future Academy fieldwork and developing a further constellation of BART VERSCHAFFEL
backing and finance, only this time in the US, Australia, and Japan.
Metronome is neither vanity publishing nor self-publishing, but the RESEARCH REPORT
carrier and medium through which I have transported this research in 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
motion that tends to lie somewhat to the side of recognised curatorial

models, regulated art publishing and academic norms.Ω Ω S EE M E T R O N O M EP R E S S . C O M
48 C O LO FON
Future Academy and Metronome clearly have many points in

common including their unofficial status – you may well ask how
Metronome fits into the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise when
most productions are without ISBN and Future Academy student
cells are not academically accredited? Several convergences exist, for
example, the nurturing of self-appointed communities of artists and
researchers who engage in a joint investigation and debate modes of
survival; the process of moving and working in different cities and
involving local histories and organisations in the project as it evolves;
and the primary focus on translation as a key trope in advanced art
practice.Ω ΩOSCAR T UA ZO N , A R T I S T A N D C O L L A B O R ATO R I N F U T U R E AC A D EM Y,
EM P H A S I S E S T H E P R O B L EM O F T H E A R B I T R A R Y C O M M U N I T Y S O O F T EN F O U N D
I N AC A D EM I C S T R U C T U R E S : “I
However, the one convergence I would like to turn to now is the WA N T TO A D D R E S S W H AT I S EE A S A N I N H ER E N T
L I M I T TO T H E AC A D EM Y A S A PA R A D I G M F O R E X P ER I M E N TA L W O R K . FI R S T , T H E
S T R U C T U R E O F A L A R G E I N S T I T U T I O N R EQ U I R E S C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H P EO P L E
influence of early ethnographic experiments in research, fieldwork W I T H W H O M YO U M I G H T N OT H AV E A N Y R E A L A F FI N I T Y. T H ER E I S A H O R I ZO N
O N T H E K I N D O F AU TO N O M Y P O S S I B L E I N T H I S S I T UAT I O N . S E C O N D , W I T H I N
studies, and their subsequent interpretation. I am interested in A N AC A D EM I C S E T T I N G M O S T O F T H E F U N DA M E N TA L Q U E S T I O N S O F S U R V I VA L
H AV E B EE N A D D R E S S E D A N D TA K E N C A R E O F BY T H E I N S T I T U T I O N . A N D F O R A N
looking back at the controversial discipline of social anthropology, A R T I S T I C P R AC T I C E W H ER E T H E P R I M A R Y I S S U E I S H O W TO G E T BY, T H I S I S A
R E A L O B S TAC L E .” M E T R O N O M E N O .11
which I studied alongside contemporary art, but then denied an
Ω H AV I N G S T U D I E D S O C I A L A N T H R O P O LO GY I N T H E E A R LY 19 8 0 S , I WA S
affiliation to throughout the 1990s.Ω I want to revisit the maverick I M M ER S E D I N A S T R A I N O F “S EM A N T I C A N T H R O P O LO GY ” W H I C H N OT O N LY
R EF L E C T E D R EF ER EN C E S I H A D I D E N T I FI E D E A R L I ER A S A N A R T S T U D E N T I N
methodologies of twentieth century anthropologists from Margaret T H E W O R K O F J O S EP H KO S U T H , S U S A N H I L L ER , M I C H A EL BU T H E , LOT H A R
B AU M G A R T E N A N D OT H ER S , B U T O F F ER E D A S EL F - C R I T I C A L A N A LY S I S O F T H E
Mead through to Michel Leiris and more recently, Clifford Geertz. D I S C I P L I N E ’ S N A R R AT I V E T R O P E S ( S EE J A M E S C L I F F O R D , PAU L R A B I N O W ,
C L I F F O R D G EER T Z , M A R C U S A N D C U S H M A N , E TC .). M Y S U B S EQ U E N T W O R K W I T H
In particular, I’ve come back to Gregory Bateson, the polymathic P R OTAG O N I S T S F R O M T H E B L AC K A R T S M O V EM E N T I N LO N D O N , C O L L A B O R AT I O N S
W I T H A R T I S T S I N S E V ER A L A F R I C A N C O U N T R I E S , P LU S T H E BU R G EO N I N G P O S I T I O N
academic and cyberneticist who made seminal advances in the O F C U LT U R A L S T U D I E S R E N D ER E D P R O B L EM AT I C T H E O N G O I N G A R T I C U L AT I O N
O F S O C I A L A N T H R O P O LO GY A S A N A P P R O P R I AT E M E T H O D O LO GY F O R A N 8 0 S ’
translation of systems of knowing and communicating. Bateson’s U N D ER S TA N D I N G O F G LO B A L I S AT I O N , R AC E A N D D I F F ER E N C E .
concept of the “metalogue” is relevant here. Using a relational

methodology to understand perception, Bateson refers to recursiveness
as meaning that repeatedly loops back onto itself in a reflexive
dialogue with its representational boundaries, building a form of
“ecological epistemology”, a thought-structure that is naturally
interdependent and interactive with other disciplines. Bateson writes,
“A metalogue is a conversation about some problematic subject. This
conversation should be such that not only do the participants discuss
the problem, but the structure of the conversation as a whole is 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
also revealed to the same subject. Only some of the conversations

ΩGREGORY B AT E S O N , “S T EP S
achieve this double format.”Ω This perpetual mirroring exemplifies A N E C O LO GY O F M I N D ”, 1971 .
TO
the liminal dimension located between researching something 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
and producing a representation of this process, just as it evokes WILLEM DE GREEF
the distinctions and concordances between academic discourses of 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
knowledge production and the eccentric vagaries of art practice. To U T E M E TA B A U E R
develop Future Academy as a Batesonian metalogical investigation 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 16
means pitching it first to students, and then involving them from day CLEMENTINE DELLIS
one when nothing is known, and there are no results, encouraging us 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
to determine hypotheses together and form the representation of our JAN VERWOERT
findings gradually as they are being pursued, to become interlocutors, 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
collaborators, and highlighters together. The work of the students has SIMON SHEIKH
a bearing on what I produce, where I travel to, and whether I survive 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
professionally, and yet, at the same time, each of us has the authority MICK WILSON
to retain a sense of individual development. One question emerges 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
here: can both art students and faculty recognise the plurality and BART VERSCHAFFEL
therefore the instability of methodological procedures as part of their

research activities, or is the current conception of competence and RESEARCH REPORT
accreditation in art education unnecessarily driving both parties 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
towards conformism?
Underlying my interests in the art academy environment is 48 C O LO FON
the presupposition that it offers an exceptionally individualist,

deregulated, and heterogeneous location for visioning the future and
forming agents in this process. As well as providing a more or less
thorough training ground for artistic positions, I would argue that the
academy is the site of prelusive knowledge. Its artist-members are able
to deploy the transformational moment in their research of aesthetic
practices in a way that is not possible in any other institution today.
For the art academy specialises in and nurtures the lead-up time to
production through a particular approach to the relation between
ideas and things, places and people. As Martin Prinzhorn stated
in a conversation at the start of Future Academy, “Art academies
should be places where research is done that actually cannot be
done in universities because universities have other limits that art
academies do not need to have.” One might say the same distinction
applies to the art academy in relation to the museum as a site of new
production: art academies necessarily should be places where art is
engaged with and expanded in a manner that cannot be achieved in
museums and galleries. So my personal question, reactivated again
and again over the last ten years, has been to ascertain whether the
art academy remains a location in which its faculty can experience
the flexibility to undertake the prelusive or unknown that defines
independent research and the work associated with it, rather than
becoming reduced to mere providers or teachers?
This brings me to the blurred definitional framework of what we
call the art academy, a fuzzy logic that is perhaps this institution’s
saving grace and ongoing claim to heterodoxy. On an elementary
level, an art academy, like any institution, is the organic result of a
groups’ desire to work together and formalise certain experiences
and resolutions. However, following Jacques Rancière’s notion of the
“aesthetic regime of the arts”, the art academy necessarily embodies
an antagonism, which functions to reinterpret the past and reinscribe 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
as well as redistribute values of competence. He writes, “A ‘common’

world is never simply an ethos, a shared abode, that results from the A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
sedimentation of a certain number of intertwined acts. It is always a 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
polemical distribution of modes of being and ‘occupations’ in a space WILLEM DE GREEF
of possibilities. It is from this perspective that it is possible to raise the 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
question of the relationship between the ‘ordinariness’ of work and U T E M E TA B A U E R
artistic ‘exceptionality’.”Ω ΩIBID, PAG E 42

14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 17
As the name Future Academy indicates, I’ve opted for the heavy CLEMENTINE DELLIS
connotations of the historically bound, heritage art academy and 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
combined it with more self-destruct, artists’ collectives whose scale JAN VERWOERT
is necessarily small and mutable in contrast to the elephantine 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
magnitude of the major art educational establishments that most SIMON SHEIKH
of us work within. However one chooses to define the academy per 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
se, definitions usually lead at one point to a certain tension between MICK WILSON
inclusion and exclusion, formal and informal, organised and 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
deregulated knowledge. For example, one might focus on the academy BART VERSCHAFFEL
as a protection lodge, run by an elite orthodoxy with a structure

which necessitates it to be non-accessible and non-populist. Highly RESEARCH REPORT
ritualised in contrast to more bohemian academies, entry is based on 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
convocation rituals, on strictly maintained interpersonal networks,

and on notions of adherence. A more innovative analogy might be 48 C O LO FON
the one raised recently by Georg Schöllhammer at documenta 12.

Here the academy is understood as an editorial group. Presenting
this notion at the Metronome Think Tank in Tokyo, Schöllhammer
states, “The idea of the documenta magazines project is to come back
to a form of mobility that is also a form of academy, a very stable form,
namely the editorial group. It has a long tradition in independent
media and involves a group of people working over a long period of
time on issues which they find interesting to translate from one place
to another or to present, because they have the distinct feeling that
they need to speak about these in an audible and visible manner. We
thought, why not use these academies, these editorial groups and
Ω S EE M E T R O N O M E N O . 11 , W H AT I S TO B E D O N E ?, TO K YO , 20 07
bring them into discussion with one another?”Ω
Schöllhammer’s proposition combines the method of an organ such
as Metronome with that of a collective research project like Future
Academy, and more could be developed on this relationship. However,
here I’d like to focus on the art academy as the tool of cultural
expansion. The geopolitical incentives of this formulation rise and fall
according to demand, and are permanently revised and reactivated
to reflect changing concepts of national and cultural heritage, and by
extension internationalist policy. From the 19th century mercantile
marriage of Empire Education, and Trade, we shift seamlessly into
today’s neo-liberal threesome of Globalisation, Learning, and the
Cultural Industries. Today’s corporate rather than imperial model
of schooling and human resource development places emphasis on
structures we are all too familiar with. Life-long learning, vocational
training, concordant accreditation systems, virtual learning
environments, a powerful, global market in postgraduate education,
and an unhealthy reliance on the fees of foreign, non EU students. It
begs the question as to whether the European MFA is actually a neo-
colonial device ultimately being developed to be implemented beyond
the territorial parameters of the Bologna agreement? Meanwhile, the 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
student body increasingly mutates flooding the once singular character

of a nation’s art academy with an unstoppable flow of new influences, A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
latent cultural backgrounds, and confused expectations. A college 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
with a large amount of international students is heterogeneous but WILLEM DE GREEF
not necessarily able to make use of this condition. Nevertheless, what I 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
hope characterises today’s globalised art academy is not just the frenzy U T E M E TA B A U E R
of standardisation, but the alternative option of travelling intelligently 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 18
through different institutional structures with their contrasting CLEMENTINE DELLIS
value systems, in order to perform a deep transfer of knowledge that 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
can reflect and compliment the newly international character of this JAN VERWOERT
student body. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
Within the first six months of Future Academy, I made the decision SIMON SHEIKH
to curate this investigation away from a super-structure of European 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
super-schools and to focus instead on the current ramifications of MICK WILSON
colonial art academies established in the 19th and 20th centuries, 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
thereby questioning today’s renewed forays into educational expansion. BART VERSCHAFFEL
As a result of pitches I made to artists, scholars, and students on the

hypotheses and modus operandi of this research, I was able to set RESEARCH REPORT
up experimental student cells and with these, parallel institutional 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
partnerships. I worked first in Senegal, where the Ecole des Beaux Arts
in Dakar is actually a post-independence phenomenon initiated by the 48 C O LO FON
late president and poet Leopold Sedar Senghor in 1963; and then in
several cities in India, where art colleges were aligned historically with
their British colonial counterparts.
In both locations, there were different institutional scales at work.
For example, the Media Centre of Dakar, an NGO co-financed by
Norwegian state funding, was working with the Ecole Nationale des
Arts in Dakar and teaching new media to students, and in Mumbai,
the urban research group PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge and
Research), devised by social anthropologist Arjun Appadurai with US
academic funding, was producing documentary films with students
of Shri. J. J. School of Art. Both NGOs could thereby circumvent
entrenched bureaucratic problems within the older structures and
enable students to develop new methods and productions external
of the existing curricula. Likewise Future Academy would negotiate
its way forward with its motherships in London and Scotland, and
encourage students from the different departments or schools to
take ownership of this research. Later, when Future Academy moved
to Japan, this symbiotic relationship was confirmed once more with
the participation of small artists’ collectives in Tokyo that focus on
educational formats, such as CommandN, m-lab, or Arts Initiative
Tokyo ( AIT ), indicating a true mushrooming of short-term working
systems. AIT, for example, runs exceptional evening classes on
curating and contemporary art, open to a wide range of office workers
and people whose education may not have included formal art studies.
With this modest endeavour, AIT has managed to remain financially
self-sufficient and autonomous.
Future Academy’s resolution to be voluntary and non-paying led to a
deep interest on the part of the students in all locations in economic
propositions. In February 2003, a weeklong Future Academy seminar
generated a proposal by MFA students to set up a bank. Their claim
was straightforward: independent thinking required independent 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
economies. In the future, the role and value of the artist might lead to
a type of international intelligence for which both a black market and A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
a barter system might become operational. The senior management 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
of the UK School in question immediately quashed the proposal and, WILLEM DE GREEF
as any further development was voluntary, the students continued 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
with their individual work and this institution’s involvement in U T E M E TA B A U E R
Future Academy pretty much ended there. However, the focus on 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 19
economics did not and it was in Dakar that the most coherent and CLEMENTINE DELLIS
topical economic model was developed, precisely because the nervous 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
accountability of the host institution did not interfere with students’ JAN VERWOERT
conception of legitimate research. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
The model proposed by the Senegalese artists referred back to the SIMON SHEIKH
Tontine, a micro-credit scheme originally devised by the Neapolitan 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Lorenzo Tonti in 1653. In Dakar, the scheme was activated in the MICK WILSON
recession of the 1980s as an alternative to the development banks, 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
which, whilst apparently run by the Senegalese, were still closely tied BART VERSCHAFFEL
to French finance. Key to the Tontine in Senegal has been the cultural
and social dimension it employs to ensure that a rotating rhythm of RESEARCH REPORT
contribution and spending is maintained by each of its members. Trust 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
and social sanctions encourage a self-selection process with regard to

the group’s membership. Tontines can fall within several categories, 48 C O LO FON
from those that are regulated by religious and commercial interests

in order to cover financial difficulties or pay for pilgrimages to Mecca,
through to smaller cooperatives based on neighbourhood structures,
women’s groups, the organisation of events, or the acquisition of
health and educational infrastructures. The fundamental issue with
the Tontine is that it remains outside of the law, is not monitored by
the police or the state, and constitutes part of the informal economic
chain. Tontines can even have clandestine membership arrangements
such that although the savings will rotate from person to person
these individuals remain unknown within the group. In the context
of Future Academy, the Tontine provided an experiment in alternative
funding systems and actually paid for the Senegalese visas to India
so that they could to take part in the Synchronisations forum set up
by their Indian Future Academy colleagues. Likewise, the Edinburgh
cell also applied the Tontine system to their collective finances, and
managed to raise a considerable amount for their visit to India.
As research on this financial, communal structure developed, so too
did the concept of the individual who might operate it: the student on
the one hand, and the teacher or professor on the other, both defined
as agents in a transactional relationship. If the example of legally
extraneous micro-credit associations had provided the framework, it
was to be the hawker or itinerant salesman who offered the role model.Ω ΩT H E S E N E G A L E S E M U S I C I A N A N D P R O D U C ER YO U S S O U N ’ D O U R
TOOK PART IN THE FIRST FUTURE
“ We realise that there are eminent professors of economics in Senegal ACADEMY FORUM HELD IN DAKAR
IN JANUARY 2003 . AT THIS MEET -
ING YOUSSOU N’DOUR RAISED
who often receive travel grants to go to Europe or the States in order to THE ISSUE OF THE GROWTH IN
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEO -
study during the holidays. They come back with theories. In contrast PLE AND THE FAST TRACK THAT
THE YOUTH PERCEIVED IN BE-
you have the hawker who has no formal education in economics and COMING A MUSICIAN TODAY . HE
RECENTLY COLLABORATED WITH
who has only attended traditional and Coranic schools. This hawker BENETTON AND ESTABLISHED
A LOCAL, SENEGALESE MICRO-
enters the economic system too; the one that we call informal, and CREDIT ASSOCIATION CALLED
BIRIMA TO SUP P OR T SM A L L
he or she travels worldwide. What have these people done to become S C A L E E N T R EP R E N EU R I A L I N I T I AT I V E S . O N E O F T H E I C O N S U S E D I N T H E P R
C A M PA I G N I S T H E P O R T R A I T O F A S E N E G A L E S E H AW K ER . S EE W W W . B I R I M A . O R G
successful in the context of an international system? They receive
no support from the government. But if they could enter the future 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
academy, we could ask them how their system functions without basic
formal economic principles, and how it is that they still manage to A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
survive (…). The hawker is at the heart of our intellectual debates right 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
now. But also in terms of media and communications. The formal WILLEM DE GREEF
and the informal do not only exist in economic terms. They exist in 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
the artistic domain too and we should open up this debate in Future U T E M E TA B A U E R
Academy.”Ω ΩD I S C U S S I O N B E T W EE N
N A L L E AU R O , M A N E ,
14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 20
Effectively the Senegalese Future Academy team spent lengthy A N D AWA D I O U F AT

F U T U R E AC A D EM Y ’ S
CLEMENTINE DELLIS
‘ S Y N C H R O N I S AT I O N S ’
periods in Dakar analysing informal systems such as the network E V EN T I N B A N G A LO R E ,
20 05
of beggars, the stock exchange of second-hand clothing, and illegal JAN VERWOERT
taxi drivers with their speed-driven race against death, looking at 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
all these phenomena in terms of aesthetic values and vectors, and SIMON SHEIKH
deducing complex performative and presentational modalities from 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
them. Moreover, their final conclusion was that at a certain point MICK WILSON
(postgraduate education) student and teacher need to reformulate 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
the hierarchical relationship of knowledge transfer and enter into a BART VERSCHAFFEL
flat zone in which each party recognises the value of their respective
input and can effectively pitch and barter their way forward. Here RESEARCH REPORT
we find the transition from informal to formal, and the shifting of 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
competence from illegal mini-cabbing to the acquisition of what in

London taxi driver’s parlance is known as the ‘Knowledge’. Indeed, 48 C O LO FON
extensive debates took place between the students in Future Academy

on the relationship between informal and formal economies,
emphasising their interconnectedness: “The informal sector is a
little like a bazaar, like a market. You go out and find your guy and he
offers you a mixed bag of things. You don’t enter a pyramid structure.
It is random. If we look at the informal sector and how this fluid state
of the economy is run, should we look at it in isolation or not? Instead
of having one-day economies, can we find a way to align the informal
to the formal sector? This is the predominant economic paradigm
that we are trying to work with or break out of. If we want to analyse
one-day economies or smaller more chaotic models where things are
done in more fluid ways, then I feel we need to take into account that
this actually works and investigate its relationship to the predominant
paradigm. I do not think we should look at it in isolation.”Ω Ω U M A N G , <<<<<‘ S Y N C H R O N I S AT I O N S ’ E V E N T I N B A N G A LO R E , 20 05
In India, the Future Academy team subsequently re-defined this

proposal into the ‘Permeable Academy’, describing the mobile
architecture of the itinerant salesman as that of a moving directory
of comparative studies, analyses, networks, and individual contacts
across the world. In this Permeable Academy, expertise would be
handed over to informal economists, peripheral academics, and
“ traders and crafts people would meet at the shack studio, a tea shop
outside the walls of the heritage academies.
To resume the argument so far: competence in Future Academy
is the ability for students to make a series of shifts. Firstly, from
prescribed learning structures to voluntary initiatives that do not
feature in their academic assessment, and which they are encouraged
to qualify and take ownership of, and that, if anything, may fast track
them into a professional context. Secondly, from a sole dependency
on grants, loans and student debt towards alternative economic
approaches with regard to studying, research, production, travel, daily 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
survival and collective projects. I’d hesitate to call this the seeds of a
micro-institutional development but increasingly I feel it may just be A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
heading that way. It would confirm the value accorded by artists in 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
transactions that introduce service environments into their work from WILLEM DE GREEF
the clinic through to purchases that can be made online.Ω Ω I ’M THINKING OF JOE
S C A N L A N ’ S C O F FI N S ,
I would like to end on a related issue that provides the basis for A N D OT H ER P R O P O S A L S
F O R O N L I N E S A L E S AT
T H I N G S FA L L D O W N . C O M
intellectual competence: the figure of the polymath and the concept 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 21
‘ of a roaming faculty. Let’s go back to Gregory Bateson who defines his CLEMENTINE DELLIS
stance in opposition to what he sees in the 1970s as the increasingly 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
materialist ecology of academic departments, something that one JAN VERWOERT
could argue is taking place once again. In 1971 he states that “such 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
matters as the bilateral symmetry of an animal, the patterned SIMON SHEIKH
arrangement of leaves in a plant, the escalation of an armaments 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
race, the processes of courtship, the nature of play, the grammar of a MICK WILSON
sentence, the mystery of biological evolution, and the contemporary 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
crises in man’s relationship to his environment, can only be BART VERSCHAFFEL

