Lucy Steeds | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)
Book chapters by Lucy Steeds
Reshaping the Field: Arts of the African Diasporas on Display, 2022
This essay considers the exhibition histories of two films produced in the UK in the 1980s – by S... more This essay considers the exhibition histories of two films produced in the UK in the 1980s – by Sankofa ("Dreaming Rivers") and Black Audio Film Collective ("Handsworth Songs"). It addresses some of the presentation contexts for these films – including TV broadcast in the UK and cinema programming in New York, at the time of their creation; also their curation into major survey exhibitions and museum displays more recently; and, further, their live streaming. What have varying contexts of presentation brought out in the films? And how might that shape an appreciation of them now? This essay is a contribution to Nana Adusei-Poku's book, "Reshaping the Field: Arts of the African Diasporas on Display", published in 2022.
Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Becoming Public, 2021
This is the co-authored introduction to 'Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Be... more This is the co-authored introduction to 'Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Becoming Public' (2021) – the 12th title in Afterall's 'Exhibition Histories' series of books. It reflects on the 15-year research project that has produced this series. It also guides readers to the content of the book, which offers a possible history of art since 1989 told through the moments when art becomes public. The anthology addresses some of the myriad worlds conjured by art and the telling of their histories. It is guided by three questions: What is the 'global' for art and exhibition-making, or why has it been what it has? How have agents including artists and curators experimented with different forms of exhibition? And how do these exhibitionary moments connect to longerterm and institutional trajectories? Key texts previously published in Afterall journal appear alongside newly commissioned essays, artist contributions, conversations and translations, exploring exhibition as a material, embodied and political practice, while inviting a new location for past art and bringing it into the present for what is to come.
Spring Dialogue: After the Contemporary: Curating History/Histories of Curating, in Asia, 2020
Lightly edited version of a talk given at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, 27 October 2017, at ... more Lightly edited version of a talk given at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, 27 October 2017, at the invitation of Lu PeiYi. Abstract for this talk:
'Lucy Steeds will offer some reflections on exhibition histories as a field of research. Turning to a specific case-study she will share work-in-progress into the ‘PAUSE’ exhibition of the 4th Gwangju Biennale of 2002. Reflecting on the Taiwanese contributions to this show, she will speculate on the significance of the project at the time and now, in Gwangju and elsewhere. Not being an expert on the Taiwanese art scene herself – but instead a specialist in exhibition histories as such; which is to say, a generalist – she will welcome challenges and clarifications from the audience.'
Discussants on stage: Chen Hui-chiao, Michael Lin, Lu PeiYi.
Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibition, 2019
Art’s exposability – Walter Benjamin’s word is 'Ausstellbarkeit' – promises both a public future ... more Art’s exposability – Walter Benjamin’s word is 'Ausstellbarkeit' – promises both a public future and a social history for art. Or we might rather say: public futures and social histories for artistic practices. This essay revisits Ausstellbarkeit as Benjamin invokes it in the 1930s and seeks to repurpose it for art theory now.
Of(f) Our Times: Curatorial Anachronics, 2019
'Curating After the Global: Roadmaps for the Present' , 2019
Intro to 'Section II, Exhibition Histories' from the anthology 'Curating After the Global: Roadma... more Intro to 'Section II, Exhibition Histories' from the anthology 'Curating After the Global: Roadmaps for the Present' (ed. Paul O'Neill, Simon Sheikh, Lucy Steeds & Mick Wilson; The MIT Press, 2019), titled 'Activating What Might Have Happened to Shape What Could Be'. Plus contents pages for the book.
On the teaching, writing and restaging of exhibition histories in the field of contemporary art. ... more On the teaching, writing and restaging of exhibition histories in the field of contemporary art. In Paul O'Neill, Mick Wilson and Lucy Steeds (ed.), 'The Curatorial Conundrum: What to Study? What to Research? What to Practice?', The MIT Press, 2016.
Introduction to the book co-edited by Elena Crippa and Lucy Steeds, 'Exhibition, Design, Particip... more Introduction to the book co-edited by Elena Crippa and Lucy Steeds, 'Exhibition, Design, Participation: "an Exhibit" 1957 and Related Projects' (London: Afterall, 2016).
