New chapter: What curators know

I was so pleased to be able to contribute a chapter to my dear friend and colleague Hannah Star Rogers’ latest edited collection: What Curators Know: Art and Science in the Museum, which was recently published by Bloomsbury.

Hannah’s work on art, science and knowledge is so inspiring to me. And she does such an exceptional job at bringing together really diverse people to have conversations across disciplinary boundaries. Hannah challenged me to contribute a methodological reflection on my curatorial practice - and it was such a rewarding process to think about how Actor-Network-Theory has informed my academic work and also the way that I make exhibitions. My chapter is entitled; Actor-Network-Theory as Curatorial Method: An STS Framework for Trans-Disciplinary Curation.

Short book summary:

Curation is a way of knowing. Curators work with objects and texts to offer perspectives on the world, situating not only things but also their contexts in material, rhetorical, and aesthetic forms. Curators cross disciplinary boundaries, challenge conventional narratives, and open space for new understandings. Their work shows how scientific and aesthetic knowledges are constructed, communicated, and experienced. Nowhere are these challenges more visible than in art-science exhibitions. This volume explores how curators draw on Science and Technology Studies (STS) to synthesize subjects ranging from health complexity to nuclear energy, from communication technologies and computing histories to meat and eternal life. In doing so, they reveal the dynamic role of curatorship in shaping how we think, feel, and know. 

To find out more and to purchase a copy, visit Bloomsbury.