ΩI B I D .
understood in terms of such an ecology of ideas.”Ω
When we investigated future faculties of knowledge in the art RESEARCH REPORT
academy, in other words those subjects, contexts, and practices that 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
might be taught, researched, and developed, it was to both latent

aesthetic processes, and everyday relational activities that attention 48 C O LO FON
was directed, which may be no wonder, given the global importance

of social interventionism in art practice of the 1990s (from N55, to
Superflex, Open Circle, Raks, or Pukar in India, Huit Facettes in
Senegal, to name just a few). Art students, they argued, could benefit
from a lawyer on immigration and identity issues, just as they might
be interested in hearing from economists or scholars whose research
is founded in the cultural idioms and methodologies of non-Western
societies. Heterodox combinations of information and skill would
inform art practice: for example, the exercise of a particular sport as a
model for analysing thought structures (e.g., Senegalese wrestling as
mental and physical dialectical engagement). In this manner, a future
art academy would engage in a polymathic economy; a polymathic
educational model; a polymathic faculty, and finally a polymathic
understanding of place, situating itself between different public
audiences, institutional structures and time frames.
With the introduction of a ‘Roaming Faculty’, the polymath, like our
hawker earlier on, becomes embedded in a structure dedicated to
mobile knowledge transfer and deep exchange. It’s a non-prescriptive
condition of empathic learning, that provides for a parallel extension
in the work of guest, peripatetic researcher, and the transnational
group of students who work with him or her. The Roaming Faculty
model offers selected artists and scholars the chance to develop
new work through a chain of interconnected situations at four to
five different art academies. It’s a consortium of sorts, but it is led
by the value attributed to an individual’s research, to the shaping
of content and the nurturing of transcultural and transdiciplinary
positions, which stand outside of the course curricula. Moreover, for
a participating institution, the Roaming Faculty structure requires
part investment of no more than 20 to 25% of a full professorial
salary. The Tontine system that fuels this moving group of artists and
scholars guarantees the on-going low-level costs, which are shared, 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
rotates ownership between the participating institutions, and helps

to broker decision-making. Our Roaming Faculty member is the A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
itinerant hawker not only of ideas but also of ways of apprehending, 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
analysing and evaluating their presence within the next generation of WILLEM DE GREEF
artists and practitioners. 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
So to conclude, I’d like to propose three areas of articulation for U T E M E TA B A U E R
fine art students: first, the predisposition to embark on voluntary 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ? 22
non-course or examination-led investigations which enhance an CLEMENTINE DELLIS
understanding of different methodologies of research; secondly, a 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
lucid and production-based interest in economic and symbolic value; JAN VERWOERT
and finally a polymathic approach to knowledge production linked 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
to an enhanced disposition towards translation, understood here SIMON SHEIKH
as the flexible act of idiomatic transference between disciplines, 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
methodologies, and cultural contexts. The value accorded to survival MICK WILSON
and self-organisation leads naturally to a further set of skills: the 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
rhetorical and analytical wherewithal to stake a position as a student BART VERSCHAFFEL
player in the revision of educational structures; and by extension the

ability to engage with a form of research that is non-prescriptive from RESEARCH REPORT
the outset. To impart this critical approach to the student seems to be 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
essential today, and thereby to dissolve the idea that following a course
will make them into an artist! 48 C O LO FON
POSING SINGUL ARIT Y 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
JA N V ER W O ER T A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
In the continuous rituals of institutional politics and their related WILLEM DE GREEF
internal closed-door logic, there is fortunately always someone 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
trying to keep doors wide open. That is not something to be taken U T E M E TA B A U E R
for granted, since institutions tend to follow strictly the Kafkaesque 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
dynamics of closing in on themselves, thereby creating hermetic CLEMENTINE DELLIS
black boxes which destroy information and burn bridges with the 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y 23
outside world. In fact, the logic of institutions and the logic of art JAN VERWOERT
education are fundamentally at odds, because institutions are innately 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
about legitimation and evaluation, while art education is about SIMON SHEIKH
inspiration and creation. Those different principles imply that people 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
who actually believe in art education will always have to fight the logic MICK WILSON
of the institution and its continuous institutional ceremonies. 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
The question is how to talk about fighting institutional rituals in BART VERSCHAFFEL
public, since that fight is a practice filled with clandestine techniques.

I would rather suggest working on a clandestine manual or RESEARCH REPORT
instruction book listing all the tricks and all the ways of seduction 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
required to enable art education within institutions not designed

to facilitate anything remotely linked to that form of education. 48 C O LO FON
However, I am not in the position to talk about clandestine knowledge

in public. So I must find other ways of sharing it.
The second issue that worries me is the current prominence of
the notion of art as a form of knowledge production. In my view,
that notion is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what
conceptual art practices meant. Today, though well-meaning and well-
intentioned, we do take works from the 1970s seriously and believe
they have produced knowledge. Yet it might simply be that we did not
understand that conceptual art is about intellectual provocation and
the disruption of thoughts, ideas, and words. That disruption is not
necessarily connected to the production of knowledge, but rather to
the creation of new forms of embodiment, i.e. to discovering whether
there are new ways for art practitioners to embody provocative ideas
and produce novel forms of communication. We lose the spirit of
conceptual art when we actually believe it has produced knowledge.
Benjamin Buchloh has argued that the past is the aesthetization of
bureaucracy. Along those lines of thought, I do believe that education
based on the notion of art as a form of knowledge production creates
artists focused on skills such as self-administration and email
production. Perhaps we should reconsider the legacy of conceptual
art and investment in producing intellectual bodies of art; perhaps
we should understand the intellectual even as something entirely
different from the academic. After all, the academic discourse is about
evaluation and legitimation, while the intellectual is about the public
embodiment of ideas and thoughts, i.e., the libidinal and cerebral
embodiment of an idea. Embodiment goes necessarily beyond the
academic discourse, even if it depends on the academic discourse to
realize its practice.
This in turn brings to another important issue: the issue of the
academy as institution. If we want to maintain a critical discourse,
we can never speak in the name of the institution even when we 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
are speaking about the institution. Many times, contemporary

discussions suddenly create an uncanny moment of closure when A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
we speak of the institution in the name of the institution. That 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
perpetuates the false assumption that we are all just institutional WILLEM DE GREEF
people and that is the only reason we are entitled to speak on its 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
behalf. There must be a way of speaking about the institution not in U T E M E TA B A U E R
its name but in the name of something else. Something pointing to 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
the possibility of a different world; something implying a utopian CLEMENTINE DELLIS
principle. Perhaps a utopian world is a world without any need for 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y 24
institutions. JAN VERWOERT
Currently, the most pressing question is in what name or in whose 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
name we want to talk about institutions. I would suggest that it might SIMON SHEIKH
be necessary to speak about institutions in the name of the good 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
life. When you read Negri and Hardt’s Empire, the question of the MICK WILSON
good life is actually the most pressing issue they raise. They argue 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
that today’s means of production are the means of communication, BART VERSCHAFFEL
the means of social existence. In the new forms of immaterial

labor, the biggest growth industry is communication. As producers RESEARCH REPORT
of artistic subjectivities, we are producers in the new industry of 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
communication. We sacrifice our very lives in that new economy,

as we put our life skills at its disposal. Therefore, teaching artistic 48 C O LO FON
subjectivities is teaching people how to put themselves at the mercy of

the communication industry. That is what you must do as an artist or
an intellectual.
How can we avoid becoming public commodities, docile bodies and
willing contributors to a new form of immaterial labor? Negri and
Hardt explore how we may regain control over our intellectual lives.
Reappropriating today’s means of production no longer implies
invading the factories, but essentially to wrest back the means of
social communication. At heart this concerns resuming control over
our social lives. I believe one of the most urgent questions facing
the art academy is: How do we want to live together? How can we
renegotiate the forms of communication that will determine the
conditions of our life together?
I would like to raise three issues related to that question. One
concerns the ethical-political question of the good life connected to
the question of subjectivity or singularity. The second is the matter
of temporality or the organization of time. The last question concerns
debt or indebtness.
Let me start with the question of subjectivity. We are works in
progress, constantly producing subjectivity. One of the major
contradictions in a society dedicated to the production of subjectivities
is the issue of singularity. This issue pervades art schools and is
almost everywhere in highly individualized societies; the one hope we
all share is that we are the chosen, the singular ones. Immediately,
that puts us at odds with everybody else. What do you do when there
is more than one of the chosen on a panel or in a room? That is the
first experience you have when entering an art school; officially you
are the chosen, since you have been accepted, but suddenly with
horror you realize that you are surrounded by chosen ones.
The issue of the chosen is part of a larger discourse in society.
Books such as the Harry Potter series or films such as the Matrix or 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
the Lord of the Rings are all about the chosen. Usually the chosen
becomes approved or legitimized through violence and competition. A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
The chosen has to fight within a constellation or competition among 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
others to prove that there can only be one. WILLEM DE GREEF
One could consider the promise of singularity not to be a problem 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
as it is a deeply existential experience. However, the actual problem U T E M E TA B A U E R
is that competition is the sole mode or experience of the promise of 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
singularity society offers today. There is no other alternative, except CLEMENTINE DELLIS
violence, to realize that deeply existential feeling of singularity. 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y 25
So the pressing question is whether we can really propose an JAN VERWOERT
alternative model to competition to realize that collective experience 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
of singularity. I think we have an unique opportunity to do that in SIMON SHEIKH
the art academy, because the question of singularity is the most 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
pressing issue every student experiences when entering art school. MICK WILSON
How can we be singular, together? In that context, Derrida’s Politics 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
of Friendship is fascinating, since he writes about the community of BART VERSCHAFFEL
jealous lovers of solitude who have nothing to bring to the community

save their love of solitude. Those bonds, without constitutions and RESEARCH REPORT
manifestos, are forms of conviviality not pointing to the need for 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
another church or another constitution, but to the need for forms of

antagonistic friendship, allowing the sharing of solitude. 48 C O LO FON
The antagonistic community of jealous lovers of solitude might

prove provocative. In that sense, I would like to make the distinction
between a community of provocation and a community of
convocation. Often communities are about coexistence, union,
assembling people together to eradicate differences among them. I
dream of a provocative community that might exist in an art school
as an antagonistic community of provocateurs. The art of posing as
a form of provocation is one of the competencies you gain as an art
student. You learn to present singularity as a form of provocation.
There are bad and good ways of posing. Bad ways of posing are just
imposing; imposing your subjectivity on others. Good ways of posing
are exposing; exposing yourself to provoke someone else into reacting
to what you are saying. That is what you do as a student, but it is also
what you do as a teacher. In a literal sense you provoke; you call upon
somebody to articulate his or her position. How do you effect the
calling, though? I think it should be provocative, not convocative. Let’s
provoke a provocative community of poses. One of my ideal models
of an academy as a provocative community would be The Muppet
Show. A strange assembly of creatures finding a way to coexist that is
impossible to explain.
So, the first issue deals with the exercise of singularity within
the different ethics of a community building. The second issue I
mentioned above pertains to temporality or the organization of time.
Today, temporality is the regime determining institutional life and
also the market. Temporality is related to the urgency to answer
emails immediately, with always staying on the beat, in the loop. That
is a temporality of absolute presentism. When you always live in the
present, it becomes difficult to imagine disrupting that regime of a
particular temporality. I like to think that the academy is a good place
to do just that.
Ideally, the academy is a place of many temporalities, where various 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
generations meet. The artist embodies both the experience of the

past and performs the experience of the present, while art students A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
embody the promise of the future. Thus, the art academy is a place 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
where various pasts, presents, and futures exist in one building. That WILLEM DE GREEF
is a big challenge, though at the same time conflictual, when one 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
temporality starts dominating others. U T E M E TA B A U E R
There are traditional academies, like Düsseldorf, where the past 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
squashes all presences. But there are also high-performance CLEMENTINE DELLIS
academies, where people embody the present and erase any memory 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y 26
of the past. I was once in a place that was so presentish that the JAN VERWOERT
person running the print workshop was fired because of his links 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
to past knowledge. This indicates things seriously have gone wrong. SIMON SHEIKH
People embodying the past also embody a particular form of 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
potentiality, since one never knows what the art of the future will be. MICK WILSON
To generate the art of the future, you need some non-contemporary 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
past potential. I think the more temporalities an academy has, the BART VERSCHAFFEL
better it is. Staying in the Muppet Show model, you could say that
we should have many overlapping, completely antagonistic and RESEARCH REPORT
incongruent temporalities, embodied by people who might never 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
be able to properly talk to each other, since they all speak different
languages. 48 C O LO FON
Yet there should be a way for different temporalities to coexist in one

building. In a Nietzschean sense, the potential of the art academy
lies in a radical non-contemporary quality, or in a multiple sense
of temporalities. That has to do with characters and generations,
with artists and texts brought in, and with the oblique angles of
talking and choosing the subject of teaching. The goal should be to
multiply and diversify the inherent temporalities of the academy, and
to produce a different form of co-existence and conviviality, where
people, ideas, and practices embodying different forms of temporality
may exist under one roof.
Finally, we need to talk about the third issue mentioned: debt. Very
often, especially in market-driven societies, debt is at the heart of
education. People become involved in serious debt problems when
financing education. While teaching in academies in countries where
the social welfare state still exists, as well as in academies in Britain
and the United States, I realized that different institutional structures
produce different forms of debt. After three years in Sweden, I found
that students left school with a debt to the community. To redeem
themselves from that debt they immediately start doing a socially
engaged project in order to give back to the community and to do
good. While teaching in L.A. and talking with students there, I found
of course that debt is market-related. Not surprisingly, L.A. students
have to pay back what they were given. Thus, artists must have
financially viable products ready and out in a gallery, because they
have to pay back their student loans. On a basic material level, one
can only wish and hope that all people will get enough money to pay
their loans back.
However, beyond material debt, there is also a spiritual and a
symbolic debt. I think students all become indebted to certain ideas
and to certain principles through forms of education. In a welfare
state, they become indebted to the idea of the social or society; in a 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
market-driven environment, they become indebted to the market.

On that symbolic level, teaching can make a difference in helping A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
students to determine to whom or to what principles they chose to 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
become indebted. I believe we have to communicate that a certain WILLEM DE GREEF
indebtedness will always linger with both students and teachers 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
at the end of the year. When the graduates go out into the world, U T E M E TA B A U E R
teachers feel enormously indebted to them, because they have received 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
affirmation of the validity of producing art. That is a promise one CLEMENTINE DELLIS
can never guarantee. Teachers are always tricksters because they 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y 27
bear witness to the fact that art is not just a product, but will make a JAN VERWOERT
difference. How could one ever make that guarantee, while art could 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
equally be a highway straight to hell? As a teacher, you will remain SIMON SHEIKH
completely indebted to people whose lives you would have to assure, 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
while you cannot actually do that. So there is a mutual sense of MICK WILSON
indebtedness, and perhaps we can never redeem or absolve ourselves 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
completely from this debt. All we can do is shift the debt into a mode BART VERSCHAFFEL
of dedication by asking to what do we spiritually want to be indebted,

beyond the material? RESEARCH REPORT
This leads to considerations of how one might go beyond the 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
institution. What other horizon could we open up? What would it

mean to be indebted to the good life? There is a beautiful book by 48 C O LO FON
Gayatri Spivak called Death of a Discipline, where she raises that

question of debt and dedication. In the end, she asks to what spirit do
we dedicate our teaching. Especially when teaching traditional skills,
to whom do we want to dedicate that practice? Then she refers to
Virginia Woolf and that fantastic passage at the conclusion of Room of
One’s Own where Woolf speaks to the feminist writers of the future,
by saying you should write for the ghost of Shakespeare’s sister, for
the sake of her return to the future. That is a perfect example of
shifting debt to dedication. Let’s go for another form of art, another
form of embodiment. I would like to propose dedication as the
principle to which we devote our practices of embodiment!
ROOM FOR THOUGHT 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
S I M O N S H EIK H A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
How could one use ideas from critical art practices within an WILLEM DE GREEF
educational model also connected with accreditation, evaluation, 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
and course plans? This question relates to didactic strategies and U T E M E TA B A U E R
to what the discipline called teaching means today - and what its 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
object of study entails. However, in the postmodern and postcolonial CLEMENTINE DELLIS
era, disciplines are no longer fixed, as Spivak states in Death of the 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
Discipline. One might argue that the death of disciplines has been JAN VERWOERT
occasioned by interdisciplinarity. Yet the lack of an overall ideological 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T 28
goal in terms of utopias could also be blamed for that. Currently we SIMON SHEIKH
have a specific political horizon, which is both anti-utopian and anti- 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
revolutionary. Disciplines once involved in utopian and revolutionary MICK WILSON
goals also find themselves in a crisis. What then would be our object 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
of study today? Is it the art world, the artist, or is it art? These objects BART VERSCHAFFEL
overlap and seem hopelessly entangled. One of the goals of art

education could be to try and unravel the triad art world, artist, RESEARCH REPORT
and art. 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
In spite of the problems with defining the object of study, the art
academy has never been so successful as it is today. Even though the 48 C O LO FON
academy may have lost its aura and its disciplinary modus operandus,
all major exhibitions in commercial shows and galleries demonstrate
that exhibiting artists are products of art schools. That is a historical
shift compared to fifty years ago. Presently, the only way to become
an artist is through the art school. So we can at least say with some
certainty that art schools produce artists. But what kind of system are
we using? And what is the system we are educating people for?
I believe that a MA curriculum should never be entirely
predetermined; it should also imply a certain lack of rigidity.
The curriculum should not only be involved in the production
of knowledge, but also in creating a space for thinking. Where
knowledge could be inhibiting, thinking could break down
pre-determined knowledge. In that sense, Spivak talks about
“unlearning”. I am teaching in Malmö’s Critical Studies Program
with students from all over the world. They all have different pre-
conceptions about art, so we are continuously involved in deskilling,
in trying to let them unlearn what they have learned; not only in
terms of their education, but also in terms of their socialization and
cultural context in general.
We consider artistic production as being outside the contradiction
between theory and practice, as a reaction to academicism at art
schools today. Both theory and practice need a specific mode of
address and a specific mode of representation. We focus on available
modes and how we can deconstruct and reconstruct, configure and
reconfigure them. In our view, artistic practice is always based on a
theory, and vice versa. There is no hierarchical relationship between
theory and practice. In addition, our program is interdisciplinary
with a focus on what could be called the role of the cultural producer
( artist, curator, writer ) within the art context. We specifically try to
mix artists, curators, writers and theorists in one master’s program
in order for them to develop a single vocabulary of representation. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Unlike theory courses at the university, we offer insight into how

art is produced. In art history courses, you learn how art is received, A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
but you do not learn how ( contemporary ) art is produced. Even in 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
curatorial programs, there is rarely a discussion about how art works WILLEM DE GREEF
are produced. Artworks still seem to come to us as almost ready- 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
made, as building blocks that can be used in the articulations of the U T E M E TA B A U E R
exhibition. 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
In the context of an expanded idea of the notion of representation, CLEMENTINE DELLIS
we could state that in critical theory, it usually means that someone 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
stands for someone else, so that there is a certain absence both spatial JAN VERWOERT
and temporal. However, in art we could argue that representation 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T 29
is an act whereby something comes to represent something else. By SIMON SHEIKH
mirroring those two conceptions, we can create different kinds of 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
understanding and disentanglement. Another question cropping MICK WILSON
up is what the relationship is between representation and de- 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
presentation. I understand de-presentation as the disappearance of BART VERSCHAFFEL
ideas and imaginations actively or passively de-presented from the

world. An obvious example of de-presentation would be the so-called RESEARCH REPORT
post-communist condition which is now impossible to discuss or 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
imagine. What does that mean? What is that act of de-presentation?

Those questions play an important role in understanding how any 48 C O LO FON
representation of the world has certain exclusions rendering things

possible or impossible.
In our program, we also try to discuss how one as a cultural producer
one would define work vis-à-vis the apparatus surrounding production
and presentation. What is the public role of the artist, historically,
presently, and potentially? These discussions must revolve around
various truths and methods of representation. In other words, how
can we, through various modes of address, construct new narratives,
new counter-narratives and perhaps even new subjectivities? To
and for whom does one speak as a cultural producer? What is the
difference in conceptions and locations of various notions among
institutions, audiences, constituencies, and communities? Sometimes
these notions are considered synonymous, but obviously there is a
immense difference between production related to art institutions
or production related to the audience. What happens if we try to
transform audiences – as many artists currently try to do – into a
constituency or a community? What does that mean?
With regard to constituencies, we see a move into the educational
space of curators, since art institutions ( museums ) have a problem
with constituencies. The current composition of the museum’s
constituency is very difficult to define. Fifty years ago, it was the
nation-state, the bourgeoisie, i.e. the education of the populace into
a national, unified body. That was the goal of the museum. In those
days, its constituency could be easily defined based on the interests of
the ruling classes. Today, though, most art institutions are part of the
so-called entertainment industry. So there is a profound shift in how
to define a constituency. Perhaps that is starting to permeate
art education.
There are certain historical models of the art academy that have been
handed down to us that could easily be deconstructed. One model
pertains to the idea of the masterclass, one professor talking to 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
multiple students and deciding just what art education is. In terms
of mode of address, this is of course a pre-democratic model, a non- A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
dialogical model of address, based on the sovereign reigning over the 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
subject. The subjects are all listening to their master’s voice. That is WILLEM DE GREEF
an inherently hierarchical and masculine subject position. However, 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
now that artists engage with the world, and not just with themselves, U T E M E TA B A U E R
we must question the relevance of this model and perhaps look more 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
closely at the university model now replacing the masterclass. That is CLEMENTINE DELLIS
the very issue of a certain ma-ness. 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
To paraphrase Spivak, “If the art school is a teaching machine, we JAN VERWOERT
must ask what kinds of subjects, i.e. students, and what kind of 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T 30
knowledge, i.e. teaching, are being produced.” That is an urgent SIMON SHEIKH
issue, since the results of institutional critique, originally an 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
artistic practice, but now moving to a curatorial practice, loose MICK WILSON
their effectiveness in terms of transforming the art environment. 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
The critique and the transformation from managerialism, and its BART VERSCHAFFEL
administrative model, have been much more profound. That very

model lies behind the implementation of the Bologna process and its RESEARCH REPORT
type of top-down political dictating on how all art education should 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
be structured. That has very little to do with institutional critique as

such. Rather, it is a critique of how institutions work, how they are 48 C O LO FON
inadequately historical, and how they fail to be equipped for dealing

with the current situation of lifelong education and re-education.
Therefore, I believe it would be unrealistic to think that the
implementation of the Bologna model or system would solve the
problems most of us have – I hope – with the historical master
classes. That model would merely substitute the system of discipline
for the system of control. Where traditional educational systems were
part of a disciplinary society, the new model of examination, modules
and internalization can only be seen as part of a society of control.
The cultural producers we try to create in the Malmö program can
also be seen as a counter shift towards these developments within art
administration and politics. Artists are a sort of social avant garde,
on the forefront of our current society and its notion of immaterial
laborers.
As producers of knowledge, universities are often teaching machines,
replicators rather than producers of knowledge. For this reason, one
should not uncritically adopt the university structure. Rather one
should learn from them as spheres of experience, as places through
which subjectivity has been formed, and as discursive spaces.
Simultaneously, one should examine the implementation of its
productive features, while omitting a certain notion of unproductive
time and space, potentially hidden in the academy model. One should
then try and maintain the open-space freedom of the laboratory.
This is why, I believe, it is important to shift the notion of knowledge
production into what we at the Malmö art school call room for
thought. Thought has boundaries different entirely from knowledge.
Hopefully it is too difficult to transform thinking into a commodity, a
phenomenon, as happens with knowledge in the knowledge industry.
However, there have also been didactic historical models that could
prove inspirational. One model I have been interested in is based
on Paul Veyne’s ideas. Rather than seeing knowledge as something 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
uncontested, as something transmitted solely from the authority

of the teachers to the students, Veyne tried to begin from spaces of A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
experience, while giving equal value to the experiences and pre- 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
conceived notions of the student and the teacher. One way to do WILLEM DE GREEF
this is to have a group of participants in a course with very different 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
background. In that sense, I am not only talking about disciplines, I U T E M E TA B A U E R
am also talking about location and culture, about different parts of 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
the world and different languages. In this model, all students will be CLEMENTINE DELLIS
forced to immediately translate what they view as their knowledge of 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
both themselves and the world. JAN VERWOERT
Another inspiration for teaching theory I discovered was on a more 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T 31
pedagogical level in Veyne’s work. He found that teaching adults SIMON SHEIKH
using children’s books caused them to learn very simple things they 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
could not move past. So he would replace the children’s books with MICK WILSON
complicated books which then immediately initiated a sphere of 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
production. I always give students the most difficult text first as an BART VERSCHAFFEL
introduction to theory.
In terms of adequate, didactic strategies and educational models, RESEARCH REPORT
one could argue that teaching Critical Studies has a dual function. 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
On the one hand, we are studying a genealogy of critique, and on the

other hand we are studying critically. Secondly, socialization seems 48 C O LO FON
to be the most important way art schools produce their subject of

knowledge, i.e. the artist. However, within that socialization it is hard
not to see that students socialized for the art world are influenced
by the market – as Ute Meta Bauer argued. Already in the mid
1990s, a book published by Stephan Dillemuth was called Academy
( cf. MaHKUzine 2, 14-21 ); this was one of the first re-evaluations
of the critical artistic potentials of education while considering
the educational space as an artistic space. In Academy, there is an
interesting text by Andrea Fraser, who states that she is not capable
of writing a text on teaching. All one can offer are contacts with
gallery owners and the art world – perhaps that is the real teaching,
the real socialization, she claims. If one cannot offer that form of
socialization, what else is there to offer?
Fraser’s interesting statement alludes to a possible scenario one
must be aware of in a Master’s program. Currently we are seeing a
wild expansion of the market, and probably several people engaged
in teaching have had the experience that even second-year students
are already showing in private galleries and selling work. So why
do they still need an art institution? Even though the institution
gives a degree similar to the university system, it is actually a degree
worthless in the real world. One can talk about the program’s content,
the room for thought, and the production of knowledge, but that only
seems to result in an unprotected title. So, what exactly is the MA-
level? There is an idea that one could study anything all over Europe
connected to mobility – which is something completely different
from fluidity – a notion popping up in the Bologna process. You
could have a Bachelor’s in Fine Art and then a Master in Biology. In
principle, of course. One could say, a bachelor course is a foundation,
an introduction into basic skills and disciplines, an introduction
into the art market. Why would you ever need a master’s degree
in art if you are already an artist with your bachelor’s degree? Why 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
should you spend two more years in school? You could want to go for
a PhD; in fact, that would be the only reason to get a master’s degree. A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Of course, I am over dramatizing the situation in order to point out 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
what could become the problem with master’s degrees vis-à-vis the WILLEM DE GREEF
market, and vis-à-vis the marketing of education. If the MA program 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
does not provide socialization, it has to provide some kind of critical U T E M E TA B A U E R
understanding of what art means, of art’s placement in the world in 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
addition to its place in the art world. CLEMENTINE DELLIS
Finally, I would like to explore the topic of the relationship between 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
educational strategies and the research practices of the lecturers. At JAN VERWOERT
the Malmö school we ask seminar leaders, who come from a variety of 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T 32
backgrounds such as theory, art production, and curating, to present SIMON SHEIKH
their research rather than work toward fulfillment of a curriculum. 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
This means that we need a certain fluidity and looseness in our course MICK WILSON
descriptions and certain keywords which can actually change the 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
program’s content. That is more inspirational and interesting then BART VERSCHAFFEL
listening to an analysis of Foucault’s Order of Things one more time.

That is also how art schools can differ from university humanities RESEARCH REPORT
departments such as art history or philosophy. At our school, research 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
and the practice of the lecturers are reflected in the teaching, but –
the other way around – is the teaching also reflected in the practice 48 C O LO FON
of the lecturers? In other words, is pedagogy part of the artistic

and theoretical practice? Or are these separate things? How could
pedagogy influence your work and your thinking? Could one actually
analyze artistic or theoretical work in the light of teaching at a specific
institution? Does one’s work have an institutional color?!
U N C E R TA I N `M A - N E S S´ 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
M I CK W IL S O N A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Is it possible to determine how a MA art curriculum is characterized? WILLEM DE GREEF
What are its appropriate didactic strategies and educational models? 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
I am going to respond to these two questions by working through U T E M E TA B A U E R
the general problem of the MA in art education and how the issue 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
occurs within the Bologna process. Next, I will turn to the question of CLEMENTINE DELLIS
how the academy has emerged as a paradigm and a recurrent theme 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
within the field of contemporary art practice. That third question is JAN VERWOERT
connected with the conditions of the university at large. At present, 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
universities defend the rhetorics of the 19th century. However, that SIMON SHEIKH
rhetoric is exhausted, since it has failed to withstand a neo-liberal 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 33
paradigm. So, we have to invent new ways to speak the university. In MICK WILSON
fact, in fine art and in the contemporary art practice, we are facing 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
problems not significantly different from the ones our colleagues BART VERSCHAFFEL
in literary criticism, philosophy, and sociology have. Our common

problem is that the demands of a technocratic discourse have become RESEARCH REPORT
the norm. All the other discourses face its effect and consequence. So, 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
we are all forced to review, reassess, rethink, and rediscover what it is

that we believe we are doing. 48 C O LO FON
I just want to begin by noting that the ‘Master’s’ degree – across

all subjects – has always been one of the least understood and least
defined academic degrees. For decades, there have been calls from
different positions to try to achieve some equality about what it is
exactly what the Master’s entails as distinct from a degree at a doctoral
level. ‘The Bologna Conference’ is such an attempt to achieve a
common, independent definition, through various instruments. The
related Dublin Descriptors are actually the core statements from the
European Union as to what constitutes the specific Bologna outcomes.
This is what the Dublin Descriptors state. Master’s degrees are
awarded to students who:
– have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that is founded
upon and extends and/or enhances that which is typically associated
with Bachelor’s levels and that provides a basis or opportunity for
originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often within a
research context;
– can apply their knowledge and understanding, and problem-solving
abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within broader
( or multidisciplinary ) contexts related to their field of study;
– have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and
formulate judgements with incomplete or limited information, but
that include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to
the application of their knowledge and judgements;
– can communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rational
underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly
and unambiguously;
– have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a
manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous.
Within the Dublin Descriptors is the core of the competencies and
outcomes required of an MA graduate. A series of distinctions is
made between Bachelor, Master and Doctorate. For example, under 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
the heading Making Judgements:

Bachelor’s level: [involves] gathering and interpreting relevant data. A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Master’s level: [demonstrates] the ability to integrate knowledge and 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
handle complexity. WILLEM DE GREEF
Doctorate level: [requires being] capable of critical analysis, evaluation 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
and synthesis of new and complex ideas. U T E M E TA B A U E R
So ’Bologna’ is consistent with making distinctions of ‘kind’ at 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
the same Master’s level. We can make distinctions – between a CLEMENTINE DELLIS
‘professional’ and employment – focused Master’s, and a research- 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
oriented Master’s; JAN VERWOERT
– between structured or unstructured Master’s; 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
– between specialist or generalist Master’s; SIMON SHEIKH
– between discipline-specific or multi-disciplinary or even 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 34
interdisciplinary Master’s; MICK WILSON
– between one or two-year Master’s programs. 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
Is it possible to determine how a Master’s curriculum is BART VERSCHAFFEL
characterized? Within the ‘Bologna process’ the focus has been on

outcomes, not on the curriculum. The advocates of Bologna propose RESEARCH REPORT
that: 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
– curricula can retain their diversity.

– the Master’s award can be described without reference to one specific 48 C O LO FON
discipline.
Then one must ask whether it is possible to determine how a Master’s
curriculum for contemporary art practice is characterized. Do we not
already address some of the generic MA level descriptors in the first
two to three years of undergraduate study? For example, a Master
student [demonstrates] the ability to integrate knowledge and handle
complexity, and formulate judgements with incomplete data. But
wouldn’t we also expect that from a third-year undergraduate student?
A primary issue, then, is the question of how the generic descriptors
match what we already do within contemporary art education. There
are other more important risks at stake here. Even accepting that
‘Bologna’ does not prescribe curriculum content, however, there
are other risks within the ‘learning outcomes’ ( or competencies )
model. In the competencies, the transformative and critical potential
within pedagogy is underrepresented or even absent within the
descriptors. The educators within the descriptors appear as secondary
‘resources’ for the realization of the outcomes. The students appear
to be constructed as pre-autonomous actors – they are in search of
an agency; they do not begin with an agency. This is an important
component related to our fear of overspecialization in the outcomes or
competencies model.
There are other risks in the ‘learning outcomes’ model. The support
for curriculum diversity, which on the surface may appear welcome
and beneficial, also correlates to marketization; we are required
to differentiate our educational products and compete in the new
market place of higher education. This move to establish the market
economy everywhere is of course the primary agenda of neo-liberal
dispensation. More dangers may be identified. The introduction of
the Anglo-American system of Bachelor and Master degree programs
into the European art school system ( as part of the so-called Bologna
process ) seems to point towards the creation of open academies with 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
an unstable sense of identity rather than towards the consolidation

of art schools as educational institutions with regimented schedules. A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Part of the problem here is that this move is effectively shuttering 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
the openness we have come to understand as being the potential – not WILLEM DE GREEF
always delivered – of the art academy model. I believe that the open 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
academy rhetoric is somewhat problematic. The essential germ of the U T E M E TA B A U E R
open academy model is that in an educational setting, where the work 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
of the student-artists is unhooked from the immediate productive CLEMENTINE DELLIS
demands of the market, the open academy will offer more space for 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
risking new and unwarranted forms of art production and more JAN VERWOERT
space for thought. Confronting this view, we have the sense that the 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
market is making inroads into education, since the annual student SIMON SHEIKH
presentations and the graduate shows have become hunting grounds 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 35
for gallerists and curators who are tripping over each other in their MICK WILSON
insatiable craving for talent. 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
The question is whether the transformation from a place of creative BART VERSCHAFFEL
freedom to marketplace is good for the quality of the art academy.

So we have two kinds of market threats: RESEARCH REPORT
i Higher education as such has become a more intensely marketized 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
system in general;
ii The art market colonizes the imagination and orientation of the 48 C O LO FON
student-artist within the academy.

