Platitudes about Contemporary Art – Popular and Provocative, but True?
12pm, Thursday 15 October
This panel argued against three of the most common criticisms and truisms leveled at contemporary art: that it is elitist, confusing and irrelevant; that it is peddled by unskilled charlatans conning the general public, and that poor artists will be more inventive and radical because they are not corrupted by the market.
- Roger Hiorns (Artist, shortlisted for 2009 Turner Prize)
- Kathrin Rhomberg (Curator of the 6 berlin biennial, 2010)
- Adrian Searle (Curator, writer, and chief art critic at the Guardian)
- Chair: Tom Morton (Curator, Hayward Gallery, London)
John Baldessari in conversation with Matthew Higgs
2.30pm, Thursday 15 October
The subject of a major retrospective at Tate Modern, London, renowned artist John Baldessari answered questions put to him by the readers of frieze magazine.
- John Baldessari (Artist)
- Matthew Higgs (Artist and Director of White Columns, New York)
Scenes from a Marriage: Have Art and Theory Drifted Apart?
12pm, Friday 16 October
Since the 1980s, when buzzwords like ‘semiotics’ were prevalent in the art world, theory has played an important role in the interpretation, and making, of art. Yet, after all these years, has contemporary art really influenced the way philosophers think? And is theory still relevant to today’s artists?
- Simon Critchley (Chair & Professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research, New York)
- Robert Storr (Artist, Critic, Curator and Dean of Yale School of Art)
- Barbara Bloom (Artist)
- Chair: Jörg Heiser (Co-editor, frieze)
Art and the State: Back to New Deal Funding?
2.30pm, Friday 16 October
What are the pros and cons of state-funded art and cultural production at a moment of severe economic crisis?
- DD Guttenplan (Writer and historian)
- W.A.G.E (Arts Activist Group)
- Christoph Thun-Hohenstein (Strategic Managing Director of departure, Vienna; former Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum)
- Yu Yeon Kim (Independent curator)
- Chair: Jenni Lomax (Director, Camden Arts Centre)
In Theory: Sylvère Lotringer
5pm, Friday 16 October
Since the 1970s, Sylvère Lotringer (General Editor, Semiotext(e) and Professor of French literature and philosophy at Columbia University, New York) has been at the forefront of French Theory in the US. He reflected on the current relationship between art and theory.
Nostalgia: What’s the Role of the Past in Fashioning the Future?
12pm, Saturday 17 October
Cultural production today is dominated by images and sounds of the past. Is nostalgia always necessarily conservative and retrogressive, or can it be harnessed as a progressive force?
- Owen Hatherley (Writer, architecture critic, and blogger)
- Joanna Mytkowska (Director, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw)
- Matthew Brannon (Artist)
- Chair: Dan Fox (Senior Editor, frieze)
The Art of Absence: Brian Dillon in Conversation with Marie Darrieussecq
2.30pm, Saturday 17 October
Acclaimed French novelist Marie Darrieussecq talked about the names that have influenced her radical approaches to writing and storytelling.
- Brian Dillon (Writer and UK editor of Cabinet)
- Marie Darrieussecq (Writer and novelist)
A Talk: Agnès Varda
5pm, Saturday 17 October
In a career that has spanned over 50 years, Agnès Varda, one of the most original and renowned of the French ‘nouvelle vague’ directors, has made over 40 innovative feature films and documentaries. The Beaches of Agnès, won both a 2009 César and a Critics’ Union award for best film. She talked about her extraordinary life and work, from cinema to art.
CAC Vilnius presents: Memories, Monoliths, Monsters?
12pm, Sunday 18 October
This panel explored the legacies and potential of monuments and public sculptures. The speakers addressed the types of histories and collective memory with which these objects interact.
- Mark Godfrey (Curator, Tate Modern)
- Edit András (Art historian and critic)
- Marko Luliç (Artist)
- Chair: Simon Rees (Curator, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius)
Hella Jongerius in conversation with Eugenia Bell
2.30pm, Sunday 18 October
Working between craft, art and technology, Hella Jongerius spoke about the evolution of her innovative practice.
- Hella Jongerius (Designer)
- Eugenia Bell (Design Editor, frieze)
Frieze Projects: Mike Bouchet
5pm, Sunday 18 October
For his commission, Sell and Destroy: Redrawing the Bottom Line, Mike Bouchet presented a motivational speaker for the exhibitors and public of Frieze Art Fair. Alex MacPhail is an expert at empowering large audiences to master their motivation and achieve their full potential, both on the day and long into the future.
