Thought Exhibition: The significance of Bruno Latour's art exhibition concept for his work and as a model for art institutions

Project Information

THOUGHT EXHIBITION

Grant agreement ID: 101028379

DOI

10.3030/101028379

Project closed

EC signature date 23 March 2021

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 207 312,00

EU contribution

€ 207 312,00

Coordinated by

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - THOUGHT EXHIBITION (Thought Exhibition: The significance of Bruno Latour's art exhibition concept for his work and as a model for art institutions)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The research project investigates the concept of “thought exhibition”, a curatorial approach developed by Bruno Latour, Peter Weibel and collaborators during four exhibitions at ZKM | Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. These exhibitions aim at challenging problems in representation (in art, science, religion, politics) as well as the dualistic mentality (nature/culture, object/subject, etc.) fostered by European modernity which is, according to Latour, at the heart of current crises such as climate change.

Following Latour’s work in science studies and philosophy the concept of “thought exhibition” (TE) is an art and science exhibition format. Derived from the notion of thought experiment it critically examines the dualistic “modern” mindset that strongly influences how the so-called Western cultures conceive the world; a view that was historically imposed on other cultures. The TEs at ZKM addressed dualisms such as the nature-culture distinction, which is the basis for other dualisms and bifurcations (Whitehead), e.g. the distinction between art and science, or the juxtaposition of subject and object or the seemingly objective “outside” perspective of science vs. the subjective “inside” perspective of nature. Implying hierarchy and dominion (culture over nature, subject over object, etc.), these distinctions are at the core of major challenges the world of today is facing and of which climate change may be the most far-reaching.

The TE concept was practically developed in the course of four exhibitions at ZKM. The research project analyses the four TEs as case studies, to investigate their significance for Latour’s general work as well as the concept’s assumptions, curatorial methods and implications as a new format for art institutions. The last TE, “Critical Zones. Observatories for Earthly Politics” (2020–2022) invited visitors to face the critical situation of our planet and “to explore new modes of coexistence between all forms of life”. Other TEs at ZKM Karlsruhe were “Iconoclash. Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion and Art” (2002), which explored the notion of iconoclasm and how it positions (in a cultural and spatial sense) the visitor, “Making Things Public. Atmospheres of Democracy” (2005), which extended the notion of political representation to non-human actors, and “Reset Modernity!” (2016), an invitation to explore what we actually are if “we have never been modern” and to consider alternative future developments beyond globalization’s imperative narratives of growth.

Despite the relevance of both Latour’s work and ZKM Karlsruhe as a leading art museum, little research on the TE concept has been done so far. The research project fill this gap by investigating the curatorial approach and the underlying theoretical or epistemological conditions. In this regard, the research project is situated within discourses on an expanded notion of curating (involving processes of research and collaborative knowledge production) where the aesthetic and participatory capacity of the arts to address crucial issues and to involve individuals into processes of change is central.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work involved an extensive review of publications and documentation:
1) Latour’s main monographs in philosophy and STS
Research identified two overarching themes, connecting with Latour’s monographs, into which the four TEs at ZKM – Centre for Art and Media (Karlsruhe, Germany) can be structured: The exhibitions “Iconoclash” and “Making Things Public” dealt with the notion of representation (in science, religion, art for the former, and in politics, with a new materialism focus, for the latter). The exhibitions “Reset Modernity!” and “Critical Zones” stipulated various modes of existence of modernity, calling for “a composition of a common world”. These thematic links were confirmed through expert interviews conducted by the researcher.
2) Latour’s expansive corpus of written work (mostly available open access on Latour’s website)
Three essays – on “compositionism”, “cosmogram”, and “cosmopolitics”, respectively – could be identified as central themes conceptually connecting the written with the curatorial work.
3) Documentation of the research seminar “Critical Zones Study Group” and archival material
The documentation is based on notes by the researcher who did organize, together with Latour, the research seminar (Jan 2018 – Nov 2019), It conceptually prepared the exhibition “Critical Zones”. The documentation was complemented by material retrieved at the ZKM archive by the researcher. Archive material was also provided by the project partner Livia Nolasco-Rozsas and her team at ZKM. Nolasco-Rozsas was also an expert interview partner and a guest speaker at the host institution.

The project was conducted in collaboration with practitioners in curating, art, and exhibition production. Actors at ZKM or associated with the TEs have been expert interview partners or otherwise supporters of the project. This made it possible to discuss assumptions and findings with practitioners along the way.

Dissemination of results:
(a) Conferences attended and other dissemination activities undertaken:
• August 23, 2024: Presentation of the project results at Aarhus University.
• June 7, 2024: Presentation “Sensitive Infrastructures: Aesthetic Investigations of the critical zone in the exhibition space” at “Socioecos. Climate change, sustainability and socio-ecological practices,” University of the Basque Country, Bilbao.
• May 23, 2024: Panel organization and presentation “Searching for a Place to Land in the New Climatic Regime: On the Local Extensions of the Exhibition ‘Critical Zones’ in Taiwan, India, and Sri Lanka,” with Ravi Agarwal, Martin Guinard, Mira Hirtz, and Jahnavi Phalkey, at “Museum Why? Practice, Agency, and Knowledge in the Art Museum,” University of Copenhagen.
• May 14, 2024: Co-organization of the research seminar “AI Art/Aesthetics: Critical Practices”, University of Copenhagen.
• June 9, 2023: Presentation “Critical Zones & Thought Exhibitions: Curatorial experiments beyond the Anthropocene,” at “Imagine Earth”, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek (DK).
• May 17, 2023: Presentation “Thought Exhibition: On Critical Zones, Cosmograms, and the impossible outside,” at ISEA 2023: Symbiosis, Paris.
(b) For the publications of project results see https://research.ku.dk/search/result/?pure=en%2Fpersons%2Fdaniel-irrgang(fce68ccf-a30b-4385-89ae-cd6092eda05f)%2Fpublications.html

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

• The project provided significant contributions to studies on the work of Latour. Particularly, it exemplified the connections between his curatorial projects and his philosophical, sociological, and anthropological writings.
• The publications of the project results provide information and guidelines for exhibition venues to adapt the TE concept for own exhibition or performative/workshop projects.
• The publications of the project results explicitly associate TEs, particularly “Critical Zones” and “Reset Modernity!”, with environmental humanities.
• The transcripts of interviews conducted were shared according to FAIR principles via the CLARIN-DK-UCPH Repository, providing access to oral accounts otherwise not openly available.
• The researcher was able to collaborate with the “Beyond Matter” project, which took place during a similar period, and which also conducted, on a smaller scale, research on the TE concept.

"Critical Zones Study Group" meeting, w. Bruno Latour, May 2018. Photo: Armin Linke