It is not necessarily the case that the art market appears on the
doorstep; it is merely that the student imagines the possibility and
already starts playing a different game.
However, there is even a third type of ‘market’ beginning to emerge:
the reputation-based economy of art education. We all participate in
the reputation-based economy in the form of e-flux, the advertising
pages in Art Forum, constructing one’s curriculum vitae, and so on.
The reputation-based economy within art education also blurs into
its larger counterpart within the contemporary art world. We have
institutional reputations, program reputations, artist-teachers as
’chosen ones’ jostling for status. Until recently, we had a labor market
governed by reputation. A labor market is partly regulated by the
guild process of artist-teachers themselves. So, within the network of
fellow competitors for reputational standing, the cultural capital and
the ascription of reputational standing was something endemic to a
community of discourse. People got together and spoke about art.
Today, the reputation-based economy of art education has been
displaced by the emergence of managerialism. Now the criteria
for recruitment and promotion are no longer primarily based on
reputation, but driven by the discursive community around the
extended field of contemporary practice. Similar to all other areas of
cultural policy, a certain bureaucratic disclosure moves in. Within our
working practice, we are suddenly required to disclose what it is that
we do as art educators. When and why we give awards, and how we do
our jobs within the scenario of handing out awards.
Is it then possible to determine how a Master’s curriculum is
characterized? Yes, of course! But the really important question
relates to purpose. What is our purpose? What do we need to disclose?
What is it that we do? To what end and with what purpose are we
describing and [discursively] constructing the Master’s program or 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
indeed any program?

The possibilities are: A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
– that we are doing it simply to mimic an alien system; 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
– that we are doing it because there is some impulse to regiment and WILLEM DE GREEF
shutter the openness; 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
– that we are trying to establish credibility with our funders; U T E M E TA B A U E R
– that we are trying to bring an offering to the market place; 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
– that we wish to provide a robust and critical learning environment. CLEMENTINE DELLIS
‘We’ art educators. What is it that our work does? What is it for? 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
It is as if the curator conversation died, and the art education JAN VERWOERT
conversation leapfrogged over it. Everywhere in the journals, the 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
fairs, the biennials, the question of art education is being asked SIMON SHEIKH
and rehashed again and again. It is also being answered and tested 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 36
in many different ways - but not so visibly, I would suggest, in the MICK WILSON
academies themselves. ‘Pedagogy’ was one of the three leitmotifs 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
of documenta12; Manifesta’s Notes for an Art School, Cyprus and BART VERSCHAFFEL
unitednationsplaza theme; Frieze’s ‘Art schools then and now’;

ArteContexto’s recent dossier on ‘teaching visual arts’; ‘proto- RESEARCH REPORT
academy’; Cork Caucus; and Frieze Art Fair’s recent round-table 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
discussion on art education ( October 2007 ). The future model of the

art school is clearly something engaging the imagination and energies 48 C O LO FON
of the international contemporary art scene.

There are three observations I would like to make in light of these
developments in the larger field.
1 The meditations on and experiments in alternative academies
consistently return to the quandary of ‘emancipatory practice’, to
questions of ‘autonomy’ and ‘agency’. How do you work within
institutional structures, hierarchies, different dispensations of
power? How do you work within this and still address questions of
emancipation? These are standard, troubling questions of education
in general, but they really recur strongly throughout all these different
experiments. The tension that might be painted as a showdown
between Ranciere’s ignorant schoolmaster and Bourdieu’s sociologist
king.
2 The ‘academy’ debates are troubled by the possibility of the educator’s
‘bad faith.’
3 The ‘academy’ projects and debates too often fail to address the
general state of higher education in favor of a narrow focus on the
specificity of art education.
These are three generally recurrent features. I want to expand a bit on
what I believe is significant.
The quandary of ‘emancipatory practice’ – how to enable ‘autonomy’
and ‘agency’.
Possibly the best articulation we have of our aspiration as teachers
is not to dictate, not to determine, not to describe, not to control,
but rather to facilitate, to enable the flow of other discourses, and
practices, and autonomous agencies. Here the question of art practice
and the notion of autonomy come together. We want to create
structures which do not themselves exhaustively prespecify what
will happen, but which in some way enable. Then part of what that
structure must be able to do is to entirely dismantle and change.
But we should still be troubled by this. Consider the petty cruelties 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
and rivalries of teachers for the affections of their students. The first
thing you learn as a student in the academic environment is the flow A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
of influences in the room when teachers and students meet. Consider 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
the classic power struggles of academics for their tiny territories. WILLEM DE GREEF
Consider Bourdieu’s early lesson on the cultural indoctrination 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
of students not by what is spoken, but by what goes unspoken, U T E M E TA B A U E R
undisclosed, un-interrogated in the ‘disciplinary’ conversation. 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
Consider also the desire for ‘pure’ conviviality, the pure flow of CLEMENTINE DELLIS
uninterrupted, dialogical exchange. I am worried when people seek 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
pure positions. The American cultural studies practitioner George JAN VERWOERT
Lipsitz says, ‘Living with contradictions is difficult, and, especially 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
for intellectuals and artists employed in academic institutions, SIMON SHEIKH
the inability to speak honestly and openly about contradictory 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 37
consciousness can lead to a destructive desire for “pure” political MICK WILSON
positions, to militant posturing and internecine battles with one 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
another that ultimately have more to do with individual subjectivities BART VERSCHAFFEL
and self-images than with disciplined collective struggle for resources

and power.’ RESEARCH REPORT
This is why we might be a little bit cautious of our claims to realize 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
moments of pure conviviality. If we cannot do it with our colleagues,

why do we think we can do it with our students? Teachers, even artist 48 C O LO FON
teachers should perhaps not seek purity and an attempted disavowal

or refusal of authority. We should perhaps rather seek to cope with
-and reflect upon this ‘coping with’ – the impure, the mucky – the
muddy wet ground, the brackish ground upon which our agency is
based.
Let ‘us’ not disavow authority. Let us accept our authority and our
considerable agency and open it to accountability. Authority is not in
and of itself ‘bad’. It is authority not subject to challenge and critique
– when it is not answerable to others – which is most troubling. Of
course, someone who says they have shed their authority is not so
easily challenged for their exercise of that authority. The disavowal
of authority is a classic strategy of authority. Think about what the
national governments are doing in the domain of higher education.
They say, you know what you’re doing, you’re the experts, we’ll just
sit back, and say go on, as long as you do it within this framework.
The problem with this particular mode of accountability we are
being asked to adopt is precisely the technocratic mode which is
determined at a central governmental and European level. What we
need to do is to revisit the possibility of resisting this, of another type
of accountability. Accountability to each other – to our peer networks
and our colleagues less fully embedded in the art academies – or those
who are not there at all.
Part of that accountability is mutual disclosure: what we ( believe we)
do; how we ( believe we ) do it; and why ( we believe ) we do it. The other
part is listening to others when they suggest to us that we might be
mistaken –that we mis-recognize ourselves as the ‘subject presumed
to know (themselves ).’ Part of this is to reflect upon our desire to
be loved by our students and to be respected by our peers. This will
bring us not to pure positions but to messy human situations with
complex agendas; with conflict and competition for resources; with
troubled workplaces where institutionalized behaviors already cause 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
many ‘closures’ of dialogue. Why is it that the art world – the market, the
magazines, the festivals– opened the question of the academy? A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Were ‘we’ a little reluctant to do so? 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
2 The ‘academy’ debates are troubled by the possibility of the educator’s WILLEM DE GREEF
‘bad faith.’ 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
Consider Luis Camnitzer’s ‘Fraud and Education’ in the recent issue U T E M E TA B A U E R
of ArteContexto. “The [...] mistake is promising by implication that 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
a degree in art will lead to economic survival after graduation. [...] CLEMENTINE DELLIS
Basically, what we have here is a pyramid scheme.” Camnitzer presents 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
an extreme position on this question of ‘bad faith’ – that we already JAN VERWOERT
know that what we actually do as artist educators is not what we say 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
we do. Remember the general suspicion of art school teachers: Those SIMON SHEIKH
who can, do. Those who cannot, teach. Those who cannot teach, write 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 38
criticism. The question of ‘bad faith’ was referenced earlier in the MICK WILSON
discussion. Jan Verwoert said that ‘we’ promise ‘it makes sense to make 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
art’; but it is a promise that we may not fully be able to redeem or honor. BART VERSCHAFFEL
The question of ‘bad faith’ is, I would suggest, the inevitable corollary of
seeking ‘pure’ positions for ourselves. RESEARCH REPORT
3 The ‘academy’ projects and debates too often fail to address the 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
general condition of higher education in favor of a narrow focus on the

specificity of art education. 48 C O LO FON
This is perhaps the trickiest issue to tackle. There are some general
points to adduce first. The ‘university’ and the entire field of ‘higher
education’ – post, secondary, tertiary etc. – have undergone a series of
profound transformations in the last two centuries. The latest of these
transformations is the reconditioning of the university as a fully and
explicitly instrumentalized space of economic, cultural, and social
reproduction attuned to the flows of global capital. In the face of these
instrumental and technocratic imperatives, the rhetoric of the university
– the ‘idea’ of the university – simply fails to be persuasive. It will not
work. For some time now, ‘we’ have recognized a need for a new way to
speak of the university which can challenge the un-challenged authority
of the neo-liberal specification of the university as factor of industry and
nothing more.
Calhoun says about these challenges, ‘Without a dramatic change in
institutional and sectoral size, it is unlikely that some of the other
changes would have taken place. The issues, in a nutshell, are ( a ) the
universities got much larger; ( b ) that more or less full-time scientific
and engineering research components of universities got much larger;
(c ) that the higher education sector got much larger; and ( d ) that partly
as a consequence, the relationship of higher education to elite formation
changed.” ( Calhoun 2006:3 ). The serious elite will no longer look to the
university as the primary space to construct and to reproduce their elite
status. They will find some other means.
The independent art academies have a different history. Those
academies arising outside the university setting came into being
because of imperial, nationalist, mercantilist and other vested interest
arguments. So these institutions were founded on instrumental logics,
on means-ends rationale. They generated spaces of experimentation
and openness AFTER the market outside had enabled a non-state-
mandated private/public-cultural sphere. It is the market that emerged
on the fringes of entrepreneurial capitalism that generated the 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
spaces for avant-garde experiments which later became the paradigm

for the open academies. That is where it originated, not within the A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
academies. For these academies, the rhetoric of the ‘open’ – just as 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
the universities’ rhetoric of the ‘idea’ – has now exhausted itself. We WILLEM DE GREEF
need some new rhetorics of becoming to negotiate and challenge the 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
dominance of the technocratic way of speaking in the world. Where is U T E M E TA B A U E R
this rhetoric to be found? 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
Contemporary art practice – as it has emerged in the post-conceptual, CLEMENTINE DELLIS
post-pop, post-minimalist era – has the characteristic of wishing 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
– or at least appearing to be willing – to thematize everything given JAN VERWOERT
in experience. All aspects of the life-world are taken as its legitimate 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
concerns, focus, and areas of action: a standing reserve of metaphors, SIMON SHEIKH
materials, and discourses. 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 39
It would be unfortunate for us under these circumstances to then MICK WILSON
shout hands off while we take every other discipline, profession and 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
occupation as grist for our mill. We’re pure, we’re different. You can’t BART VERSCHAFFEL
include us in your conversation about BA’s and MA’s and PHDS. We

could not possibly be comprehended – even partially – within someone RESEARCH REPORT
else’s discourse of means-ends or ‘learning outcomes’ or `the sociology 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
of professions or ‘knowledge’, and so on.

