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23/5/2012

Creative Destruction

The Kitchen, New York

curated by the Helena Rubinstein, denisse andrade, Liz Park, Tim Saltarelli, and Kristina Scepanski

NEW YORK, April 30, 2012 – From May 24 to June 16, 2012, the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program presents its annual spring exhibition at The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, New York. This year’s exhibition, Creative Destruction, is curated by the ISP’s Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellows: denisse andrade, Liz Park, Tim Saltarelli, and Kristina Scepanski. The exhibition features works by Melanie Gilligan, Hans Haacke, Alfredo Jaar, Liz Magic Laser, Raqs Media Collective, Kerri Reid, SUPERFLEX, and Fred Wilson.

The term “creative destruction” refers to capitalism’s inherent tendency to create new wealth by destroying the previous economic order. Initially described by Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto, this concept was popularized in the United States after World War II when economist Joseph Schumpeter adapted it as a model of economic innovation, but still warned of its self-destructive nature. Now absorbed into mainstream discussions of the economy, “creative destruction” is evoked to legitimize the profits produced by such practices as financial speculation, downsizing, restructuring, and the intentional eroding of labor conditions, both in the United States and abroad.

This exhibition reclaims the phrase “creative destruction” in order to emphasize how pre-existing systems of representation can be reconfigured for different political purposes. The artists illuminate the way in which certain ideological structures perpetuate a constructed yet naturalized state of inequality. Like many recent global protest movements, they engage in a critical analysis of the existing socioeconomic order.

Public Programs

Bringing together perspectives from different fields of expertise, the public programs relating to this exhibition aim to foster an exploration of the term “creative destruction” and the artistic strategy of rearticulation. A series of events investigates the creative process of rearticulation in the realm of public space, cultural production, and economics — three key sectors under critical re-evaluation in the wake of the ongoing financial crisis.
All events are free and open to the public; seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wednesday May 30, 6 pm
Making Strange
Nora Alter, Liz Magic Laser, Graham Parker
Taking cues from the writings of German playwright Bertolt Brecht, this panel discussion focuses on how contemporary artistic practices can make strange current social, political, and economic situations through a variety of public interventions, videos, and performances.

Saturday June 2, 2 pm
Laying Claim
Alfredo Jaar, Cindi Katz
Panelists engaged in art, architecture, geography, and critical theory explore how public space has been rearticulated in recent global protest movements. The speakers consider different strategies used to lay claim to public space, and how these activities help us imagine a counter-hegemonic economic order.

Wednesday June 6, 3 pm Reading Group, 6 pm Conversation
Tracing Creative Destruction
Matthew Buckingham, David Harvey
This two-part program features a reading group followed by a conversation led by the guest speakers. Both will critically explore the historical trajectory of “creative destruction” as a concept. Reading material will be provided in advance. Please register for the reading group by emailing:
creativedestruction.isp@gmail.com

Saturday June 9, 2 pm
Film Screening
Program details to be announced; updated schedules will be listed at http://whitney.org/Research/ISP/CuratorialProgram

Saturday June 16, 2 pm
Fix-It-Yourself: The Art of Creating Revolutionary Economic Models
Organized in collaboration with artist Paolo Cirio, 2012 Fellow at Eyebeam
A full list of speakers will be announced at http://whitney.org/Research/ISP/CuratorialProgram

Artists present and debate different ideas for fixing the dysfunctions of the current economy, whether creating economic alternatives or subverting present models. The artists share their visions of fair distribution of wealth by discussing new currencies, barter schemes, fair finance instruments, timeshare, and mutual credit groups they have been involved in creating. An open debate with the audience follows the presentations.

Exhibition Support

Support for the Independent Study Program is provided by Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa, The Capital Group Charitable Foundation, and the Whitney Contemporaries through their annual Art Party benefit.

Endowment support is provided by Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo, the Dorothea L. Leonhardt Fund of the Communities Foundation of Texas, the Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, and the Helena Rubinstein Foundation.

About the Whitney
The Whitney Museum of American Art is the world’s leading museum of twentieth-century and contemporary art of the United States. Focusing particularly on works by living artists, the Whitney is celebrated for presenting important exhibitions and for its renowned collection, which comprises over 19,000 works by more than 2,900 artists. With a history of exhibiting the most promising and influential artists and provoking intense debate, the Whitney Biennial, the Museum's signature exhibition, has become the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States. In addition to its landmark exhibitions, the Museum is known internationally for events and educational programs of exceptional significance and as a center for research, scholarship, and conservation. Founded by sculptor and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1930, the Whitney was first housed on West 8th Street in Greenwich Village. The Museum relocated in 1954 to West 54th Street and, in 1966, inaugurated its present home, designed by Marcel Breuer, at 945 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side. While its vibrant program of exhibitions and events continues uptown, the Whitney is moving forward with a new building project, designed by Renzo Piano, in downtown Manhattan. Located at the corner of Gansevoort and Washington Streets in the Meatpacking District, at the southern entrance to the High Line, the new building, which has generated immense momentum and support, will enable the Whitney to vastly increase the size and scope of its exhibition and programming space. Ground was broken on the new building in May 2011, and it is projected to open to the public in 2015. Current and Upcoming Exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art

Image: Alfredo Jaar, The Marx Lounge, 2010. Liverpool Biennial, UK. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Lelong, New York.

Press Office: (212) 570-3633, pressoffice@whitney.org
General Information: (212) 570-3600

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, 5–8 pm

The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street, New York, NY
The exhibition hours are Tuesday–Friday, 12–6pm; Saturday 11–6 pm
Admission is free

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