Some reflections on art documentation in relation to the work of art and the concept of originality By Anna Stein Ankerstjerne, curator and art communicator https://dk.linkedin.com/in/annasteinankerstjerne
Introduction Art documentation is a strange phenomenon that, when encountered, often leaves the viewer uncertain of its categorization. Is it a ‘para-text’1 that points at, and informs us about, something else or is it a self-referential work of art in its own right? In the first case there’s a risk that we never discover that the documentation has anything to do with art at all, or that we never realize that the documentation functions as a sign: a signifier that refers to art as a signified artistic activity or event.2 Thereby missing the whole point of documentation that, by its very definition, documents something else. In the second case, there’s a risk that we will contemplate the documentation as an autonomous work of art that we will judge on its formalistic qualities. In “Art in the Age of Biopolitics: From Artwork to Art Documentation” Boris Groys states that ‘art documentation is by definition not art; it merely refers to art.’3 In this paper I will look into the difference between artwork and art documentation, and question whether it is possible to differentiate between the two as art and non-art, as Groys suggests we do. What characterizes an artwork in contrast to art documentation when both are exhibited as art? When art documentation is exhibited, isn’t it, or why is it not, just as much a work of art as any other type of work of art? As suggested in the title, “Some reflections on art documentation in relation to the work of art and the concept of originality”, I don’t intend to arrive at a clear-cut solution as to how we are to comprehend the difference between artwork –and documentation. I would, however, like to look into this difference, turn it upside-down and test if art documentation can also be looked at as a work of art. 1
Dag Solhjell, “Paratekster –formidlingens former”, in Formidler og Formidlet –En teori om kunstformidlingens praksis, Universitetsforlaget, 2001. 2 Lecture by Lotte Phillipsen (“Creator/original”, 17 March 2010) with reference to Saussure’s semiology. 3 Boris Groys, “Art in the age of Biopolitics: From artwork to art documentation” (2002), in Art Power, MIT Press, 2008 (pp. 53-65), p. 53
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