We seem to have come along way off track on our question of the MA 48 C O LO FON
curriculum and appropriate teaching practices. My presentation may

seem far too generalized to be of any real value in helping to frame
a particular MA program or deal with ‘urgencies’. I would argue,
though, we should not be incensed simply by the fact that there is
a bureaucratic imperative to adhere to a framework of BA , MA , and
PHD. I think here is a lot more. We should examine how it is that we
came to this, that we were not already in a position to be the bearers
of the public disclosure of what art educators do. How we were not the
bearers of that conversation into the public domain. How it has been
left to the policy-makers and ceded to practitioners on the margins of
the academy or outside the academy altogether, to actually bring that
into the public domain. I think this is a very urgent matter for us. So
not Bologna, not 2010, but what we are already doing.
What I have presented is precisely the kind of presentation that I
would make to MA students in the first few weeks of their studies.
I would say “Welcome to ‘our’ uncertain world – the world of art
educators. It’s a little bit yours now if you want to join...maybe change
it a little, maybe not...or find a better, more interesting problem or
pre-occupation and tell us about it, show it to us, let us to see it...my
[institutional] horizon is not yours...”.
If we are really asking today whether we can we make a clear
distinction in the education of artists among these levels, and still
retain some unsquandered potential. The answer, I suggest, is a
conditional ‘yes’. But ‘we’ are always negotiating some kind of balance
between the requirements of ‘regulatory’ ‘instruments’ and the
embedded human situation of our contingent practices!
REFERENCES 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Ca m n it zer, Lu is ( 200 7 ) A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Frau d an d E du c at i on, A r teConte x to16 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Mad r id : A r tehoy, pp.15-20. WILLEM DE GREEF
Ga rber, Ma r jor ie ( 2001 ) U T E M E TA B A U E R
A c a d emi c Ins t in c ts, P r inceton 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
NJ : P r inceton Un iversit y P ress. CLEMENTINE DELLIS
Glazer, Jud it h S. ( 1988 ) JAN VERWOERT
T h e Mas t er’s D e g re e. ER IC D igest 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
Wash in g ton: ER IC C lea r i n g house on Hig her Educ at ion SIMON SHEIKH
3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 40
Spu r r, Stephen H. ( 1970 ) MICK WILSON
A c a d emi c D e g re e Str u c ture s: Inn ovat ive Approa ch e s . 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
P r inc iples of Refor m i n Deg ree St r uc t u res in t he Un ited St ates. BART VERSCHAFFEL
Berkeley : Ca r neg ie Fou nd at ion for Adva ncement of Teac h i n g.

RESEARCH REPORT
Ver woer t , Ja n ( 2006 ) 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
L e s sons in Mod es t y: T h e O pe n A c a d emy as Mod e l,

in Met ropol is M: E x pa nd in g Ac ademy, N . 4 ., pp. 94- 96. 48 C O LO FON
L ipsit z, George( 2000 )

“Ac adem ic Pol it ics a nd Soc ia l C ha n ge”,
in Jod i Dea n ( ed . ) Cultural Stu di e s / Polit i c al T h e or y, pp. 80 - 94 .
It hac a: Cor nel l Un iversit y P ress.
A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L AB O R ATOR Y 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
B A R T V ER S CH A FFEL A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
In thinking about art, education and the research environment, WILLEM DE GREEF
the two polarities of creativity and reflection need to be involved. 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
I understand creativity as the pleasure of invention, the sense of U T E M E TA B A U E R
possibility per se, and the desire for the new as inherent components 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
of art and artistic production. Reflection, then, is connected to the CLEMENTINE DELLIS
phenomenon of art as research and the project of transforming 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
institutions of art education into research institutions. JAN VERWOERT
I would like to distinguish between two different reflective practices. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
One is criticism, implying an overview of a range of positions while SIMON SHEIKH
identifying conflicts, problems, and questions. Reflection as criticism 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
is a tool for discovering how one can make a move in an artistic or MICK WILSON
creative project, similar to playing chess. Artists need to understand 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y 41
the artistic field, assess the positions, and then decide what is relevant BART VERSCHAFFEL
to make. The other form of reflection is connected with art working

on meanings and images. That form of reflection could be called RESEARCH REPORT
reflection in the mode of an anthropological laboratory, since it is 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
connected with meanings and images as phenomena guiding people

to an understanding of what it means to be here and now. 48 C O LO FON
Clearly, over the last fifty years, the major accent has been on
reflective art practice as criticism. Both the social function and the
cultural function of art have been identified with being critical where
being critical refers both to the institutional and the traditional. In
this context, art should to be free, independent, critical, autonomous,
and also radically new. Stating criticism is the first move, whereupon
artists then evaluate what is needed to build on their position.
The critical mode of reflection is different from reflection linked
to formulation, articulation, and description, i.e., reflection in the
mode of an anthropological laboratory. In this mode, art is working
on all aspects of life, implying a continuous reservoir of metaphors,
thoughts, meanings, and images. Rather than being merely critical,
reflection is now connected with curiosity and the sense of finding the
gesture, the statement, the metaphor, the work, and the image that
captures life. In this sense, reflection is a form of applied thought.
Art as artistic research seems to be the major cultural value and the
major relevance of art today. However, art as reflective criticism or
art as an avant-garde logic of negativity has ended in a free-floating
game. Conversely, art as a reflective research practice, connected
with working on meanings and images capturing life, is very much
alive. In fact, current art is relevant and important only because it is
connected to the anthropological laboratory as a space for reflection.
Let me elaborate on the concept of anthropological laboratory. Art
asks for a certain environment in which to establish an artistic
production and to organize that production. From this perspective,
the process is very important, since isolating works of art is rather
unproductive. Conversely, it is interesting for most artworks to
demonstrate the stages, the variations, and how the final form has
been chosen. During the process of production, feedback, i.e. a
critical confrontation with other voices, is crucial so that making art
itself becomes part of a complex process. Therefore, communication is 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
immensely important. The work of art has to be addressed somehow

in the community of people working on meanings, belonging to A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
the culture in an anthropological sense. As a criterium for this, 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
there is what I would call the degree of condensation in the work WILLEM DE GREEF
of art. The miracle of an art work is precisely that the artist spends 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
a year creating it, whereas the spectator can experience it in just a U T E M E TA B A U E R
few minutes. The great gift of cultural production is that the entire 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
process of creation is condensed in a transmittable form. Thus, in a CLEMENTINE DELLIS
few minutes you can understand what the artist intends from a year of 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
concentration and production. JAN VERWOERT
When art is research in the sense of working on meanings and 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
images as a form of reflection in an anthropological laboratory, art SIMON SHEIKH
is of course a public matter. Here art addresses both art production 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
and an audience interested in working on meanings and images a MICK WILSON
society could adopt. That is the importance of topical art. However, 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y 42
it is disturbing that this type of artistic research fails institutional BART VERSCHAFFEL
frameworks. Indeed, the universities are transformed into industries

of knowledge, so they do not assume the responsibility of organizing RESEARCH REPORT
work on the visual culture. In fact, during the 20th century, the 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
universities worked with a 19th century cultural map. That led to

ignorance of film and photography. Therefore, universities are guilty 48 C O LO FON
of neglecting both cultural production at large and focusing on a

living culture, be it visual or not.
Of course, there is interest in cultural production in commercial,
private, and ideological realms. Fortunately, there are places that
do not belong to academia and, therefore, seem to be free of its
constraints. However, the problem is that reflection in the mode of
the anthropological laboratory seems to be hidden in the art world,
since the discourse produced for the outside world and the image the
art world creates of itself are not about reflection. Currently, the art
world’s favorite discourse is about trends and the art market. The need
for reflection, the need for a laboratory, is shunted onto art education.
Yet instead of developing into an institution where art could be
deployed as an instrument to reflect upon culture, academic research
in the universities fails to transform and, thus, makes reflection a goal
of art education.
The question arises as to how one could introduce the idea of
reflection in the mode of an anthropological laboratory into art
education. Derrida once claimed during one of the famous Any
Conferences on Architecture, that what we need is more preparation
and more improvisation. I indeed think we need more preparation
and more improvisation not just in art education, but even more so
in university education. In other words, we need an organization and
an academic management of freedom. In Belgium, universities are at
least 90 percent self-governed. Thus, all the management positions
and decisions involve people with an academic background rather
than professional managers. It is the responsibility of the academic
staff to include more preparation and more improvisation while
creating a managed freedom and liberated space for artistic research.
What is the danger of introducing a research curriculum into art
school environments? That danger is connected to the issue of
unresolved art-related research problems. Those problems mainly 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
emerge in the beginning and at the end of an artistic process

considered research. At the start of research trajectories, one should A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
be able to manage a variety of issues. What will be the focus? What 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
will be the subject of reflection? What is relevant? How does one WILLEM DE GREEF
define research programs? How does one formulate decision and 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
evaluation procedures? What will be the goal of the outcome of the U T E M E TA B A U E R
research process? 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
In an academic structure, research areas are defined. In the academic CLEMENTINE DELLIS
realm, it is clearly understood how to articulate, document, evaluate, 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
and discuss the end product and how to connect it to the academic JAN VERWOERT
discourse. However, a research program in an art institution – let’s 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
say about Lacan’s gaze – will result in two interventions, a statement SIMON SHEIKH
and an exhibition called Lacan’s Gaze. Then what? The research 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
might be a document to be sent out into the world. But how many MICK WILSON
responses will there be? How many people really read that type of 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y 43
research report? BART VERSCHAFFEL
I believe that continuity in artistic research is a problem, since artistic

research fails to connect with institutional frameworks. In addition, RESEARCH REPORT
content-wise, the only topic for artistic research to work on is art itself. 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM
That is the only context, and content, artistic research could possibly
have. Thus, art as reflection in the mode of the anthropological 48 C O LO FON
laboratory clearly necessitates new forms of collaboration with various

disciplines and institutions outside the art world and outside art
education!
RESEARCH REPORT 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
UTRECHT CONSORTIUM A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Today, the situation of art institutions is rapidly changing all over the WILLEM DE GREEF
world. Institutions participate in international discussions on the 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
repositioning of academies and cultural institutions as started by the U T E M E TA B A U E R
exhibition Academy in the Museum for Contemporary Art ( MuHKA ) in 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
Antwerp and the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven; by Manifesta 5’s CLEMENTINE DELLIS
focus on the academy in 2006; and by Documenta 12’s educational 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
program in 2007. In these international discussions, one talks in a JAN VERWOERT
rather abstract way about art as a form of knowledge production. Yet the 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
institutional consequences of this debate have been subject to extensive SIMON SHEIKH
reflection. What does it mean for an exhibition space in 2008 to 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
develop a policy directed towards knowledge production? After all, the MICK WILSON
exhibition models are still based on “alternative” ( non-museological) 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
models from the 1980s. This was a period where reflection and theory BART VERSCHAFFEL
did not play a major role in the world of visual art. Conversely, today’s
artistic research attitudes have brought reflection and theory to the RESEARCH REPORT
center of attention. This novel situation has immense consequences for 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM 44
how one approaches competencies in the profession of art. Until now,

