Studio

With the emergence of conceptual art in the mid-1960s, the traditional notion of thestudio became at least partly obsolete. Other sites emerged for the generation of art, leading tothe idea of "post-studio practice." But the studio never went away; it was continuallyreinvented in response to new realities. This collection, expanding on current critical interest inissues of production and situation, looks at the evolution of studio--and"post-studio"--practice over the last half century. In recent decades many artists haveturned their studios into offices from which they organize a multiplicity of operations andinteractions. Others use the studio as a quasi-exhibition space, or work on a laptopcomputer--mobile, flexible, and ready to follow the next commission.

Among thetopics surveyed here are the changing portrayal and experience of the artist's role since 1960; thediversity of current studio and post-studio practice; the critical strategies of artists who haveused the studio situation as the subject or point of origin for their work; the insights to begained from archival studio projects; and the expanded field of production that arises fromresponding to new conditions in the world outside the studio. The essays and artists' statements inthis volume explore these questions with a focus on examining the studio's transition from aworkshop for physical production to a space with potential for multiple forms of creation andparticipation.

Jens Hoffmann is Director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, and Curator of the 12th Istanbul Biennial. His books include The Next Documenta Should Be Curated by an Artist, Perform (with Joan Jonas), and Show Time. He is founding editor of The Exhibitionist: Journal on Exhibition Making.