Este trabalho se propõe como um breve tratado sobre as relações entre os discursos vigentes da arte contemporânea e o pensamento mágico ocidental. No cruzamento entre o ensaio poético, a antropologia da arte, a estética e a bruxaria, desenha-se um círculo no qual se desenvolve a pesquisa sob o signo da \"besta\" acadêmica: a interdisciplinaridade. A partir disso, estudam-se uma série de projetos curatoriais recentes que lidam com magia, ocultismo, xamanismo ou animismo, prestando atenção aos preconceitos que se manifestam em alguns desses discursos curatoriais. Entretece-se esta reflexão com referências históricas que servem de marco explicativo para a queda em desgraça do pensamento mágico ocidental e, junto com ele, do status da imaginação e da imagem como formas de conhecimento. Uma vez definida a situação em que ficou esta tradição depois de sucessivas campanhas de desprestígio, introduzem- -se uma série de figuras que serviram depois à construção de uma nova (mas talvez sobretudo velha) teoria mágico-estética. Seguindo a esteira de pensadores contemporâneos ligados ao realismo especulativo e à ontologia objetual, o trabalho se reconecta com uma esquecida tradição mágico-estética (ocidental) não isenta de uma dimensão mítica e animista (ou vitalista, se se prefere). Faz-se questão de colocar a \"palavra do artista\" no mesmo nível que a \"palavra do filósofo\", mas evitando converter os artistas citados em objeto de pesquisa. O trabalho defende que existam - apesar dos séculos em que a elite intelectual ocidental vem predicando contra a possibilidade de uma ontologia mágico-estética - indíviduos e coletivos que desenvolvem sua atividade à margem dos preconceitos dicotômicos que hoje alguns pensadores acadêmicos de vanguarda se empenham, não sem dificuldades, em transcender. Nesse sentido, o trabalho argumenta que muitos artistas eram já materialistas vibrantes e realistas especulativos antes da valorização, em voga hoje, dessas correntes filosóficas. / This work intends to be a brief treatise on the relations between contemporary art and western magical thinking. At the crossroads between poetic essay, anthropology of art, aesthetics and witchcraft, a circle is drawn under the sign of the academic \"beast\": interdisciplinarity. From this point of departure, we study a series of recent curatorial projects that deal with magic, occultism, shamanism or animism, paying close attention to the prejudices that surface in some of these curatorial discourses. This reflection is intertwined with historical references that serve as an explanatory framework for the fall of western magical thinking and, along with it, the loss of status of both imagination and image as respected sources of knowledge. After having defined the state of neglect this (magical) tradition was left in after successive smear campaigns, we introduce a series of figures that will serve to construct a new (but perhaps rather ancient) magical-aesthetic theory. Following the trail of contemporary thinkers linked to speculative realism and object-oriented ontology, the work reconnects with a forgotten magical-aesthetic (western) tradition with a mythical and animistic (or vitalist, if you prefer) dimension. We also emphasize the importance of put-ting the \"artist\'s word\" on the same level as the \"philosopher\'s word\", whilst at the same time carefully avoiding to turn the cited artists into an object of study. We claim that - in spite of the centuries in which the Western intellectual elite has been preaching against the possibility of a magical-aesthetic ontology - there are individuals and groups that are active in the margins of the dichotomous prejudices that today some avant-garde academic thinkers are trying to transcend with much difficulty. In this sense, the work argues that many artists were already vibrant materialists and speculative realists much before the new on-to-materialistic philosophical currents which are very much in vogue nowadays.