the paradigm of art education has been rooted in the artistic situation 48 C O LO FON
of the 1980s.
That situation made the Utrecht Consortium ( a research collaboration
as of January 2008 with MaHKU/Professorship Artistic Research
and Utrecht art institutions ) decide to map out the current practical
and theoretical issues and developments in further detail. One of the
significant problems the Utrecht Consortium has found is that today
artists are expected to be able to ( theoretically ) contextualize and
present their work in addition to expanding their artistic profession.
That expectation seems to relate to the most recent debate in the
world of visual art, i.e., the debate on artistic knowledge production
mentioned above. In this debate, the artistic practice is considered
a researching activity whose outcome, similar to that of scientific
research, is able to contribute to our knowledge about the world.
However, in contrast to scientific knowledge production, artistic
knowledge production does not have a ready methodological model.
In principle, such a model would be impossible to create. Each
artistic research project, one argues, requires its own methodology; a
methodology manifesting itself in artists’ texts and exhibition forms
focused on knowledge production.
These two activities used to be considered part of professional domains
such as art criticism and curating. Today, however, in light of the
emancipation of artistic research, artists are expected to fulfill the role
of art critic and curator themselves. In order to deal adequately with
this novel situation, the Utrecht organizations intend to establish an
enduring network comprising the art institutions and the Utrecht
School of Art while focusing on dynamic exchanges of views and
expertise in the context of knowledge production, i.e., the Utrecht
Consortium as a network of research activities mapping out the
outcome of presentations based on the production of artistic knowledge.
The establishment of the Utrecht Consortium is inspired by the
so-called London Consortium, a collaboration among four institutions 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
for education and art – the University of London, ICA , the Science
Museum, and the TATE – offering joint artistic research programs. A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
Unique to the London Consortium is the establishment of a “virtual” 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
organization depending on the knowledge and ( limited ) input of the WILLEM DE GREEF
Consortium partners. With that, a platform has been created without 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
the need for offices and staff with minimum overhead costs. U T E M E TA B A U E R
Additionally, the Utrecht Consortium intends to be flexible, but still 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
a structural collaboration exploring issues in the context of artistic CLEMENTINE DELLIS
knowledge production from the exhibition programs and their young 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
artists at the art institutions. Those issues could easily be expanded to JAN VERWOERT
local, regional, and international levels while sharing networks. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
At the core of the Utrecht Consortium is practice-based research; i.e. SIMON SHEIKH
exploration of methods of presentation specific to today’s visual art 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
as a form of knowledge production. The results of this research will MICK WILSON
be published as a series of “best practices”, models of presentation 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
enabling both artists and exhibition spaces to adequately deal with BART VERSCHAFFEL
topical situations regarding the position of visual art while clearly

communicating with the audience. RESEARCH REPORT
In addition to the Consortium partners and professionals in the field, 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM 45
Fine Art graduate students and young artists in the area will also
be able to distill tools for critical reflection from the research and 48 C O LO FON
its results. The Consortium activities will offer them possibilities to

develop reflective capacities ( competencies ) crucial for presenting
their own practice. In developing adequate presentation models in
the form of both exhibitions and texts, young artists will be able to
enhance their communication with a variety of audiences.
Another core issue of the Utrecht Consortium implies the issue
of the significance and position of an art academy in the context
of the topical knowledge debate and its implications for didactic
perspectives. The professorship in Artistic Research seeks to employ
the Utrecht Consortium project and its outcome to spark an urgently
required discussion in the Netherlands on how art academies could
prepare students for a knowledge-based practice. The professorship
will also hopefully be able to contribute to an international debate
about the specificity of artistic knowledge production and its
relationship with more traditional forms in the academic distinction
of alpha, beta, and gamma sciences. That research will also focus on
creating a more natural collaboration of the Utrecht School of Arts
and various departments at Utrecht University.
An initial example of such collaboration is artist Irene Kopelman’s PhD
research study within the context of the Utrecht Consortium. Using
the historical collection of the Utrecht University Museum, Kopelman
explores whether the University Museum might be presented as
the optimum location for exchange of knowledge between art and
science. (More about that research will be reported in greater depth in
MaHKUzine 6 ). Through this first case study, occurring in a location
alien to visual art, the Utrecht Consortium intends to expand its views
on the strategy of artistic presentations and exchange of knowledge as
such.
Thus, the production of artistic knowledge is the theme of various
programs and projects to be initiated in 2008 and 2009 through the
unique collaboration of the Consortium partners. The survey of “best 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
practices” and its relevant models of presentation will be realized

and published. These models and their context of artistic knowledge A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
production will be discussed in professional master classes and 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
workshops producing a broad spectrum of knowledge and insight. WILLEM DE GREEF
The professorship Artistic Research will also organize a yearly cycle 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
of Utrecht Research Lectures. Internationally known artists will give U T E M E TA B A U E R
lectures in the context of the theme of Artistic Knowledge Production 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
based on their own research-based practice. Topics will deal with CLEMENTINE DELLIS
reflective methodologies and presentation strategies. Each invited 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
speaker will also give a master class at the Utrecht School of Arts for JAN VERWOERT
MA Fine Art students and/or be involved in an expert meeting with 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
lecturers the day following the public lecture. ( HS )! SIMON SHEIKH
The Utrecht Consortium is also made possible by the financial support of MICK WILSON
the Ministry of Education and Culture ( Sia-Raak ) 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
BART VERSCHAFFEL
RESEARCH REPORT
44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM 46
48 C O LO FON
3 – 4 EDITORIAL
WILLEM DE GREEF
14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
CLEMENTINE DELLIS
JAN VERWOERT
28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
SIMON SHEIKH
MICK WILSON
41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
BART VERSCHAFFEL
RESEARCH REPORT
47
48 C O LO FON
M A H K U zin e 5 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESEARCH
SUMMER 2008 A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
M A H K U zin e 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESEARCH WILLEM DE GREEF
H O S T E D B Y T H E U T R E C H T G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F V I S U A L A R T A N D D E S I G N 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E
( MaHKU ) U T E M E TA B A U E R
I S S N : 18 8 2 - 4 7 2 8 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?
CLEMENTINE DELLIS
C O N TA C T 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y
MAHKUZINE JAN VERWOERT
U T R E C H T G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F V I S U A L A R T A N D D E S I G N 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T
INA BOUDIER - BAKKERL A AN 50 SIMON SHEIKH
3 5 8 2 VA U T R E C HT 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S
THE NETHERL ANDS MICK WILSON
MAHKUZINE@MAHKU.NL 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y
BART VERSCHAFFEL
WEBSITE
W W W.M A HKU.N L RESEARCH REPORT
EDITORIAL BOARD
HENK SL AGER (GENER AL EDITOR) 48 C O LO FON 48
A N NE T T E W. BA LK EM A
ARJEN MULDER
B I B I S T R A AT M A N
FINAL EDITING
A N NE T T E W. BA LK EM A
L ANGUAGE EDITING
JENNIFER NOL AN
T R A N S L AT I O N S
GLOBAL VERNUNF T
DESIGN
CHRIS T I A A N VA N D OK K UM, M aHK U /M A EDI TORI A L DESIG N
EARN
MAHKU IS PART OF THE EUROPEAN ARTISTIC RESEARCH NETWORK ,
TOGETHER WITH THE HELSINKI SCHOOL OF ART, MALMO SCHOOL OF ART,
GRADCAM ( DUBLIN ), SLADE SCHOOL OF ART, LONDON AND VIENNA
SCHOOL OF ART.
PA R T I C I PA N T S
UTE META BAUER, DIRECTOR VISUAL ARTS PROGRAM, MIT, CAMBRIDGE MA
WILLEM DE GREEF, DIRECTOR SINT- LUKAS ACADEMY, BRUSSELS
CLEMENTINE DELISS, DIRECTOR FUTURE ACADEMY, EDINBURGH
SIMON SHEIKH, LECTURER CRITICAL STUDIES, MALMO SCHOOL OF ART
BART VERSCHAFFEL, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPY, UNIVERSITY GHENT
JAN VERWOERT, PROFESSOR PIET ZWART INSTITUTE, ROTTERDAM
MICK WILSON, DEAN GRADCAM, DUBLIN

Opening A Certain MA Ness

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Opening A Certain MA Ness

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EDITORIAL 3–4

POSING SINGUL ARIT Y 23 – 27

ROOM FOR THOUGHT 28 – 32

Too many conferences currently being organized by art A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

academies draw attention to the recent development of 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

today pertains to the specificity of MA Fine Art programs 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E

of art academies. After all, it is the master’s program, U T E M E TA B A U E R

focused on research, that prepares artists for a possible PhD 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

perspectives on their professional careers; and it is the 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y

of its curriculum that force the bachelor’s program to reflect 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T

on the particular structure of its own curriculum. SIMON SHEIKH

2010, many European countries interpret the concrete establishment 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y

program is offered, while other countries concentrate on a two-year

implementation of a master’s program.

symposium addressing the issue of the specificity of the MA Fine Art

perspective shifts to didactic strategies. Can one determine how a MA 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

curriculum is characterized? What are adequate didactic strategies WILLEM DE GREEF

and educational models, and how do they differ from a BA program? 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E

What are the differences and similarities between the various U T E M E TA B A U E R

European MA Fine Art programs? How does the Bologna-ruled, 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

methods and bodies of knowledge relate to the still dominant studio- 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y

do we prevent a more topical discourse based on critical studies and 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T

Finally, how do the current educational strategies and models relate 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

the lecturer’s own artistic research be strategically deployed in the 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y

curriculum? BART VERSCHAFFEL

The question of the position of one’s own artistic research leads us

academy to develop a specific artistic research environment? How 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM

should such an experimental research environment be facilitated?

mostly determined by the free market system? Is it the potential of

W IL L EM D E G R EEF WILLEM DE GREEF

is not PhD’s or doctorates in the arts, or for artists, be they practice- 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

what we call in Belgium, or at least in Flanders, and believe me even 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y

academization of higher arts education. By this we mean that higher- 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T

necessarily have to present or develop curricula for students which 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

academics or develop some basic competencies in research. Is there 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y

matter. Instead there has been a complete devolution of competencies

Flemish and French groups in Belgium. Since then the Ministry

oriented” degree at the Master’s level. One of the major consequences

“embedded in research”. All Master’s degrees in Flanders are 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S 6

supposed to be academic. WILLEM DE GREEF

Moreover, for most of the Flemish politicians it is widely accepted 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E

that the “hogescholen” cannot possibly meet this requirement for U T E M E TA B A U E R

“academization” without a helping hand from the universities. 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

university. My own institute, the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y

undoubtedly poses many questions. Let me just point out some of 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T

them. SIMON SHEIKH

Firstly, today nearly all courses in higher arts education in Flanders 3 3 – 4 0 U N C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

the academic drift of the arts institutes or departments. Is there really 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y

academic track, or is there still a need for more professionally oriented

in Flanders between professionally oriented and academic course 44 – 46 UTRECHT CONSORTIUM

programs make any sense in higher arts education?

programs into academic programs, they will necessarily have to reset

educational system. The art schools and universities – previously more 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 7

free and open zones for experiments – gradually became incorporated U T E M E TA B A U E R

into a suspiciously commodified system. Art students have more 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?

artists has become a standard promise on the mission statements of 23 – 27 P O S I N G S I N G U L A R I T Y

in the United States. 28 – 3 2 R O O M F O R T H O U G H T

the US put a certain pressure to “succeed” on both the institution and 41 – 4 3 A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L L A B O R AT O R Y

has become an increasingly, attractive field within education. Culture

of artistic education and curatorial studies to serve an ever-growing

minds. I support the improved access to discourse and modes of 5 – 6 O P E N I N G : A C E R TA I N M A - N E S S

practice as a necessary critical contribution to the formation of 7 – 13 U N D E R P R E S S U R E 8

spot popping up on the global map. Yesterday it was China, today 14 – 22 I S I T P O S S I B L E T O M A P … ?