Time: 10:00 - 18:00 o'clock
CW 46: 09 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 November
Deadline enrollment: 21 September 2020
Universität / Haute École
for student applications
When Marcel Duchamp coined the term readymade in 1917 he opened up a new medium in art that proved to
be broader and deeper than just a urinal exhibited on its side. From his initial explorations through Fluxus and
early conceptual art; to the minimal conceptualism of the 80s and 90s, artists have experimented with the
display of unaltered objects as works in their own right. We will explore these artworks and their ideas, as well
as contemporary practitioners who have turned to this strategy of art making over the past decade. We will
question the ability of items already existing in the world to convey stories, examine how presentation and
description can define a work and discuss where visual judgement lies within these practices. A majority of
artists who have gained attention for executing work in this way represent minority positions in the art world
and we will assess how an object may be formed conceptually to hold a kind of witness to a wide range of real
world social issues. We will experiment together with objects in a workshop presentation, investigating the
limits of how one can allow or force objects to give narrative or form to a viewing audience without any
physical labor of alteration.
About the teacher:
Mitchell Anderson is an artist interested in the narrative possibilities of existing objects and images. Recent
solo exhibitions include Fondazione Converso, Milan (2019); Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich (2018) and
FriArt/ Kunsthalle Fribourg (2017). Since 2014 he has run the artist space Plymouth Rock in Zurich. He is a
frequent contributor of criticismand essays to a variety of international arts publications such as Artforum and
frieze.