Eszter Lázár - Educational Turn

8/12/2019 Eszter Lzr - Educational Turn

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EDUCATIONAL TURN

Eszter Lzr

Educational turn describes a tendency in contemporary art prevalent since the second

half of the 1990s, in which different modes of educational forms and structures,

alternative pedagogical methods and programs appeared in/as curatorial and artistic

practices. Initiatives related to the educational turn revolve around the notion of

education, gaining and sharing knowledge, artistic/curatorial research, and knowledgeproduction. The emphasis is not on the object-based artwork. Instead, the focus of

these projects is in on the process itself, as well as on the use of discursive,

pedagogical methods and situations in and outside of the exhibition

(~discursivity ~exhibition display ~performativity).

The most common aspects of art works, exhibitions, and projects interpreted within the

framework of the educational turn, include developing new methodologies, which allow

for the democratization of the access to knowledge; the use of new genres and

methods of presentation; the transformation of the positions of the artist, the curator,

the artwork, and the viewer, as well as the formative engagement of the participants in

the process of the project. (~authorship ~curatorial ~exhibition display ~participation).

The educational turn can be considered mainly a tendency in art that shapes the

processes of creation, acts as an incentive for self-organization (~collaboration), and it

also concerns the (self-)revision of museums, as well as the transformation of the art

institutions into educational platforms. Furthermore, it reacts to changes in public

education.

In relation to the educational turn, the theories of critical pedagogy are often cited [1],

with regards to, for instance, providing the democratic conditions of education, or the

emergence of anti-hegemonic teaching methods and roles. [2]One of the main goals

of artists and curators working in this field of contemporary art is to establish ways of

sharing knowledge, which besides, or instead of, disseminating the hegemonic value

system, allows for a more flexible and anti-bureaucratic practice that also takes current

issues and the need of the participants into account. Antecedents of the educationalturn in the 1960-1970s can include experimental teaching methodswhich are also


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regarded as artistic practice, such as the action teaching of Bazon Brock, or the

performative lectures and the Free International University of Joseph Beuys. Likewise,

in Hungary, architect, philosopher, and artist Mikls Erdly can be mentioned here,

who, similarly to Beuys, focused on creative thinking and interdisciplinary approach,

instead of the traditional education of arts. [3]

In the socialist countries in Eastern Europe, before the political change of 1989,

curricula that were prohibited by state institutions, and hence was taken out ofor

was never a part ofthe educational system, were circulated illegally, during

discussions and lectures at private apartments (free universities, flying universities), as

well as in samizdat forms. In this region, the antecedents of educational projects in

contemporary art are, in part, these educational formats that were forced into illegality.

The number of free universities and self-organized schools have expanded in the last

few years, for instance in Hungary. Although these current instantiations no longer (or

not yet) function as alternatives for an authoritarian cultural policy of a political regime,

they fill in the gaps of public education in a collaboration-based system of practice and

theory. [4]

Formal innovations of the projects interpreted within the framework of the educational

turn encompass mainly, building on art practices of institutional critique, the abandon of

the gallery space (~white cube ~exhibition display). During the course of these projectsnew sites were also involved, such as the street, private apartments, schoolstaking

into consideration the socially constructed aspects of site-specificity as well

(~participation). Manifestations of the educational turn in contemporary art range from

free universities to temporary and experimental schools realized in the framework of

biennials. At the same time, various forms of public institutions (library, school,

laboratory) appear in the gallery space (~white cube ~exhibition display ~discursivity).

[5] In these cases curatorial practice may also considered an expanded educational

praxis. [6]

The impact of the educational turn was substantiated by the profile change of art

institutions in Western Europe, the ascendancy of their institutional critique profile, the

self-reflexive projects initiated at various art academies, [7]as well as by exhibitions

around the theme of education. [8]Hence, the educational turn is related to the

endeavors of institutional critique, as it also attempts to change the educational role of

museums and exhibition places. Likewise, it can be connected to practices that

beyond the focus on aesthetic specificities and visual appearanceoffer a platform for

dialogues between the audience, the artists, and the public sphere as well. (~new


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museology ~discursivity ~interpretation ~participation ~performativity). Occasionally,

the moderate display of educational projects, evoking, for instance, the classroom,

might put the audience at a distance that is accustomed to more spectacular, visitor-

friendly exhibitions. One might ask if these programs, which are based on the premises

of democratic methods and the voicing of different opinions, exclude, rather then

include outsiders(discursivity ~interpretation ~participation ~performativity).