Book abstract: The radical project 'an Exhibit' emerged from a decade of testing the formats and possibilities of exhibition-making. A collaboration between two artists, Richard Hamilton and Victor Pasmore, and critic Lawrence Alloway, the show was simultaneously an investigation into abstract environmental design and a participatory experiment that would fundamentally transform the role of the viewer. Comprehensive documentation of the show appears alongside archival interviews and reprints, featuring the three voices of the protagonists behind 'an Exhibit' and also David Sylvester. The detailed analysis of Elena Crippa is complemented by further new contributions by Martin Beck, Owen Hatherley and Lucy Steeds — jointly addressing the diverse influences of 'an Exhibit', from contemporary art practice to urban design and social housing. Exhibition, Design,
![Research paper thumbnail of ‘Expositions [de dessin] en Grande-Bretagne, 1964–1980’](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/39314961/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Vers le visible: Exposer le dessin contemporain, 1964... more A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Vers le visible: Exposer le dessin contemporain, 1964–1980', Paris and Vevey, Roven éditions and Musée Jenisch, 2015
![Research paper thumbnail of ‘Exhibitions [of Drawings] in Britain, 1964–80’](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/39314903/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Towards the Light: Exhibiting Contemporary Drawing, 1... more A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Towards the Light: Exhibiting Contemporary Drawing, 1964–80', Paris and Vevey, Roven éditions and Musée Jenisch, 2015
This chapter tracks a single work of art, 'Projeto terra' by Juraci Dórea, through the archival t... more This chapter tracks a single work of art, 'Projeto terra' by Juraci Dórea, through the archival traces of three successive biennials – São Paulo in 1987, Venice in 1988 and Havana in 1989. Drawing on the documentation amassed by Dórea himself, critical readings of each exhibition context are developed and breaks with the official record are examined. In particular, the São Paulo initiative is presented as the postmodern heir to the Venice Biennale’s aging modernism, postmodernism being identified here with a Brazilian concept of the baroque. In this context, Projeto terra is then considered as a productively disruptive force, and some discursive possibilities are explored. Are these possibilities then diminished or amplified in the Cuban Bienal of 1989? What becomes apparent through this geographical and historical parcours is not only how the historiography of works and exhibitions (in this case biennials) might be intertwined, but also how a single work may, over time, either endorse or undo curatorial intentions.
First given as a paper at the World Biennial Forum, no.2, in São Paulo, November 2014, this chapter is published in the resulting digital book (issuu.com/iccoart/docs/wbf_book_r5_issuu) (printable: http://www.biennialfoundation.org/2015/05/out-now/).
Please note that image captions incorrectly reproduced: second image (p.41) shows the Bienal de São Paulo, 1987.
Making Art Global (Part 2) 'Magiciens de la Terre' 1989, 2013
In 1989, an exhibition in Paris united the work of over a hundred artists and, since only half wo... more In 1989, an exhibition in Paris united the work of over a hundred artists and, since only half would be described as Western, it radically challenged the Western art system from within. 'Magiciens de la Terre' argued for the universality of the creative impulse and endeavoured to offer direct aesthetic experience of contemporary works of art made globally and presented on equal terms. Photographs and gallery plans reconstruct the exhibition in detail, and an essay by Lucy Steeds provides an extended examination of its history and context.
Contents pages and introduction to the book titled 'Exhibition' in the 'Documents of Contemporary... more Contents pages and introduction to the book titled 'Exhibition' in the 'Documents of Contemporary Art' series published by Whitechapel Gallery, London and The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2014
Essays by Lucy Steeds
![Research paper thumbnail of 多元的展览史 与共享的记忆术 [Exhibition Histories and the Shared Art of Memory]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/66662095/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Art Monthly (Beijing), 2021
A reflection on my research and publishing approach to the field of exhibition histories, with a ... more A reflection on my research and publishing approach to the field of exhibition histories, with a focus on the books I have worked on with colleagues for Afterall (one a year since 2010): https://www.afterall.org/publications/exhibition.histories/ This text was commissioned by Mia Yu for her edited section of Art Monthly (Beijing) on exhibition histories; her introduction features alongside.
Revista CONCRETA, 2019
Spanish translation by Lambe & Nieto of ‘Exposability: On the Taking-Place in Future of Art’ (fro... more Spanish translation by Lambe & Nieto of ‘Exposability: On the Taking-Place in Future of Art’ (from Vincent Normand and Tristan Garcia, ed., 'Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibition', Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2019) for issue 13 of 'Revista CONCRETA', 13, Spring 2019, as commissioned by Laura Vallés and Nuria Enguita - see http://www.editorialconcreta.org/-Concreta-13-214-
British Art Studies, no. 13: 'London, Asia, Exhibitions, Histories', 2019
One of several invited responses to an idea/provocation/question articulated by Saloni Mathur: wh... more One of several invited responses to an idea/provocation/question articulated by Saloni Mathur: why exhibition histories? The conversation piece in its entirety can be consulted online, https://doi.org/10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-13/conversation
'The Artist as Curator', 2015
An essay on artist Goshka Macuga's 'Picture Room' at Gasworks in London in 2003, an exhibition of... more An essay on artist Goshka Macuga's 'Picture Room' at Gasworks in London in 2003, an exhibition of contemporary art that rethought the display space and strategies designed by John Soane for his home-museum in 1824.
A contribution to the series on 'The Artist as Curator', edited by Elena Filipovic for 'Mousse' magazine, it appeared in issue 48 (April 2015) and was then republished in the ensuing book (and also in Goshka Macuga's monograph: 'Before the Beginning and After the End', Fondazione Prada, Milan, 2016).
Art Critique Taiwan (ACT, Tainan National University of the Arts), no.64, October 2015 (special issue on ‘Curatorship’ edited by LU Pei-Yi and CHIANG Po-Shin), 2015
On contemporary art, curating and exhibition histories
Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, 2014
A comparison of two curatorial initiatives at the turn of the last century. ‘Cities on the Move’ ... more A comparison of two curatorial initiatives at the turn of the last century. ‘Cities on the Move’ (initiated in Vienna 1997) was intended to showcase the recent work of East Asian artists and also to challenge the white cube of contemporary art exhibitions through inspiration from East Asian urban experiences of the 1990s. Equally influenced by the urban experience of modernist/postmodern Europe, however, it risked exoticising, once again, that which Western audiences might describe as non-Western. So what happened when the show was rethought for Bangkok in 1999? Conceived as an ongoing and organic or evolutionary project, it would not survive long beyond this exhibition situation and, in its wake, we may productively consider ‘Project 1: Pause’ of the 4th Gwangju Biennale in 2002. The latter took its lead from exhibition practice in the given context and worked to bring this into dialogue with comparable models globally, offering a forum for reflecting on and developing artistic agency, resistance and self-organisation – within Asia and Europe in particular. Here urban representation or evocation within the exhibition space gave form to urban engagement.
Reshaping the Field: Arts of the African Diasporas on Display, 2022
This essay considers the exhibition histories of two films produced in the UK in the 1980s – by S... more This essay considers the exhibition histories of two films produced in the UK in the 1980s – by Sankofa ("Dreaming Rivers") and Black Audio Film Collective ("Handsworth Songs"). It addresses some of the presentation contexts for these films – including TV broadcast in the UK and cinema programming in New York, at the time of their creation; also their curation into major survey exhibitions and museum displays more recently; and, further, their live streaming. What have varying contexts of presentation brought out in the films? And how might that shape an appreciation of them now? This essay is a contribution to Nana Adusei-Poku's book, "Reshaping the Field: Arts of the African Diasporas on Display", published in 2022.
Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Becoming Public, 2021
This is the co-authored introduction to 'Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Be... more This is the co-authored introduction to 'Art and its Worlds: Exhibitions, Institutions and Art Becoming Public' (2021) – the 12th title in Afterall's 'Exhibition Histories' series of books. It reflects on the 15-year research project that has produced this series. It also guides readers to the content of the book, which offers a possible history of art since 1989 told through the moments when art becomes public. The anthology addresses some of the myriad worlds conjured by art and the telling of their histories. It is guided by three questions: What is the 'global' for art and exhibition-making, or why has it been what it has? How have agents including artists and curators experimented with different forms of exhibition? And how do these exhibitionary moments connect to longerterm and institutional trajectories? Key texts previously published in Afterall journal appear alongside newly commissioned essays, artist contributions, conversations and translations, exploring exhibition as a material, embodied and political practice, while inviting a new location for past art and bringing it into the present for what is to come.
