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  • I want to come clean with you guys about something.

  • Ever since "The Art Assignment" started,

  • I've been calling myself a curator.

  • But it's a self given title.

  • When I worked at an art museum, I had that official title.

  • But now I'm taking a bit of liberty with the term.

  • So let's talk about what a curator actually

  • is and whether or not I have any right to call myself one.

  • These days you hear the word curator all over the place.

  • I curate my Tumblr.

  • He curates a collection of vintage sneakers.

  • She curated our music selection this evening.

  • And some people get their panties

  • in a bunch over this use of the term.

  • I don't really have a problem with it,

  • but I do want to think about what

  • it means in the traditional sense

  • and how the term may have evolved.

  • So the word curator comes from the Latin curo, curare,

  • which for our application means to care for, to see to,

  • to worry about.

  • So a curator is a person who cares for something

  • or a collection of something.

  • And you can care for a lot of things.

  • I used to care for contemporary art as a curator at a museum.

  • And now I care for contemporary art

  • as the producer behind this show.

  • But it's more complicated than that.

  • Being a curator for a collection-- whether it's

  • art, taxidermied animals, rare coins,

  • widgets-- usually means you were hired

  • to care for that collection or part of the collection

  • by a museum or other institution that owns those things.

  • And you were are hired because you have some special knowledge

  • or experience in that area.

  • So you're either a specialist or on the road to becoming

  • a specialist, and there's a reason why you're better

  • suited to steward the collection than a random person

  • off the street.

  • And you have to know that collection in and out.

  • You study it, you sort it, you write about it,

  • you talk about it with other specialists,

  • and continually try to expand your own education

  • on the subject.

  • Figure out what needs conservation and think

  • about what's missing from the collection.

  • Then you agitate and fund raise to fill the gaps

  • through acquisitions, commissioning, exhibitions,

  • or programming.

  • Then comes the part where you are arrange

  • the collection in rooms.

  • OK, it's not really that simple.

  • Let's call this step instead presenting the collection

  • to a public.

  • This is done by making exhibitions, writing books,

  • essays, blog posts, labels, giving tours and lectures,

  • training tour guides, writing press releases,

  • and talking to the press.

  • It's the curator's job to bridge the gap

  • between the material they're presenting

  • and the people they're presenting it to.

  • Some things are more self evident than others,

  • and it's the job of the curator to provide

  • as much or as little interpretation

  • as the material needs.

  • When you're dealing with contemporary art,

  • the curator's job is to best represent

  • that art and the artist who made it,

  • while also understanding the needs

  • and knowledge of the audience.

  • Maybe the artist doesn't want any explanation

  • of the artwork in the room with the art, but you, the curator,

  • strongly believe your audience needs

  • some tiny morsel of information to effectively engage

  • with the work.

  • So you try to make the artist see your point of view.

  • And if that fails, you make compromises

  • like posting information in a nearby gallery

  • or in a pamphlet or book or audio guide or online.

  • Basically, you're the middleman or the midwife

  • or the mediator between the material and the audience.

  • You've got to try to know your audience

  • and have empathy for them.

  • You need to provide your audience

  • with the tools they need to have the best experience possible

  • with that material.

  • But you have to weigh what's too little

  • and what's too much, what's too academic and art speaky,

  • and what's pandering, or overly simplified.

  • And it's important to remember that you

  • can have a really diverse audience with vastly

  • different needs.

  • It is the curator's obligation to try

  • to address those needs responsibly

  • and to the best of their ability.

  • Maybe you create labels or guides specifically

  • for kids, or an audio guide or tours

  • for those with special needs.

  • OK, so what happens when you're a specialist

  • but you don't work for an institution

  • and you don't have a given collection to steward?

  • You're an independent curator.

  • And you initiate your own projects

  • or are hired by others to present material for them

  • on a temporary basis.

  • And this is where the term starts to loosen up.

  • I am no longer affiliated with a museum

  • or a particular collection, so I'm technically

  • a specialist in contemporary art and art

  • of the 20th and 21st century who is applying that knowledge

  • to this new project.

  • I'm still caring for contemporary art,

  • and I'm doing that by presenting the artwork

  • and ideas of a wide range of artists working today.

  • I'm commissioning artists to create assignments for you

  • and then I'm commissioning you to make art

  • based on those assignments.

  • Instead of a museum, I have the platform of this video series.

  • And I think about the series holistically.

  • I consider which artists to make episodes with,

  • in what order to show them, how best

  • to introduce their work to you, what to ask them,

  • and how to contextualize the assignments historically.

  • I try to think about what you guys want to see,

  • or what you might not know you want to see,

  • but that you'll like when you see it.

  • I work with the artists we present

  • to think through assignments that are feasible for you,

  • but also challenging.

  • If you're watching these videos and doing the assignments,

  • I'm hoping that you're becoming more and more

  • familiar with the recent history of art

  • and the ways of thinking that you might be exposed to when

  • you see art out in the world.

  • So I think I have a legitimate claim upon the title curator,

  • and I'm going to keep using it.

  • I think if you're a specialist in vintage sneakers

  • and know that world upside and down

  • and you've done your research and you've carefully considered

  • your platform for presenting said sneakers, as well

  • as your potential sneaker appreciating audience,

  • I think that makes you a legitimate curator

  • of vintage sneakers.

  • And I want to take a look at your collection

  • and hear from you about why I should be interested in it.

  • What do you think?

  • What's a curator to you?

  • Tell us in the comments.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

I want to come clean with you guys about something.

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