Prof. Christoph Schenker
< Persons
E-Mail: christoph.schenker(ät)zhdk.ch
Telephone: +41 (0) 43 446 61 01
Art Public Zurich
research project
The research project is devoted to art in public spheres in the city of Zurich. The goal of the first phase of the project was to lay the foundation for the long-term development of contemporary art in public spaces to reflect the high standards of a city that competes economically and culturally in the international arena. The first phase of the project encompassed four steps: 1) developing guiding principles and an organisational structure for art in the public sphere within the city administration; 2) elaborating a theoretically rigorous basis for the project; 3) developing and delivering artistic pilot projects, and 4) dialogue with the public. The first phase ran from May 2004 to summer 2007. The second phase began in 2008 with the conception and delivery of further art projects. Workshops and conferences are also planned featuring artists looking into aspects of the construction of identity in connection with urban planning, demographic development and public art.
Principal areas of research and teaching interest
artistic research, philosophy of art, art and the public sphere, contemporary art, transculturality
Biography
Christoph Schenker has headed the Institute for Contemporary Arts Research (IFCAR) at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) since 2005, the year the institute was founded. There he leads transdisciplinary research projects in the field of contemporary art, in particular in the context of art and the public sphere. In his capacity as Professor of the Contemporary Art and Philosophy of Art, he also teaches as part of the Master of Arts in Fine Arts offered by ZHdK's Department of Art and Media. From 1999 to 2005, Christoph Schenker set up and headed the visual arts programme at the Zurich School of Art and Design (what is now ZHdK). He also established the Kunsthof Zurich outdoor exhibition space, which he managed between 1993 and 2005 in close collaboration with students on the visual arts programme. Christoph Schenker is the author of monographic and thematic texts on contemporary art, and has curated exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad. He has worked, advised on and managed the setting up of various exhibition institutions, and he organises series of seminars, lectures and films related to contemporary art on behalf of ZHdK and other art institutions. Christoph Schenker is a member of the steering committee of the ZHdK Department of Art and Media.
Publications
List of publications
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Downloads as PDF files
"Value Judgments" in: Corina Caduff et al. (eds.): Art and Artistic Research (Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess, 2010), 154-163.
Index of contents [PDF]
"Public Art, Sociology, and the Theory of Art: Some Preliminary Remarks" in Alka Pande and Nils Röller (eds.): Visual Arts. The India Habitat Centre's Art Journal, Vol. 9 (New Delhi, 2009), 94-96.
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"Insight and Intensification - Some Thoughts about Artistic Research", English version of "Einsicht und Intensivierung - Überlegungen zur künstlerischen Forschung" in: Elke Bippus (ed.), Kunst des Forschens. Praxis eines ästhetischen Denkens (Berlin, Zürich: Diaphanes, 2009), 79-89.
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"Art as Condensed Knowledge - Art Public Zürich: A Research Project", English version of "Kunst als dichtes Wissen - Das Forschungsprojekt 'Kunst Öffentlichkeit Zürich'" in: Christoph Schenker and Michael Hiltbrunner (eds.), Kunst und Öffentlichkeit. Kritische Praxis der Kunst im Stadtraum Zürich (Zürich: JRP Ringier, 2007), 29-48.
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"Artistic Research", English version of "Künstlerische Forschung" in: Hans-Peter Schwarz (ed.), Zeichen nach vorn. 125 Jahre Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich, Zurich 2003, 176-181 and Präsidium der Hochschule der bildenden Künste Hamburg (ed.), querdurch. Kunst + Wissenschaft. Veranstaltungsreihe der Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, Hamburg 2006, 147-156.
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