The Discursive Museum

by Boris Groys, Bazon Brock, Vito Acconci

Can the museum be viewed as a conceptual structure capable of liberating itself from visual and imaginary content? To address this question, a group of well-known philosophers, theorists, and artists undertook a critical examination of collection and exhibition concepts, especially of those that are orientated toward market success. With current trends toward global museum mergers, large-scale exhibitions, and art light, the participants of this symposium, held at the MAK in Vienna, discuss the possibilities for daring curatorial policies dedicated to presenting art within critical aesthetic contexts and point the way to possible future forms of the museum.

Genres: Art, Theory

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2002

About the author

Boris Efimovich Groys (born 19 March 1947) is an art critic, media theorist, and philosopher. He is currently a Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany. He has been a professor of Aesthetics, Art History, and Media Theory at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design/Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe and an internationally acclaimed Professor at a number of universities in the United States and Europe, including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California and the Courtauld Institute of Art London.