Spatial Politics: The Physical Dimensions of Curating

In 1957, the ICA held An Exhibit, a show that took the organising of space and the visitor's movement through the show as its content. Six years later, this architectonic exhibition was followed by Archigram's Living City, which resembled more an art exhibit than an architectural project. In 1982, the ICA's interest in the relationship between art and architecture was further developed with the conference Art and Architecture, which addressed the role of art in public environments.

Today, the possibilities offered by the interplay of art and architecture continue to capture the art world's imagination, with both the Serpentine Pavilion and the Turbine Hall installations being highlights in the art calendar. Such projects raise questions about the connections between curating and socio-political concerns about constructing and distributing space.

Is there a politics of movement? If there is, how should the curator mediate the relationship between the human body, the art space and the physical dimensions occupied by the art object? Should the curator be responsible for the ergonomics of an exhibition? Should the curator be concerned with the physical experience of the audience at all?

Speakers on this panel include Dr Andrea Phillips, Director of Curating Architecture research project and Assistant Director of MFA Curating at Goldsmiths, artists Cornford & Cross, Celine Condorelli, an artist and curator whose practice is concerned with architecture as support and interface and develops critical models towards exhibition making and public space, and Secret Agent Bristly Pioneer, of The Space Hijackers.

This discussion is chaired by Clare Carolin, Senior Tutor, MA Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art.

In association with the London Consortium and London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise