Performing Objects, Objects to be Performed in Oslo

Our colleague in the project, Aga Wielocha, has put together a poster presentation, titled “Performing Objects, Objects to be Performed,” for the conference “Bridging the Gap – Synergies Between Art History and Conservation,” organized 23–24 of November 2023 by the The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, Norway, in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, the University of Oslo and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.

The poster picks up the idea of activation as a conservation strategy concerning works that emerged in the broader network of Fluxus and which have been at the center of SNSF Activating Fluxus.

Aga writes:

The SNSF research project Activating Fluxus is currently engaged in a comprehensive review of strategies for exhibiting, conserving, and documenting Fluxus works, both as collections and individual artworks. This interdisciplinary project draws from various scholarly fields, including conservation, art history, performance studies, heritage studies, museology, as well as artistic, curatorial, and conservation practice. Its goal is to expand the concept of conservation for Fluxus works and other contemporary art forms by exploring new and existing techniques under the overarching concept of ‘activation.’ Within this framework, my research explores the potential of activation as an optional conservation strategy. 

The verb ‘to activate’ inherently suggests the action or process of making something active or operative. In the context of performance art conservation, activation is understood as an action related to making historical works accessible, even if the events in question occurred relatively recently. To display a performance piece, it is necessary for it to be enacted, and the subsequent enactments of performance pieces are referred to as activations. Thus, the activation of a performance piece entails transitioning it from a dormant state to an active one in which it can communicate with the public. This process extends beyond mere representation or recreation; instead, it involves supporting the work to function aesthetically as art. This transition might encompass alterations like actualization, updates, or adjustments to a new context, and could even involve migration to different formats and mediums.

Congratulations, Aga.

Featured photograph by Jina Chang.