Dissecting Art

Todays lunchtalk by Maria Lind, art curator and critic, took a stint into theoretical realms as she talked about "Abstract Possible", a project that, in her words, "serves to make the abstract more concrete." She then adds that this is very necessary as current times have turned us into  natives of abstraction.

But Abstract Possible is not just a concept that splits the idea into 3 fields, the formal abstraction, the economical abstractions and what she calls withdrawal strategies, seeing as the latin word abstrahere means withdraw, it also channels itself into concrete art shows like the one Maria Lind presented in detail, held at the Museo Tamayo in Mexico. The show completely transformed the museum, included walls and floors, saw pieces merging into each other but also fighting to stay apart. "I saw the visitors reading, moving closer, studying everything and taking lots and lots of pictures. This was very surprising to me and not something I usually see." says a satisfied Maria Lind. "The director made us use walltexts and labels, though, something I dislike as it takes away too much and dictates the viewer too strongly and too early on. I prefer working with leaflets that show facts, not explanation." she adds with a little frown.

Fortunately, the next installment of Art Possible will happen in the Konsthall Stockholm whose head is nobody else but Maria Lind, and two othner locations, effectively taking apart the three strands of abstraction mentioned before. The exhibitions will start in January. For now, she is teaching the class History and Practises of Curating at the Fortress Hohensalzburg and will be part of one of our discussion panels at the Globalart Forum held at the Auditorium (Hörsaal) 230, Juridical Faculty of Salzburg University, Entry Kapitelgasse 6 on the 29th and the 30th of July.                                                                                     mp

http://abstractpossible.org/