Este trabalho se propõe como um breve tratado sobre as relações entre os discursos vigentes da arte contemporânea e o pensamento mágico ocidental. No cruzamento entre o ensaio poético, a antropologia da arte, a estética e a bruxaria, desenha-se um círculo no qual se desenvolve a pesquisa sob o signo da \"besta\" acadêmica: a interdisciplinaridade. A partir disso, estudam-se uma série de projetos curatoriais recentes que lidam com magia, ocultismo, xamanismo ou animismo, prestando atenção aos preconceitos que se manifestam em alguns desses discursos curatoriais. Entretece-se esta reflexão com referências históricas que servem de marco explicativo para a queda em desgraça do pensamento mágico ocidental e, junto com ele, do status da imaginação e da imagem como formas de conhecimento. Uma vez definida a situação em que ficou esta tradição depois de sucessivas campanhas de desprestígio, introduzem- -se uma série de figuras que serviram depois à construção de uma nova (mas talvez sobretudo velha) teoria mágico-estética. Seguindo a esteira de pensadores contemporâneos ligados ao realismo especulativo e à ontologia objetual, o trabalho se reconecta com uma esquecida tradição mágico-estética (ocidental) não isenta de uma dimensão mítica e animista (ou vitalista, se se prefere). Faz-se questão de colocar a \"palavra do artista\" no mesmo nível que a \"palavra do filósofo\", mas evitando converter os artistas citados em objeto de pesquisa. O trabalho defende que existam - apesar dos séculos em que a elite intelectual ocidental vem predicando contra a possibilidade de uma ontologia mágico-estética - indíviduos e coletivos que desenvolvem sua atividade à margem dos preconceitos dicotômicos que hoje alguns pensadores acadêmicos de vanguarda se empenham, não sem dificuldades, em transcender. Nesse sentido, o trabalho argumenta que muitos artistas eram já materialistas vibrantes e realistas especulativos antes da valorização, em voga hoje, dessas correntes filosóficas. / This work intends to be a brief treatise on the relations between contemporary art and western magical thinking. At the crossroads between poetic essay, anthropology of art, aesthetics and witchcraft, a circle is drawn under the sign of the academic \"beast\": interdisciplinarity. From this point of departure, we study a series of recent curatorial projects that deal with magic, occultism, shamanism or animism, paying close attention to the prejudices that surface in some of these curatorial discourses. This reflection is intertwined with historical references that serve as an explanatory framework for the fall of western magical thinking and, along with it, the loss of status of both imagination and image as respected sources of knowledge. After having defined the state of neglect this (magical) tradition was left in after successive smear campaigns, we introduce a series of figures that will serve to construct a new (but perhaps rather ancient) magical-aesthetic theory. Following the trail of contemporary thinkers linked to speculative realism and object-oriented ontology, the work reconnects with a forgotten magical-aesthetic (western) tradition with a mythical and animistic (or vitalist, if you prefer) dimension. We also emphasize the importance of put-ting the \"artist\'s word\" on the same level as the \"philosopher\'s word\", whilst at the same time carefully avoiding to turn the cited artists into an object of study. We claim that - in spite of the centuries in which the Western intellectual elite has been preaching against the possibility of a magical-aesthetic ontology - there are individuals and groups that are active in the margins of the dichotomous prejudices that today some avant-garde academic thinkers are trying to transcend with much difficulty. In this sense, the work argues that many artists were already vibrant materialists and speculative realists much before the new on-to-materialistic philosophical currents which are very much in vogue nowadays.

A challenge ignited the research outlined in this thesis. Design is increasingly being framed (across academia and industry) as an integral method and strategy for social, cultural and economic innovation. How is this value to be communicated within the museum context, which is more commonly rooted in an object-centric tradition? Temporary exhibitions are a primary means of communication and engagement for museums. The presentation of contemporary design has followed traditions of display stemming from fine art practices, as well being influenced by those in commercial environments. Consequently the thesis argues that there is a prevailing tendency to display the outcomes of design activity, to celebrate aesthetics and functionality, and to concentrate on the personality and talent of the designer. A key concern underpinning this research is that many museum design exhibitions arguably struggle to reveal the complexity of design activity: the intellectual and material processes driving innovation. This arguably risks limiting broader interpretation, and stifles the opportunity to extend audience understanding of design. The aim of this thesis is to question and explore key concepts that constitute the communication and exhibition of design in the museum. Design, innovation, curating, exhibition, audience: in the dynamic, transitioning contexts of design and the museum, all concepts must be scrutinized. In order to navigate this territory, a core method of design inquiry is adopted: prototyping. In this research, prototyping actively puts concepts to work through a dialectical investigation. This involves actively engaging in design to examine the concepts of curatorial practice, the exhibition, and innovation, whilst concurrently exploring concepts of design and innovation through the process of curating exhibitions. This dual-focussed research approach that has been developed, can be described as a hermeneutic, practice-led methodology. Hermeneutics supports a belief in contextually situated, practical action as a basis for developing understanding and knowledge (Bolt, 2011; Heidegger, 1962). The method of exhibition-making is framed and employed as a practical prototyping process: curating exhibitions in order to reflect on the construction of design narratives from within. Prototyping becomes a way to reflexively explore, analyse and question the practice of framing, mediating and communicating design as innovation. Three iterative practical projects act as case studies for the thesis, situated in three concrete contexts: the industry sponsor – V&A Museum of Design Dundee; design in Higher Education; and a national innovation festival. Each can be seen as the exploration and delineation of a design space (Heape, 2007), with all three forming part of the wider design space that is the thesis as a whole. Through reflecting on the acts of evaluating, selecting, editing, juxtaposing, connecting, framing and presenting design practice through exhibition, the research has formulated a curatorial strategy that aims at attending to the complex nature, changing priorities and values of particular design contexts. The thesis names this approach ‘the constellation’: adapting this term from the work of critical theorist Theodor Adorno (1973). The constellation takes the form of a series of visualisations that draw on, combine and develop research on design theory, design processes, and prototyping, by a number of key design researchers (e.g. Buchanan, 1998, 1995a; Dorst, 2015a, 2008; Heape, 2007; Lim et al., 2008; Sanders and Stappers, 2014, 2008). Operating at two levels, the constellation is the manifestation of the reflexive research process, illuminating both design and curatorial practice. It makes an original contribution to knowledge in two ways: firstly as the visual delineation of a prototype curatorial strategy for researching, framing and communicating narratives of design; secondly it offers a conceptualisation of concept development in design practice, shown as the continuous exploration of a design space. This articulates how prototyping, as a key design method, can encourage innovation through the exploration and analysis of concepts at varying levels of detail, with the aim of developing new perspectives. This thesis also makes an original contribution on a methodological level by extending the practice and discourse of prototyping to the method of exhibition, framing it as a strategy for innovation in design research. This adds to current discourse surrounding practice-led research within art and design. It also contributes to nascent discourse in relation to curatorial practice for design, and the growing interest in the specificities of design curation, in the context of the museum.

Utställningsrummet för gatukonst växte fram långsamt på Kronobergsgatan 35. Genom att följa utvecklingsprocessen, platsen och verken som visats undersöker jag hur väggen växer fram till en hybrid som inte bara är ett utställningsrum. Det är även centrum för urban konst i Stockholms offentliga rum. Utställningsrummet är ett ovanligt inslag i en stad som fortsatt är präglad från en långvarig nolltolerans. Curering av väggen återspeglar ett utbildningssyfte för att visa att graffiti är mer än klotter. Jag undersöker vilka aktörer som är inblandade och deras mål med väggen utifrån curating teori. Väggen har flera intressenter. Kollektivet Livet som curerar väggen har en bakgrund inom graffiti och i sitt arbete att etablera konstformen kommer de även närmare att institutionalisera den, något som går emot dess historiska roll som subkultur. I mitt arbete studerar jag var utställningsrummet placerar sig i förhållande till graffitikulturen kontra konstinstitutionen. Fastighetsägaren står för resurserna och ser mot förmodan en slags vinst i sin investering, jag har döpt denne till konsthandlaren som förmedlar konsten till betraktaren. Att konsthandlaren associerar företaget till kulturella åtaganden gynnar företagsprofilen i ansamlande av kulturellt kapital. Utställningsrummet är även starkt påverkat av dess position i Stockholms centrala offentliga rum. Det skapar debatt om vem som får ta plats i stadsrummet och vilken konst som bör finnas, en debatt som curatorn välkomnar. Det är en debatt som potentiellt involverar hela staden, där alla är potentiella konstkritiker. Görandet av plats skapas i samverkan mellan tjänstemännen som formar stadsrummet och aktörerna som verkar i det. Jag undersöker denna samverkan och hur de förhåller sig till sina motsättningar. / I have followed the process of development of Kronobergsgatan 35 as an exhibition room for street art and graffiti in Stockholms public space. By interviewing the curators and analyzing with referens to institutional- and curating theory my aim has been to investigate the surrounding circumstances for said exhibition. Stockholm has a history of zero tolerance which makes this exhibition room a rare sight. The curators has, with an educational agenda, wanted to normalize graffiti as an artform but in so doing places the exhibition somewhere between it's subcultural history and the established art institution. The wall is made possible by the contribution of the property owner. I investigate the possible purposes of this investment and how association with culture affiliations could have positive effect on a business profile by obtaining cultural capital.  As an exhibition room in public space it works with and in contrast to the official public art of the city. I investigate this relationship between official and unofficial public art and the discussion of a democratic public space.

