Office of Real Time Activity is an experimental institution, which exists for the duration of the exhibition and focuses on dialogue, debate and public participation. It aims to question the notion of time within an art organisation, through a programme of performances, discussions and sound works.
The quote by the critic and curator Marti Manen, that "institutional time is not the same as real time", was the starting point for our discussion around time and institutions. By concentrating our work around a schedule, working with time as well as space, the Office of Real Time Activity aims to challenge the set idea of institutional time.
Creating an office draws a line to the Bureau de Recherche Surrealiste in Paris and the Joseph Beuys' Office of Direct Democracy, in their efficient and engaging way, exposing the mechanics of organising and structuring. Such transparency will be part of the institution's schedule, as the curators work in the space of the gallery.
Office of Real Time Activity is particularly timely given the current situation of contemporary art institutions in the UK, which are in a state of transition in the current economic downturn. Office of Real Time Activity proposes a new model, a small institution, within a larger institution.
Organised by Sepake Angiama, Harriet Godwin, Pamela Prado
and Lisa Schmidt. |
