After Nature

The New Museum in NY (its the same museum that showed Younger Than Jesus) put on a show this past summer called After Nature (link).  The idea show is taking from fictional documentaries by Werner Herzog.  I think its a breathtaking poetic show that reveals the beauty in destruction and distress.  The reviews of the show are mixed and some critics complained about the curator taking on the role of the artist, the medium he is choosing to use is other people's artworks.  For instance the horse by Maurizio Cattelan (pic above).  This particular work shown in a different setting may seem comical however the curator created relationships by juxtaposing this work with other works from the show.  Now the horse is poetically distressed instead of odd and awkward.  In Kira's class we have been discussing the role of the curator and how it has evolved over time.  Some people don't like the idea of the curator playing the role of the artist but I kind of like it.  I think the best works of art are open for interpretation, the work draws me in and my mind is allowed to contemplate.  So why can't curators play with this idea? Why can they not bring new meaning to the work or perhaps works we all know oh so well from art history?

The other thing that I found intriguing about the show is the catalog, here is some info 

Accompanying the exhibition “After Nature” at the New Museum this unique catalogue pays tribute to the work of W.G. Sebald by repurposing existing copies of After Nature, his 1988 three-part prose poem, from which the show has borrowed its title. The catalogue consists of the original book, enriched with images that have been hand-placed between the pages, and a new foldout dust jacket. The result is a singular hybrid that is part-appropriation, part-recycled material, and informed by the artistic tradition of the found object.