The discourses of social theory related to the educational turnbesides the issues of

the traditional and hierarchical functioning of art academiesalso critically examines

the general problems of education as such. For instance, the critique of the Bologna

process of the EU member states, which, although, encourages mobility, its modus

operandi, due to the standardizing, administrative rules, are difficult to permeate. By

the same token, the criticism of the educational systems unification (BA, MA, PhD),

which is coupled with the marketization of knowledge, is also analyzed. [9]The

parallels of these discourses in contemporary art are also the basis of problematizing

education as an issue: the critique of the market economy processes of neoliberal

societies. That is, the criticism of the regulation, appropriation, and commodification of

knowledge-based production.

Furthermore, the educational turn can be contextualized within different contemporary

(art) tendencies:

-- Art institutes, following the principles of new institutionalism, besides exhibitions,

initiated research projects, workshops, free universities, and open forums, accentuating

the renewing educational role and responsibility of the institutions. Therefore, the

educational turn can be examined from the perspective of institutional critique and new

institutionalism, as well as from the connection of these two (~performativity).

-- The delineation of the possibilities to adapt the precepts of new institutionalism toeducational institutes (~performativity).

-- The analysis of art and curatorial projects related to the venue, structure, practice,

and the metaphor of education, as well as projects that reflect on the original meaning

of the academy.

-- The examination of the proliferation of performative and discursive art forms, which

are the most typical within the educational tendency. (~discursivity ~performativity).

One might ask whether the educational turn is a turn within contemporary art, or it is


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rather the quick (and perhaps non-reflexive) burgeoning of the term. First it was Paul

ONeill and Mick Wilson, [10]as well as Irit Rogoff [11] who used the expression

educational turn in 2008. Rogoff in her text asks if it is a reading strategy when

education is read through a different system, such as the filter of exhibition display

(~exhibition display), or it is rather an interpretive model. [12]In fact, with the

proliferation of discursive practices (~discursivity), the educational turn is a tendency in

contemporary art. As a consequence of the ever-expanding literature on this concept,

art and curatorial projects of the educational turn take their place more and more

steadily within the above-delineated theoretical and historical contexts.

References and Firther Reeadings

Allen, Felicity Ed. 2011 Education. Documents of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel

Gallery. London, MIT Press

Beech, Dave 2010 Weberian Lessons: Art, Pedagogy and Managerialism in: ONeill

Paul s Mick Wilson Ed. Curating and Educational Turn. Amszterdam: Open Editions /

de Appel, 2010

Bishop, Claire 2012 Pedagogic Projects in: Artificial Hells,Participatory Art and the

Politis of Spectatorship. London, New York, Verso

Doherty, Claire 2012 New Institutionalism and the Exhibition as

Situation. situations.org.uk. Situations. Web. 9. Sept.

2012 http://www.situations.org.uk/media/files/New_Institutionalism.pdf

Frimer, Denise 2010Pedagogical Paradigms: Documentas

Reinvention. artendeducation.netArt & Education, Web. 2012. szept.9. http://www.artandeducation.net/paper/pedagogical-paradigms- %E2%80%99s-

reinvention/

Freire, Paolo 2007(1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York, Continuum

Giroux, A. Henry 2011 On Critical Pedagogy, New York, Bloomsbury Academic

Hornyik Sndor: 2007 Egy megvalsult poszt-neoavantgrd utpia - Erdly Mikls

m!vszetpedaggijrl. exindex.huExindex. 2007. okt. 2. Web. 2013. jn.


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10. http://exindex.hu/index.php?page=3&id=517

Lee Podesva, Kristina 2007 A Pedagogical Turn: Brief Notes on Education as

Art. Fillip6/2007; fillip.ca, Fillip. Web. 2012..szept. 9. http://fillip.ca/content/a-

pedagogical-turn

Madoff, Steven Henry 2009Art School (Proposition for the 21st Century). Camnridge,

Mass., MIT Press

Rancire, Jacques 1991 (1981) The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in

Intellectual Emancipation.Standford University Press

Rogoff, Irit 2008 Turning; e-flux Journal0/2008, eflux.com, e-flux, Web. 9. Sept.

2012 http://www.e-flux.com/journal/turning/ .

Nollert, Angelika Ed.. 2006 A.C.A.D.E.M.Y. (2005-2006). Frankfurt am Main, Revolver

Nora Sternfeld 2010 Unglamorous Tasks: What Can Education Learn from its Political

Traditions? e-flux Journal14/2010, e-flux.com. e-flux, Web. 2012. nov. 7. http://www.e-

flux.com/journal/unglamorous-tasks-what-can-education-learn-from-its-political-

traditions/

ONeill, Paul Wilson, Mick. eds. 2010 Curating and the Educational Turn. London,

Amsterdam, Open Editions-de Appel

Wilson, Mick 2007 Curatorial Moments and Discursive Turns. In Paul ONeill

ed. Curating Subjects. Amszterdam, Open Editions / de Appel

NOTES

[1]Jacques Rancire 1991 (1981) The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in

Intellectual Emancipation, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, Nora Sternfeld

2010 Unglamorous Tasks: What Can Education Learn from its Political Traditions? e-

flux Journal 14/2010, e-flux.com. e-flux, Web. 2012. nov. 7. http://www.e-

flux.com/journal/unglamorous-tasks-what-can-education-learn-from-its-political-

traditions/


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[2] P aolo Freire 2007 (1970)Pedagogy of Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2007,

Giroux, A Henry 2011 On Critical Pedagogy, New York, Bloomsbury Academic.

[3] The art pedogogical projects of Mikls Erdly between 1975 and 1978 (FAFEJ -

Fantziafejleszt" gyakorlatok, INDIGO - Interdiszciplinris gondolkods), operated analternative and a deliberate ciritical oppostion to the offical educational syste. (See

Sndor Sndor 2007 Egy megvalsult poszt-neoavantgrd utpia - Erdly Mikls

m!vszetpedaggijrl exindex.hu Exindex. 2007. okt. 2. Web. 2013. jn. 10. (In

Hungarian) http://exindex.hu/index.php?page=3&id=517. The study groups at the Ganz

MVAG cultural center, even though they were a preparations for entrance to the art

academy, this series of creative exercises led by Dra Maurer and Mikls Erdly,

became an autonomous pedagogical form.

[4]For instance, the tranzit.hu Free School for Art Theory and Practice

(http://hu.tranzit.org/hu/szabadiskola/ ), a or Fundacja 36,6 that was established in

Krakow in 2003.

[5]Dave Beech 2010 Weberian Lessons: Art, Pedagogy and Managerialism. In: ONeill

Paul and Mick Wilson eds. Curating and Educational Turn. Amsterdam: Open Editions

/ de Appel, 55.

[6] ONeill Paul, Mick Wilson eds 2010 Curating and Educational Turn. Amsterdam,

Open Editions / de Appel, 2010., 12.

[7]Steven Henry Madoff ed. 2009 Art School (Proposition for the 21st Century),

Cambridge, Mass, The MIT Press,

[8]A.C.A.D.E.M.Y. (2005-2006), Siemens Art Program, MuHKA, Van Abbemusuem

an exhibition, discussion, and workshop series, which looked at the academyas a

general term for educational institutionsand its role and possibilities in society. The

project also examined the role of the museum as a site for education.

[9]See for instance, the 2011 exhibition Possible Damage as INIVA, London was on

the student protest of 2010-2011 in London.

http://www.iniva.org/exhibitions_projects/2011/possible_damage/possible_damage .

[10]You Talkin' to me? Why Art is Turning to Education. Nought to Sixty Salon

Discussion, organized by Paul ONeill and Mick Wilson, ICA London, July 14, 2008.ica.org.uk. ICA. Web. Aug 18. , 2013. aug. (Among others, this discussion was one of


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the preparations for the publishing of Curating and the Educational Turn (eds. Paul

ONeill s Mick Wilson).

[11]Rogoff, Irit: 2008 Turning; e-flux Journal 0/2008, eflux.com, e-flux, Web. 9. Sept.

2012 http://www.e-flux.com/journal/turning/ .

[12]Ibid.

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