MoMA Talks: Conversations

Artist Joe McKay discusses his work and its relationship to sound in space, with a particular focus on Light Wave and Tweetagraph, his interactive installations in MoMA Studio.

Legendary Brazilian poet and founder of the Concrete poetry movement Augusto de Campos and his son, the musician Cid Campos, present a multimedia performance of text, music, and, image. Working within the expanded territory of poetry, Augusto de Campos uses sounds to activate associative thinking and explore the possibilities of language.

Revitalizing Frank O'Hara's legacy and MoMA's historical commitment to poetry, this series invites poets and performers to bring the literary tradition to the Museum's collection. They read historical works and their own work that reflects on modern and contemporary art.

Friday, November 10, 2006

6:30 p.m.

Trisha Donnelly's photographs, drawings, and video, sound, and performance art challenge viewers to consider the meaning of signs, logic, and narrative. Through gestures, expressions, and the passage of time, she cryptically reveals imaginary languages and belief systems that alter viewers' perceptions of images and environments. Donnelly received a BFA from UCLA and an MFA from Yale University. Her work has been seen most recently in the 2003 Venice Biennale and the Carnegie International in 2004.

Photo courtesy of Miriam Berkley

Paul Bartow and J. Morgan Puett in conversation.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

6:00 p.m.

Negar Azimi, Senior Editor, Bidoun Projects (a not-for-profit publishing, curatorial, and educational initiative), and William Wells, Director, Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, discuss how artists and institutions in the Middle East are engaging with and activating their local communities.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

6:00 PM

New York–based artist Paul Ramírez Jonas, whose work examines the interaction between artist and audience, discusses his artistic practice with Carol Becker, Professor of the Arts and Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts. Moderated by MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry.

Paul Ramírez Jonas' selected solo exhibitions include The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut; the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas; Alexander Gray Associates, New York; Björkholmen Gallery, Stockholm; Postmasters Gallery, New York; and surveys at Ikon Gallery and Cornerhouse in the United Kingdom.

Ramírez Jonas' work was featured in numerous group exhibitions since the early 1990s, including the Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig; MoMA PS1; Whitechapel, London; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Künstlerhaus, Vienna; The New Museum, New York; and Kunsthaus Zurich. He has participated in the Johannesburg Biennale; the Seoul Biennial, the Shanghai Biennial; the 28th Sao Paulo Biennial; 7th Bienal do Mercosul; and the 53rd Venice Biennial.

He has built permanent public art projects in Cambridge, Massachusetts and for the Hudson River Park, New York, New York. In 2010 his Key to the City project was presented by Creative Time in cooperation with the City of New York. He has received numerous grants and awards, including fellowships from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Art Matters, and the Howard Foundation. He holds a B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a Professor of Art at Hunter College, New York, NY.

Carol Becker is Professor of the Arts and Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts. Prior to this appointment she was Dean of Faculty and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of numerous articles and several books including: The Invisible Drama: Women and the Anxiety of Change (with multiple foreign editions); Zones of Contention: Essays on Art, Institutions, Gender, and Anxiety; Surpassing the Spectacle: Global Transformations and the Changing Politics of Art; The Subversive Imagination: Artists, Society, and Social Responsibility—an edited edition; and most recently, Thinking in Place: Art, Action, and Cultural Production.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

9:30 AM

This two-day program brings together artists, art historians, scholars, critics, writers, and speech and performance studies experts to discuss possible frameworks for better understanding issues surrounding art speech and methods for being direct and achieving clarity in spoken public presentations in the visual arts. The spoken public presentation is central in the field of the visual arts, particularly in the area of adult learning. Public program departments in museums operate based on a set of conventions regarding the way they present lectures or discussions about art involving artists, art historians, and/or theorists. Yet very little qualitative analysis has been conducted on the effectiveness of these presentations. Often times, public presentations are deemed impenetrable or obscure. What is communicated in writing cannot always be easily grasped when presented on stage.

Using a variety of strategies, this year’s forum will seek to anatomize art historians' and artists' habits at the podium. Sessions will include reenactments of famous acts of criticism, critiques of the academic slide show, an investigation of the effects of apparently authoritative presentations, experiments in the effects of stage presence, and analyses of the academic introduction and of the performative.