This thesis investigates the counter-hegemonic formation of Danish-based transnational feminist curatorial collective Kuratorisk Aktion in a single-case study. It serves as a unique example, presenting how the collective engages to overcome the existing gap between curatorial aims and the implementation through curating. Their work and approach is shaped highly by their political mindset, aiming to resist tendencies of depoliticisation, right-wing populism or neoliberalism with the means of curating. Chantal Mouffe’s theory of radical democracy and her deliberations and notions concerning agonisms, citizenship, feminism, counter-hegemonic interventions and activism through art are used in order to contextualise and discuss the possibilities and limitations of the political work by Kuratorisk Aktion. An interview with the collective conducted by scholar Angela Dimitrakaki in 2010 as well as their realised curatorial projects enhanced the argumentation. The analysis exemplified, that over the years Kuratorisk Aktion has developed their personal and exceptional curatorial paradigm, which is able to counteract hegemonic structures. This reveals their radical democratic potential and aspiration through curating and the curatorial.

Cette thèse étudie les différents types d'artistes-curateurs qui se manifestent depuis plus de deux siècles au moment où les artistes organisateurs d'expositions sont de plus en plus présents sur la scène artistique contemporaine. Par-delà le phénomène de mode, une vue d'ensemble des artistes-curateurs est dressée, une typologie de ceux-ci proposée. L'ensemble des réflexions et des recherches porte sur les liens entre art et réception de l'art à travers l'étude de la french theory (Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Rancière, Jacques Derrida), du réalisme spéculatif (Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman) et de l'heccéité (Jean Duns Scot). En s'appuyant sur une étude épistémologique, les différents caractères existants de la position d'artiste-curateur sont analysés. À travers des expériences artistiques et curatoriales subjectives, la visibilité des fondements véritables de cette double pratique, assumée comme telle, est pensée. L'objectif est de rendre compte de la définition possible de l'artiste-curateur comme avant tout un créateur de lieu, de dispositifs, et d'espace d'exposition au service des autres. Les rapports qu'entretiennent les artistes avec les commissaires d'expositions sont rendus visibles, tant dans leurs relations harmonieuses que conflictuelles. Des pistes pour l'avenir se conçoivent dans le prolongement de la poétique de la relation développée par Édouard Glissant. / This thesis shows that, under various guises, the artist-curator model has been operating for more two centuries when the artists who curate exhibitions are ever more visible on the artistic scene. Across the fashion phenomenon, an overview of the more prominent artist-curators is erected, a typology of these practitioners is proposed. He particularly focuses his reflections and researches on the links between art and theory, the study of the reception of French Theory (Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Rancière, Jacques Derrida), speculative realism (Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman) and haecceity (Jean Duns Scot). Using epistemological methodology and analyzing the state of variables, he details the various characteristics which co­exist in the artist-curator position. The author uses his own artistic and curatorial experience : he founded and curates the artist-run space Immanence. He aims to bring to life the real foundations of this double practice. The thesis posits the possible definition of the artist­curator both as the author of a creative act in place visibility and display, and simultaneously as a creator at the service of the others. At the heart, are the relationships between curated artists and artist-curator : the cooperation, consensus and correspondence, as well as the dissent and conflicts. Finally, the author looks to the possible futures drawing from the poetics of relation developed by Édouard Glissant.

This thesis investigates how the contemporary museum for printmaking Grafikens Hus motivates printmaking in socially engaged art projects based outside of the conventional gallery. It explores how printmaking is practiced as a tool to achieve artistic and curatorial goals, and investigates what Grafikens Hus strives to achieve by making space for meeting places. The analysis is based on in-depth readings of three case studies and two interviews with the director of Grafikens Hus Nina Beckmann and the curator Ulrika Flink. The theoretical perspective strives from concepts relating to audiences, relations and site-specificity outlined by curators engaged in socially engaged practices. The theoretical framework has also been informed by the curator José Roca’s approach to printmaking used as a device to achieve specific conceptual goals. The thesis is structured in three chapters: the first presents Grafikens Hus’s objectives and strivings, the second explores how Grafikens Hus use printmaking to stimulate confluence, the third examines Grafikens Hus’s ambition to curate meeting places. This thesis shows that printmaking is practiced as method for participation, used as tool for collaboration, seeking to create active subjects and co-producers. Furthermore, it demonstrates how Grafikens Hus use participation to form relations with places and thus generate a third room: places recharged with value by a dialogue oriented mind-set.

Master of Arts in Fine Arts - Fine Arts / A Community Partnership Art Event, resulting from curating and facilitating an educational collaboration was held on the 23 March 2004, ten years into South Africa’s democracy. Through a Masters in Fine Arts coursework entitled “Creating, Curating and Critiquing” offered at the University of Witwatersrand, I attempted to test the boundaries of the Arts and Culture Learning Area and explore alternatives to the current definition of “outreach”. The grade six learners from The Ridge School, an independent boys’ preparatory school and Salvazione Christian School, an assisted government school, were brought together over a period of ten weeks during regular school art lessons. Through the guidance and expertise of various artists, workshops were cocoordinated with the collaborative ideas of the learners coming to the fore. The process and dialogue established between learners, artists and educators was intended to shift my own parameters of teaching primary school art. Focusing on people rather than the final products points to a readiness to view knowledge not as a commodity owned b#31;#31;the expert teacher, but rather as something which can be constructed and developed with the learners. Originally the collaboration was intended as a celebration of the opening of new premises for Salvazione Christian School. The public art happening was held in a tent next to the informal settlement where a large majority of the children from Salvazione Christian School live. 3 Rather than what might be described as a modernist approach to art education, where the focus seems to be on the artist and artwork, the focus was on linking art to social interaction, and it was through the discovery of a form of hybridity that a number of differences between the two communities were challenged and exposed. This resulted in an approach that seems similar to the manner in which the Indian writer, Salman Rushdie writes of hybridity: “Hybridity, impurity, intermingling, the transformation that comes of new and unexpected combinations of human beings, cultures, ideas, politics, movies, songs.” (Coombes, 2000:39) Through this hybridity tensions were created and explored rather than a ‘rainbow’ or melting pot created, where differences are glossed over as in a multicultural approach. The primary research methodology was participant observation in which directly observed data was analyzed and interpreted. Data was gathered from the interactions in the workshops, setting up the exhibition and the art event. As intended, a link between art and ‘outreach’ was established. In order for this link to change into a community partnership, it must be seen as part of a much longer process. The process as a whole did become a different kind of primary school art space, preparing the way for possible positive transformation of the visual arts in the arts and culture learning area at primary school level.

The thesis catches  up a phenomenon in contemporary exhibition practice: the presentation of art beyond traditional platforms such as museums and galeries. It is the Berlin based nightclub Berghain that in this case study is object for an analysis of an alternative art space. The two photographies Ostgut Freischwimmer rechts and Ostgut Freischwimmer links of the german artist Wolfgang Tillmans were to be seen there after being sold to art museums in Switzerland exhibited together with other works of the collection at Fondation Beyeler. The comparison of the club as the new and alternative and the museum as the traditional and institutional is the specific concern of the work: on which institutional structures is the staging of art based  on and how can they be altered and contrasted by means of place and exhibition features. The meaning of art is determined by its physical setting and the institutional and ideological constituencies that are lying behind it. This interconnection is examined by terms of Henri Lefebvre social space and Arthur C. Danto and George Dickie. Contextualisation, categorisation and the creation of an aura of theory as well as established roles and hirarchies determine the institutionalized artwold and are reverted in the attempt to create an alternative space. The creation of the new is based on its differentiation from the traditional and is therefore to be seen as a concept, a repetition of structures that is filled with new contents. In his function of curator to both of the exhibitions, Wolfgang Tillmans extends his artistical practice over the medium of photography - by this way, the pictures meaning is transcending its visuality and interacts with the space, communicating different values in different situations. The comparison of the the two exhibition sites shows: silence is replaced by sound, contemplation is replaced by movement, history and context by nowness and momentarity.  But still is the exhibition of art is bound to structures. The question therefore should not concentrate on finding an alternative beyond institutional structures, but on which kind of institution it could be that expresses the intended meaning of an art work. By this terms, the argument can be traced back to Wolfgang Tillmans himself and both his personal, artistic and curatorial world view:  imagining an anti-hirarchical culture in which no one is to claim the truth further than in its own immediate moment of experiencing it

For this qualitative analysis, I analyzed observational and interview data from two middle school librarians setting up new active learning programs. I focused my research by analyzing the preliminary data gathered in field notes from observations at the different library sites to determine what programming resources the librarians were using. A secondary consideration was drawn from preliminary evidence, which indicated the librarians turned to many on and offline information resources, including the social curating site Pinterest. After gathering initial data from observations, I gathered additional data from two interviews: the first interview focused on where the librarians find information and the second interview focused on Pinterest. The data suggests networking within the school community is an essential feature of middle school libraries and should be considered when developing programs as a way to strengthen the librarian’s relationship with the school community, enabling the librarian to leverage other teachers’ knowledge. Also, the curating resources available through Pinterest provide a platform for finding ideas suitable for adapting to a specific library.