FONS AUDIO #47
Andrea Fraser
What do we want from art? Andrea Fraser (Billings, Montana 1965) addresses this question in her work and looks at the motivations of a wide range of cultural agents including artists, collectors, gallerists, patrons and audiences. Associated with institutional critique, and informed by feminism, psychoanalysis and the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, the core of Fraser’s work is a piercing analysis of the social fabric of the art world, exploring its internal mechanisms together with the political, economic and psychological structures that condition it. Infused with intellect, humour and emotion they challenge us to consider our own motivations as we view the work and participate in the field of art.
In FONS ÀUDIO #47, Andrea Fraser comments the work ‘Little Frank and His Carp’, in the MACBA Collection, which registered her performance in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 2001. Wearing a short green dress and black high heels, the artist moves through the interior of the building, one that is emblematic of nineties’ international museum architecture, while listening to the institution’s audio guide: ‘You can feel your soul rise up with the building around you.
‘ Recorded by five hidden cameras, ‘Little Frank and His Carp’ follows the artist’s movements from different angles and shows the changes in attitude and emotion generated by the male voice of the audio guide; a voice that highlights the architectural virtues and sensual forms of the building: ‘The museum tries to make you feel at home, so you can relax.’ Following these instructions, the artist responds erotically to the building, while other visitors observe her behaviour.
Behind all this are resonances of the public debate that has been ongoing since the establishment of the Guggenheim Museum in the Basque city in 1997. Since that time, the impact of the construction of the museum on the local economy has been the subject of much discussion, leading to the term ‘the Bilbao effect’, which has become prominent in discussions around the role of cultural institutions in urban regeneration and in the construction of a transnational institutional model, embedded in the neoliberal practice.
Akram Zaatari
In FONS ÀUDIO #48, Akram Zaatari contextualises his work 'Nature morte', which is part of the MACBA Collection. This film was produced for the 2008 exhibition 'Les Inquiets – 5 artistes sous la pression de la guerre' at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which explored the war in the Middle East and its representations.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Rogelio López Cuenca that we were unable to include the first time around.
Rogelio López Cuenca
Rogelio López Cuenca looks back at some of the key aspects that led to the creation of three works now in the MACBA Collection: 'No (W) here Postcards' (1998), 'Beaux Arts' (1992), and 'Musée Élan' (1989).
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Andrea Fraser that we were unable to include the first time around.
Andrea Fraser
Andrea Fraser talks about the challenges and limitations of cultural activism, about the sub-fields of art, the relationship between artists and the market, and the museum in the neoliberal era.
Cuauhtémoc Medina
Cuauhtémoc Medina talks about post-colonialism and fetishisation tactics, about the status of museums in global networks, about the role of the market as disseminator, and about how to fight – and try to finally win – the battle for cultural complexity.