Spring Dialogue: After the Contemporary: Curating History/Histories of Curating, in Asia, 2020
Lightly edited version of a talk given at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, 27 October 2017, at ... more Lightly edited version of a talk given at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, 27 October 2017, at the invitation of Lu PeiYi. Abstract for this talk:
'Lucy Steeds will offer some reflections on exhibition histories as a field of research. Turning to a specific case-study she will share work-in-progress into the ‘PAUSE’ exhibition of the 4th Gwangju Biennale of 2002. Reflecting on the Taiwanese contributions to this show, she will speculate on the significance of the project at the time and now, in Gwangju and elsewhere. Not being an expert on the Taiwanese art scene herself – but instead a specialist in exhibition histories as such; which is to say, a generalist – she will welcome challenges and clarifications from the audience.'
Discussants on stage: Chen Hui-chiao, Michael Lin, Lu PeiYi.
Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibition, 2019
Art’s exposability – Walter Benjamin’s word is 'Ausstellbarkeit' – promises both a public future ... more Art’s exposability – Walter Benjamin’s word is 'Ausstellbarkeit' – promises both a public future and a social history for art. Or we might rather say: public futures and social histories for artistic practices. This essay revisits Ausstellbarkeit as Benjamin invokes it in the 1930s and seeks to repurpose it for art theory now.
Of(f) Our Times: Curatorial Anachronics, 2019
'Curating After the Global: Roadmaps for the Present' , 2019
Intro to 'Section II, Exhibition Histories' from the anthology 'Curating After the Global: Roadma... more Intro to 'Section II, Exhibition Histories' from the anthology 'Curating After the Global: Roadmaps for the Present' (ed. Paul O'Neill, Simon Sheikh, Lucy Steeds & Mick Wilson; The MIT Press, 2019), titled 'Activating What Might Have Happened to Shape What Could Be'. Plus contents pages for the book.
On the teaching, writing and restaging of exhibition histories in the field of contemporary art. ... more On the teaching, writing and restaging of exhibition histories in the field of contemporary art. In Paul O'Neill, Mick Wilson and Lucy Steeds (ed.), 'The Curatorial Conundrum: What to Study? What to Research? What to Practice?', The MIT Press, 2016.
Introduction to the book co-edited by Elena Crippa and Lucy Steeds, 'Exhibition, Design, Particip... more Introduction to the book co-edited by Elena Crippa and Lucy Steeds, 'Exhibition, Design, Participation: "an Exhibit" 1957 and Related Projects' (London: Afterall, 2016).
Book abstract: The radical project 'an Exhibit' emerged from a decade of testing the formats and possibilities of exhibition-making. A collaboration between two artists, Richard Hamilton and Victor Pasmore, and critic Lawrence Alloway, the show was simultaneously an investigation into abstract environmental design and a participatory experiment that would fundamentally transform the role of the viewer. Comprehensive documentation of the show appears alongside archival interviews and reprints, featuring the three voices of the protagonists behind 'an Exhibit' and also David Sylvester. The detailed analysis of Elena Crippa is complemented by further new contributions by Martin Beck, Owen Hatherley and Lucy Steeds — jointly addressing the diverse influences of 'an Exhibit', from contemporary art practice to urban design and social housing. Exhibition, Design,
A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Vers le visible: Exposer le dessin contemporain, 1964... more A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Vers le visible: Exposer le dessin contemporain, 1964–1980', Paris and Vevey, Roven éditions and Musée Jenisch, 2015
A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Towards the Light: Exhibiting Contemporary Drawing, 1... more A chapter in Julie Enckell Julliard (ed.), 'Towards the Light: Exhibiting Contemporary Drawing, 1964–80', Paris and Vevey, Roven éditions and Musée Jenisch, 2015
This chapter tracks a single work of art, 'Projeto terra' by Juraci Dórea, through the archival t... more This chapter tracks a single work of art, 'Projeto terra' by Juraci Dórea, through the archival traces of three successive biennials – São Paulo in 1987, Venice in 1988 and Havana in 1989. Drawing on the documentation amassed by Dórea himself, critical readings of each exhibition context are developed and breaks with the official record are examined. In particular, the São Paulo initiative is presented as the postmodern heir to the Venice Biennale’s aging modernism, postmodernism being identified here with a Brazilian concept of the baroque. In this context, Projeto terra is then considered as a productively disruptive force, and some discursive possibilities are explored. Are these possibilities then diminished or amplified in the Cuban Bienal of 1989? What becomes apparent through this geographical and historical parcours is not only how the historiography of works and exhibitions (in this case biennials) might be intertwined, but also how a single work may, over time, either endorse or undo curatorial intentions.
