In Search of a Lost Avant-Garde

An Anthropologist Investigates the Contemporary Art Museum

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art, Criticism, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book In Search of a Lost Avant-Garde by Matti Bunzl, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Matti Bunzl ISBN: 9780226173955
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: September 16, 2014
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Matti Bunzl
ISBN: 9780226173955
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: September 16, 2014
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

In 2008, anthropologist Matti Bunzl was given rare access to observe the curatorial department of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. For five months, he sat with the institution’s staff, witnessing firsthand what truly goes on behind the scenes at a contemporary art museum. From fund-raising and owner loans to museum-artist relations to the immense effort involved in safely shipping sixty works from twenty-seven lenders in fourteen cities and five countries, Matti Bunzl’s In Search of a Lost Avant-Garde illustrates the inner workings of one of Chicago’s premier cultural institutions.

Bunzl’s ethnography is designed to show how a commitment to the avant-garde can come into conflict with an imperative for growth, leading to the abandonment of the new and difficult in favor of the entertaining and profitable. Jeff Koons, whose massive retrospective debuted during Bunzl's research, occupies a central place in his book and exposes the anxieties caused by such seemingly pornographic work as the infamous *Made in Heaven *series. Featuring cameos by other leading artists, including Liam Gillick, Jenny Holzer, Karen Kilimnik, and Tino Sehgal, the drama Bunzl narrates is palpable and entertaining and sheds an altogether new light on the contemporary art boom.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 2008, anthropologist Matti Bunzl was given rare access to observe the curatorial department of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. For five months, he sat with the institution’s staff, witnessing firsthand what truly goes on behind the scenes at a contemporary art museum. From fund-raising and owner loans to museum-artist relations to the immense effort involved in safely shipping sixty works from twenty-seven lenders in fourteen cities and five countries, Matti Bunzl’s In Search of a Lost Avant-Garde illustrates the inner workings of one of Chicago’s premier cultural institutions.

Bunzl’s ethnography is designed to show how a commitment to the avant-garde can come into conflict with an imperative for growth, leading to the abandonment of the new and difficult in favor of the entertaining and profitable. Jeff Koons, whose massive retrospective debuted during Bunzl's research, occupies a central place in his book and exposes the anxieties caused by such seemingly pornographic work as the infamous *Made in Heaven *series. Featuring cameos by other leading artists, including Liam Gillick, Jenny Holzer, Karen Kilimnik, and Tino Sehgal, the drama Bunzl narrates is palpable and entertaining and sheds an altogether new light on the contemporary art boom.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book The Kindly Ones by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book The Enigma of the Aerofoil by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book On Knowing--The Natural Sciences by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Making the Unequal Metropolis by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Finding Mecca in America by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book At Lady Molly's by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Temporary Kings by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Christianity and Race in the American South by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Political Standards by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Rhetoric in Tooth and Claw by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Sacred Mandates by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Patina by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Heidegger, Strauss, and the Premises of Philosophy by Matti Bunzl
Cover of the book Bones, Clones, and Biomes by Matti Bunzl
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy