THE VIEWER AS CURATOR

BY SOPHIA FIKKE, MILO WOODS, MADELINE CLINTON, GERMAN GIAMMATTEI URREA, BROOKE HARRINGTON, AND SOFIA ZAVATONE- VETH

A photo of a gold lamp in the shape of Christ and a wooden penguin gazing closely at each other against a white background.
Dialogue (with penguin), 1999, cibachrome, 35 x 27 3/5 inches.
A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing down, on paper. A square is drawn on the tip of the index finger and on the paper.
The Square (El cuadrado) II, 1973, printed 2013, from series of 5 gelatin silver prints made from the original negatives, each 8.5 x 11 inches.

Liliana Porter’s work powerfully leverages formal simplicity to encourage the contemplation of profound connections across objects, concepts, times, and artistic mediums. In Dialogue (with penguin), Porter places seemingly unrelated characters (Jesus and a penguin) next to each other as though in conversation. The Square (El cuadrado) II is the second in a sequence of five images in which the position of the hand and the square that was later drawn on each work is distinct. Even in this single work, Porter layers disparate moments—when the hand was photographed and when the line was drawn. Viewers then experience the work in their own time. Porter also combines varied artistic mediums, drawing and photography.

In the spirit of Porter’s work, we encourage you to contemplate connections across decades of her artworks, thematic foci, and mediums of choice. We invite you to engage with our prompts outlined in the curatorial projects below, to download images of artworks, and to share images or text documenting your interaction. We encourage you to share your ideas for possible curatorial projects, using the submission instructions below.

Please note that Porter’s work may awe, illuminate, challenge, unsettle, confound, provoke or otherwise upset. Be advised that a few artworks include vintage figurines such as a Nazi soldier. Some videos allude to human experiences such as death, suicide, and sexual content.

SAMPLE CURATORIAL PROJECT #1: REPRESENTATION

SAMPLE CURATORIAL PROJECT #2: CONSUMERISM

Now it’s your turn to curate!

All of the images below are available to download, print, and arrange in your physical space. You could also organize images in a Google doc. or other digital space. As you work with the images, consider these questions to begin:

  • What themes, ideas, or questions emerge when you study the images?
  • How might you arrange the artworks to communicate your analysis?
  • How could you describe the themes that connect across the artworks and explain your organization of artworks?
  • A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing down, on paper. A square is drawn on the tip of the index finger and on the paper.
  • A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing down, on paper. A square is drawn on the edge of the index finger and on the paper.
  • A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing down, on paper. A square is drawn on the tip of the index and middle fingers and on the paper.
  • A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing up, on paper. A square is drawn on the tip of the index and middle fingers and on the paper.
  • A photo of a black and white photograph with a hand, palm facing up, on paper. A square is drawn on the palm of the hand.
  • Outlines of three pedestals are drawn on a white wall. Photographs (a sphere, a pyramid, and a cube) are mounted as if each were atop a column.
  • A pencil sketch of a pitcher next to a small pyramid with a red slash through it; a similar, cleaner pyramid has been drawn in red ink.
  • A postcard of a man in a black suit painting a gray bird in flight. He stares at an egg to his left on an orange table. A stone shaped like an egg is placed on the floor to the left of the postcard.
  • A photo of a gold lamp in the shape of Christ and a wooden penguin gazing closely at each other against a white background.
  • A video still of a black figurine wearing a dress in front of a bright, solid red background.
  • A video still of the face of a clock, which portrays an image of Mao Zedong in a green jacket raising his arm.
  • A print of a small pink toy pig wearing a jacket. The pig taps on a drum with its hands.
  • A photograph of a group of eleven figurines including children, a Nazi soldier, a dancing couple, a porcelain dog, and Mickey Mouse.
  • A photograph of miniature furniture (a brown chair, white refrigerator, and beige end table) lined up on a white background.
  • A tiny crouching soldier figurine on a small piece of white paper. The residue of a burn appears behind the figurine’s gun.
  • Two miniature chairs–one brown, one beige–side by side on a white canvas. Each chair has a string with a white tag tied to a leg.
  • A large canvas painted gray with two black frames that enclose digital images of the toy soldiers that appear in a spill of a light and dark gray paint across the left side of the painting.
  • A photograph of an installation of a miniature toy man on a white pedestal with a black string in his hands. The string connects to a large tangled pile of black rope.
  • A video still of a blonde doll in a blue dress on a dark bluish background. A shadow of the doll and a window appears behind the figurine.
  • A print of three cylinders that appear to be tied together with a black string attached to the paper.
  • Two sheets of lined paper: on the left, a cartoon bunny in black ink; on the right, the bunny with a fuzzy tiger mask over its face.
  • A photograph of seven fuzzy toy chicks standing in two rows—four in the front and three taller characters in the back.
  • A group of thirteen toy figurines against a white background.
  • A framed photograph of a broken porcelain white bird. Displayed to the right of the photograph is the bird itself on a shelf, unbroken.
  • A canvas painted with a gray gradient. Below, a figurine strides leftward; stage right, a figure sits near toy furniture, some toppled.
  • A wooden sphere and cone rest below faint sketches of them and a tangle of lines on a canvas above. Below the lines is a figurine, arms raised as if drawing.
  • A video still of a pale, portly figurine with long black hair and beard in an open red robe. Similar figures fill the background.
  • A puddle of blue paint and furniture bleeds into a pencil sketch of a path and walker extending to the right edge of adjacent canvases. A toy boat is perched above.

All artworks represented on this page are by Liliana Porter. Images are courtesy of the artist.