Anton Vidokles Text Art Without Artists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anton Vidokles Text Art Without Artists - Essay Example According to the essay "Anton Vidokles text "Art Without Artists?" findings, the work of artists is fundamental in supporting the work of curators. In other words, the curatorial practice would not be as relevant and useful as it is today were it not for the effort of artists. Any artistic work that does not include the artist themselves is doomed to fail. According to V, the talents of the curator are not enough to make art a success. He says that there is need to distinguish between what he terms as â€Å"the artistic decision to include an activity within an artwork and the curatorial power to designate something as art through its inclusion in an exhibition†. In other words, V points out that an artist’s decision to have his production included in an exhibition is very different from the curator’s decision to exhibit a certain piece of art. According to Vidokle, curatorial power and artistic authorship can be differentiated through proper legislation. He give s the example of a clash between Brazilian curators and graffiti artists whereby the curators attempted to hold an art exhibition without the participation of artists. In this regard, the question is whether curators should use artistic space and resources to showcase their personal collections of artwork and other items. Vidokle says that the problem does not lie in the power of curators to open archives to the public or to the extent to which their exhibitions are interesting. Rather he says that the problem lies with the practice of most curators to dismiss or discredit the work of original artists. According to the author, it is wrong for the curators to use artistry and artists for self-gain. The article also looks at the job of the curator. He insists that curators are not free agents, but professionals who perform their duties on behalf of other parties. The jobs of curators normally come with power, security and a responsibility for several artistic activities. These powers, security and responsibilities may give the curator some sense of institutional authorship of artistic works, but Vidokle indicates that this does not necessarily translate to claim on individual works of art. Curators’ job is to advance the works of artists, not trying to own the artworks. Vidokle goes further to analyze the relationship between curators and artists. The author likens this relationship with the kind of relationship that exists between an organization’s management and its workforce. In this case, the workforce is represented by the artists while the management consists