The museum as a laboratory of doubt

Abstract (DE)

In this Master Thesis I examine ways in which the art institution can become a place for learning that fosters curiosity, uncertainty and doubt, where exhibition practices are not conceived merely as a means for the display and transmission of pre-formulated knowledge, but rather as experience places for generation of knowledge and critical thinking. Focusing on the role that these practices play or could play in contemporary societies, as well as the transformations and processes that characterise them, this thesis considers art no longer as an object of knowledge, but as knowledge producer. Knowledge produced in artistic practice is increasingly seen through the process of creating, mediating and encountering art rather than in any perceived final form. Such exhibitionary forms seem to be more about creating situations, fields of possibilities for different audiences, encounters and interactions, which are in a constant state of process, than about creating art objects. Participants must play an active role as navigators, way finders and meaning makers through the temporality of the event of the exhibition or the display, drawing their own observations and conclusions. These kind of exhibition practices are, in fact, more about not knowing than knowing; they explore all that takes place within the context of the staged exhibition, both intentionally and un-intentionally by the artist/curator.