Exhibition Inside Installations | S.M.A.K. collection at the Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst

Dates: 05.06.2010 - 27.03.2011

S.M.A.K.’s collection contains more than 1800 works and covers a wide range of developments in international art history from 1945 to the present day. The Inside Installations exhibition unfolds in several stages and in varying displays brings several installations from the collection face to face with one another and with the space in which they are located. The exhibition immersed you in the multifaceted world of installation art and at the same time explains the questions and difficulties involved in archiving these sometimes quite complex artworks and making them accessible.

A look behind the scenes

Inside Installations focuses on the ‘invisible processes’ that take place in the museum. How does a museum deal with installations that were designed for a highly specific space? Can one depart from this and display the work elsewhere? How are installations documented? Are plans and photographs sufficient to be able to reconstruct the exact arrangement of an installation at a later date?

Documentation room

The installations included in the exhibition offer a range of information – art-historical, the arrangement and the artist’s specific requirements, the ideal architectural context, various documentation techniques etc. – which mostly remains hidden. Inside Installations is the first ever opportunity to take a look behind the scenes. The documentation room shows the various aspects of conservation and management in a unique way. Those who want to hear from the artists themselves can watch several video accounts and those who want to dig deeper can unashamedly browse through the complex dossiers related to the works of art. And those who just want to head straight for the installations, go right ahead!

For more information on the documentation room see the following blog:

Blog entry from Dezeen website on SMAK exhibition documentation room

The exhibition is an offshoot of or a reflection on the European-wide research project Inside Installations: Preservation and Presentation of Installation Art (2004-2007). A booklet as a document of the exhibition was produced as part of the PRACTICs project (2009-2011).

For more information including videos see the S.M.A.K. website:

http://www.smak.be/tentoonstelling.php?la=en&id=495&i=0&t=archief&tid=0&y=2010&l=a&kunstenaar_id=&kunstwerk_id=