Academies are the most successful institutions in art at present. Whereas museums, art centres, and biennials are the frequent target of scorn and ridicule on account of their superficiality, opportunism or otherworldliness, academies are experiencing a golden era. Bulwarks of knowledge, information hubs, meeting points, creativity centres, exhibition and conference areas – academies are where it’s at in art right now.
Today's economy is all about knowledge and creativity, and academies are bursting with it. After years of drastic reorganization, academies have changed from hidebound educational mills into dedicated, superfit all-rounders throwing themselves into the competition for the most discerning insight. For that’s what people in today’s critical art world want: acuity. Only the most exceptional perspectives are given a chance to survive.
Day in and day out, academies enthusiastically work away at acquiring knowledge that must amaze art professionals and the world at large. Nothing is holy in art anymore – so beware, unmasking is nigh. Be prepared for the moment when the academy denounces all that you know. Your life is no longer certain. In countless symposiums and presentations, artists and students take satanic pleasure in reporting on what has now become known as ‘artistic research’, telling every tiny detail to a patiently listening public.
But the gift of oratory (or PowerPoint, as the case may be) is not the only tool of the contemporary academy. Consider the phenomena of Open Days, when a new batch of artists presents the latest work to thousands of art professionals. Even more than the critical exposition with its pursuit of new insights, the Open Days satisfy the professional art world’s greatest appetite: unknown talent. This is food and drink to the art world, and academies provide it with pleasure, each year afresh.
The steadily growing public role of academies within the art circuit as promoter, distributor, critic or whatever, has not escaped the attention of the art centres. Some centres are beginning, albeit cautiously, to imitate academies in their programmes. Occasionally they even assume the title, as the Van Abbemuseum and the MUHKA are doing this autumn in an exhibition project called ‘Academy’.
Weary of blockbusters and the experience economy, museums and art centres are taking the role of knowledge producer in preference to having to keep distinguishing themselves as tourist attractions. Their latest mission: Something can be learned from art. They spread the message with verve.
The expanding role of academies in the exhibition circuit may rightly be called a contemporary phenomena: open, democratic, intelligent and market oriented. It’s fascinating, and considering the ubiquity of the knowledge economy, also very timely. Yet not everyone is completely happy about this trend. METROPOLIS M has done some investigating and presents several views for comparison. – Domeniek Ruyters
Opening