First given as a paper at the World Biennial Forum, no.2, in São Paulo, November 2014, this chapter is published in the resulting digital book (issuu.com/iccoart/docs/wbf_book_r5_issuu) (printable: http://www.biennialfoundation.org/2015/05/out-now/).
Please note that image captions incorrectly reproduced: second image (p.41) shows the Bienal de São Paulo, 1987.
Making Art Global (Part 2) 'Magiciens de la Terre' 1989, 2013
In 1989, an exhibition in Paris united the work of over a hundred artists and, since only half wo... more In 1989, an exhibition in Paris united the work of over a hundred artists and, since only half would be described as Western, it radically challenged the Western art system from within. 'Magiciens de la Terre' argued for the universality of the creative impulse and endeavoured to offer direct aesthetic experience of contemporary works of art made globally and presented on equal terms. Photographs and gallery plans reconstruct the exhibition in detail, and an essay by Lucy Steeds provides an extended examination of its history and context.
Contents pages and introduction to the book titled 'Exhibition' in the 'Documents of Contemporary... more Contents pages and introduction to the book titled 'Exhibition' in the 'Documents of Contemporary Art' series published by Whitechapel Gallery, London and The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2014
Art Monthly (Beijing), 2021
A reflection on my research and publishing approach to the field of exhibition histories, with a ... more A reflection on my research and publishing approach to the field of exhibition histories, with a focus on the books I have worked on with colleagues for Afterall (one a year since 2010): https://www.afterall.org/publications/exhibition.histories/ This text was commissioned by Mia Yu for her edited section of Art Monthly (Beijing) on exhibition histories; her introduction features alongside.
Revista CONCRETA, 2019
Spanish translation by Lambe & Nieto of ‘Exposability: On the Taking-Place in Future of Art’ (fro... more Spanish translation by Lambe & Nieto of ‘Exposability: On the Taking-Place in Future of Art’ (from Vincent Normand and Tristan Garcia, ed., 'Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibition', Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2019) for issue 13 of 'Revista CONCRETA', 13, Spring 2019, as commissioned by Laura Vallés and Nuria Enguita - see http://www.editorialconcreta.org/-Concreta-13-214-
British Art Studies, no. 13: 'London, Asia, Exhibitions, Histories', 2019
One of several invited responses to an idea/provocation/question articulated by Saloni Mathur: wh... more One of several invited responses to an idea/provocation/question articulated by Saloni Mathur: why exhibition histories? The conversation piece in its entirety can be consulted online, https://doi.org/10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-13/conversation
'The Artist as Curator', 2015
An essay on artist Goshka Macuga's 'Picture Room' at Gasworks in London in 2003, an exhibition of... more An essay on artist Goshka Macuga's 'Picture Room' at Gasworks in London in 2003, an exhibition of contemporary art that rethought the display space and strategies designed by John Soane for his home-museum in 1824.
A contribution to the series on 'The Artist as Curator', edited by Elena Filipovic for 'Mousse' magazine, it appeared in issue 48 (April 2015) and was then republished in the ensuing book (and also in Goshka Macuga's monograph: 'Before the Beginning and After the End', Fondazione Prada, Milan, 2016).
Art Critique Taiwan (ACT, Tainan National University of the Arts), no.64, October 2015 (special issue on ‘Curatorship’ edited by LU Pei-Yi and CHIANG Po-Shin), 2015
On contemporary art, curating and exhibition histories
Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, 2014
A comparison of two curatorial initiatives at the turn of the last century. ‘Cities on the Move’ ... more A comparison of two curatorial initiatives at the turn of the last century. ‘Cities on the Move’ (initiated in Vienna 1997) was intended to showcase the recent work of East Asian artists and also to challenge the white cube of contemporary art exhibitions through inspiration from East Asian urban experiences of the 1990s. Equally influenced by the urban experience of modernist/postmodern Europe, however, it risked exoticising, once again, that which Western audiences might describe as non-Western. So what happened when the show was rethought for Bangkok in 1999? Conceived as an ongoing and organic or evolutionary project, it would not survive long beyond this exhibition situation and, in its wake, we may productively consider ‘Project 1: Pause’ of the 4th Gwangju Biennale in 2002. The latter took its lead from exhibition practice in the given context and worked to bring this into dialogue with comparable models globally, offering a forum for reflecting on and developing artistic agency, resistance and self-organisation – within Asia and Europe in particular. Here urban representation or evocation within the exhibition space gave form to urban engagement.