Vito Acconci
Franz Ackermann
Francis Alys
Michael Ashkin
Jaime vila Ferrer
Dennis Balk
Matthew Barney
Judith Barry
Thomas Bayrle
Julie Becker
Douglas Blau
Monica Bonvicini
Daniel Bozhkov
Mark Bradford
Miguel Rio Branco
Troy Brauntuch
Candice Breitz
Francois Bucher
Sophie Calle
Eduardo Consuegra
Jordan Crandall
Teddy Cruz
Jonas Dahlberg
Stephen Dean
Anne Deleporte
Diller + Scofidio
Sam Durant
Anna Gaskell
Douglas Gordon
gruppo A12
Fariba Hajamadi
Pablo Helguera
Noritoshi Hirakawa
Julian Hoeber
Emily Jacir
Christian Jankowski
Vincent Johnson
Mitchell Kane
Joachim Koester
Glenn Ligon
Dorit Margreiter
Fiorenza Menini
John Miller
Muntadas
Paul Myoda
Yoshua Okon
Catherine Opie
Lucy Orta
Hirsch Perlman
Raymond Pettibon
Richard Phillips
Richard Prince
Raqs Media Collective
Alexis Rockman
Julian Rosefeldt
Aura Rosenberg
Peter Rostovsky
Sam Samore
Paige Sarlin
Julia Scher
Gregor Schneider
Allan Sekula
Andres Serrano
Nedko Solakov
Doron Solomons
Wolfgang Staehle
Javier Tellez
Anton Vidokle
Eyal Weizman
Nadav Harel
James Welling
Wim Wenders
Judi Werthein
Charlie White
Mans Wrange
Jody Zellen
Heimo Zobernig
Joshua Decter
The exhibition features the digitized works of 76 international artists and architects, organized into eight "curatorial scripts". The show is comprised of the simultaneous interplay of eight distinct micro-exhibitions. These sequences of works are displayed via eight projector units incorporated within a translucent architectural armature suspended in the museum's space. Relationships among art, architecture, media, and technological design are reanimated here
An experimental group exhibition
Curator: Joshua Decter
The Santa Monica Museum of Art presents Dark Places, conceived and curated by Joshua
Decter, with an installation design by the architectural collective servo. An
experimental group exhibition, Dark Places features the digitized works of 76
international artists and architects, organized into eight “curatorial scripts." The
show is comprised of the simultaneous interplay of eight distinct micro-exhibitions.
These sequences of works are displayed via eight projector units incorporated within
a translucent architectural armature suspended in the museum’s space. Relationships
among art, architecture, media, and technological design are reanimated here,
generating a new kind of immersive environment—the hallucination of a futuristic
noir scenario inside the frame of the museum.
Dark Places explores interconnections between memory and social space, proposing
that traces of events, and their psychological consequences, are scripted into the
fabric of our physical environment. Artists and architects from diverse cultural
locations and ideological perspectives were invited to reflect upon a number of
interrelated questions: What are the atmospheric, psychological, and political
conditions that inflect our constructed environments? How do we navigate the
ambiguous, enigmatic territories of social space and media culture, particularly in
regard to traumatic events? At once linear and non-linear, there is no beginning,
middle, or end to the exhibition; Dark Places is rhizomatic, in constant motion, a
vibrating mosaic of digitized paintings, videos, architecture, animation and other
media. The show is conceived as mobile and mutable, its network of participating
artists and architects meant to expand as it travels to other contexts.
Participants:
Vito Acconci/Acconci Studio, Franz Ackermann, Francis Alys, Michael Ashkin,
Jaime vila Ferrer, Dennis Balk, Matthew Barney, Judith Barry, Thomas Bayrle,
Julie Becker, Douglas Blau, Monica Bonvicini, Daniel Bozhkov, Mark Bradford, Miguel
Rio Branco, Troy Brauntuch, Candice Breitz, Francois Bucher, Sophie Calle,
Eduardo Consuegra, Jordan Crandall, Teddy Cruz, Jonas Dahlberg, Stephen Dean, Anne
Deleporte, Diller + Scofidio, Sam Durant, Anna Gaskell, Douglas Gordon, gruppo A12,
Fariba Hajamadi, Pablo Helguera, Noritoshi Hirakawa, Julian Hoeber, Emily Jacir,
Christian Jankowski, Vincent Johnson, Mitchell Kane, Joachim Koester, Glenn Ligon,
Dorit Margreiter, Fiorenza Menini, John Miller, Muntadas, Paul Myoda, Yoshua Okon,
Catherine Opie, Lucy Orta, Hirsch Perlman, Raymond Pettibon, Richard Phillips,
Richard Prince, Raqs Media Collective, Alexis Rockman, Julian Rosefeldt, Aura
Rosenberg, Peter Rostovsky, Sam Samore, Paige Sarlin, Julia Scher, Gregor Schneider,
Allan Sekula, Andres Serrano, Nedko Solakov, Doron Solomons, Wolfgang Staehle, Javier
Tellez, Anton Vidokle, Eyal Weizman/Nadav Harel, James Welling, Wim Wenders,
Judi Werthein, Charlie White, Mans Wrange, Jody Zellen, and Heimo Zobernig.
Joshua Decter is a New York-based curator, writer and art/architectural historian.
His curatorial projects include Tele[visions] (Kunsthalle Vienna, 2001-02);
Transmute (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1999); Heaven: Public
View/Private View (PS1, 1998); and a/drift (The Center for Curatorial Studies
Museum, Bard, 1997).
Established in 1999 and based in Los Angeles, servo (http://www.s-e-r-v-o.com) has
been featured in the Venice Biennale 2003; and New Hotels for Global Nomads (The
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, 2002). The principal partners in servo are
David Erdman, Marcelyn Gow, Chris Perry, and Ulrika Karlsson.
Publication: A full-color catalogue published by the Santa Monica Museum of Art is available.
Public Programs at the Santa Monica Museum of Art
Illuminating Dark Places: participating artists discuss a new model for a group
exhibition
Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 7 p.m.
Participants: Mark Bradford, Jordan Crandall, Julia Scher, James Welling, Mans
Wrange, and David Erdman
Moderator: Joshua Decter
Free admission
The Architecture of Display: new approaches to exhibition design
Wednesday, February 15, 2006, 7 p.m.
Participants: Greg Lynn, Greg Lynn FORM, Angewandte Wien and UCLA, Joseph Rosa, John
H. Bryan Curator of Architecture and Design, The Art Institute of Chicago, and David
Erdman
Moderator: Joshua Decter
Free admission
The Real Los Angeles Noir
Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 7 p.m.
Jim Heimann, historian and Executive Editor of Taschen America, will tour the dark
side of L.A.’s past
Free admission
Exhibition Design: servo
Opening: Jan. 20, 2006, 7 - 9 p.m.
Santa Monica Museum of Art
Bergamot Station, Building G1, Michigan Avenue - Santa Monica, California
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.