Program Schedule

9:30–10:00 a.m.

Coffee and snacks

10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Session 1

10:00–10:15

James Elkins discusses the philosophical and rhetorical problems with art speech

10:15–10:45

Christophe Cherix, Chief Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art, presents a film of Robert Morris's early performance work 21.3 (1964)

10:45–11:45

Donald Preziosi, Professor of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles, deconstructs one of his previous talks, followed by a conversation with James Elkins

11:45–12:30

Anna Kryczka, PhD candidate, Visual Studies, University of California, Irvine, talks about “Our Literal Speed,” with a response by Abbey Shane Dubin on behalf of “Our Literal Speed.” A conversation follows

12:30–12:45 p.m.

Coffee break

12:45–1:20 p.m.

Respondent's panel discussion

Respondents: Charles Altieri, Professor of English, University of California, Berkley; Alexander Alberro, Virginia Bloedel Wright Professor of Art History, Barnard, Columbia University, New York; Pablo Helguera; and James Elkins

1:20–2:00 p.m.

Q&A

Friday, May 20, 2011

1:00 PM

This two-day program brings together artists, art historians, scholars, critics, writers, and speech and performance studies experts to discuss possible frameworks for better understanding issues surrounding art speech and methods for being direct and achieving clarity in spoken public presentations in the visual arts. The spoken public presentation is central in the field of the visual arts, particularly in the area of adult learning. Public program departments in museums operate based on a set of conventions regarding the way they present lectures or discussions about art involving artists, art historians, and/or theorists. Yet very little qualitative analysis has been conducted on the effectiveness of these presentations. Often times, public presentations are deemed impenetrable or obscure. What is communicated in writing cannot always be easily grasped when presented on stage.

Using a variety of strategies, this year’s forum will seek to anatomize art historians' and artists' habits at the podium. Sessions will include reenactments of famous acts of criticism, critiques of the academic slide show, an investigation of the effects of apparently authoritative presentations, experiments in the effects of stage presence, and analyses of the academic introduction and of the performative.

Program Schedule

1:00–1:15 p.m.

Opening Remarks

Pablo Helguera, Director of Adult and Academic Programs, Department of Education, The Museum of Modern Art; and James Elkins, E.C. Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

1:15–2:30 p.m.

Session 1: The Slide Talk and Museum Talk Dissected

1:15–1:25

Introduction by Pablo Helguera

1:25–1:40

Carey Young, artist, on her recent work Speechcraft, a mass participative event involving the public-speaking club Toastmasters

1:40–1:55

Monika Szewczyk, Head of Publications, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, on modes of visual presentation

1:55–2:10

Jonathan Gilmore, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Yale University, New Haven, examines the slide lecture

2:10–2:30

Discussion and Q&A

2:30–2:45 p.m.

Coffee Break

2:45–4:00 p.m.

Session 2: The Art Historical Lecture

2:45–3:00

Introduction by James Elkins

3:00–3:10

Video excerpt of lecture by T. J. Clark

3:10–3:30

Claus Noppeney, Professor, Bern University of the Arts, Bern, Switzerland, discusses video excerpt

3:30–3:45

Ellen Levy, artist and Associate Professor, Pratt Institute, New York, analyzes video excerpt

3:45–4:00

Conclusions

4:00–5:00 p.m.

Panel discussion and Q&A

Respondents: Marjorie Perloff, Professor Emerita of Humanities, Stanford University; Benjamin Binstock, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cooper Union, New York; Pablo Helguera; and James Elkins

Discussion with Peter Eleey

Monday, May 09, 2011

12:00 PM

Join us for Artists Present at Noon, the second in a special two-part series of talks by contemporary artists. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of 20 images, 25 seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, creative process, and other issues in contemporary art, followed by a moderated discussion. This session will focus on artists who create and present work that moves beyond the object, from publications and events to public talks and writing.

Alexandre Singh

Monday, May 09, 2011

12:00 PM

Join us for Artists Present at Noon, the second in a special two-part series of talks by contemporary artists. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of 20 images, 25 seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, creative process, and other issues in contemporary art, followed by a moderated discussion. This session will focus on artists who create and present work that moves beyond the object, from publications and events to public talks and writing.