Claire Bishop

Claire Bishop (1971, London) is an art historian, critic and author. She is professor of art history at the Graduate Center of the City University New York. In addition to numerous articles in art journals, her publications include Installation Art: A Critical History (Tate/Routledge, 2005), Participation (Whitechapel/MIT Press, 2006), Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship (Verso, 2012), and Tania Bruguera in Conversation (Cisneros, 2020).

She is interested in (and teaches courses on) a wide range of things that fall under the rubric of art and politics. She has also taught exhibition history; museums of contemporary art; performance and dance; histories of art education; methods of art history; attention and technology.

Claire Bishop studied at University of Cambridge (BA 1994) and University of Essex (MA 1996, PhD 2002). In the UK she worked at the Royal College of Art (2001–2006) and Warwick University (2006–2008) before moving to CUNY Graduate Center in 2008. (2022)

Publications

Books

• Installation Art: A Critical History, London: Tate, and Routledge, 2005, 144 pp. Excerpt. [1]
  • Zhuang zhi yi shu: Yi bu pi ping shi [装置艺术: 一部批评史], Hangzhou: Zhong guo mei shu xue yuan chu ban she, 2021, 152 pp. (Chinese)

• editor, Participation, London: Whitechapel, and MIT Press, 2006, 207 pp.

• editor, with Silvia Tramontana, Double Agent, London: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 2008, 138 pp. Catalogue. [2]

• editor, with Marta Dziewańska, 1968/1989: Political Upheaval and Artistic Change / Momenty zwrotne w polityce i sztuce, Warsaw: Museum of Modern Art, 2010, 504 pp. (English)/(Polish)

• Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, London: Verso, 2012, 390 pp.
  • Umetni pekli: participatorna umetnost in politika gledalstva, trans. Aleksandra Rekar, afterw. Bojana Piškur, Ljubljana: Maska, 2012, 359 pp. [3] (Slovenian)
  • "Partycypacja i spektakl", trans. Piotr Juskowiak, Kultura Współczesna 2, 2013, pp 26-36. Trans. of Conclusion. (Polish)
  • "Teatralizując życie", trans. Jacek Staniszewski, Dialog 59:11, 2014, pp 18-36. Trans. of excerpt. (Polish)
  • Sztuczne piekła: sztuka partycypacyjna i polityka widowni, trans. Jacek Staniszewski, Warsaw: Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, 2015, 497 pp. [4] (Polish)
  • Inferni artificiali: la politica della spettatorialità nell'arte partecipativa, trans. Cecilia Guida, Rome: Sossella, 2015, 308 pp. Review: Paolucci (Agalma). (Italian)
  • Ren zao di yu: Can yu shi yi shu yu guan kan zhe zheng zhi xue [人造地狱: 参与式艺术与观看者政治学], trans. Hongtao Lin, Taipei: Dian zang yi shu jia ting gu fen you xian gong si, 2015, PDF. (Chinese)
  • Infiernos artificiales: arte participativo y políticas de la espectaduría, trans. Israel Galina Vaca, Ciudad de México: Taller de Ediciones Económicas, 2016, 461 pp. Excerpt. [5] (Spanish)
  • Jinkō jigoku: gendai āto to kankyaku no seijigaku [人工地獄: 現代アートと観客の政治学], trans. Toshikatsu Ōmori, Tokyo: Firumuātosha, 2016, 535 pp. (Japanese)
  • Iskusstvennyy ad. Partitsipatornoye iskusstvo i politika zritelstva [Искусственный ад. Партиципаторное искусство и политика зрительства], Moscow: V-A-C press, 2018, 528 pp. [6] (Russian)
  • Yapay cehennemler: katılımcı sanat ve izleyici politikası, trans. Mine Haydaroğlu, Istanbul: Koç Üniversitesi, 2018, 394 pp. [7] (Turkish)

• Radical Museology, or, What's Contemporary in Museums of Contemporary Art?, London: Koenig Books, 2013, 79 pp; 2nd ed., rev., 2014, 79 pp. [8]
  • Radikalnaya muzeologiya, ili Tak li uzh “sovremenny“ muzei sovremennogo iskusstva? [Радикальная музеология, или Так ли уж “современны“ музеи современного искусства?], trans. Olga Dubitskaya (льга Дубицкая), Moscow: Ad Marginem, 2014, 96 pp. Review: Pluzhnik (Sotsiologiya vlasti). (Russian)
  • Muzeologia radicală sau: ce anume e "contemporan" în muzeele de artă contemporană, trans. Raluca Voinea, Cluj: Idea Design & Print, 2015, 87 pp. (Romanian)
  • 래디컬 뮤지엄 : 동시대 미술관에서 무엇이 '동시대적'인가, trans. 구정연 외, Seoul: 현실문화, 2016. (Korean)
  • Museologia radicale, ovvero, Cos'è "contemporaneo" nei musei di arte contemporanea?, trans. Nicoletta Poo, Milan: Johan & Levi, 2017, 86 pp. (Italian)
  • Museología radical: o, ¿qué es "contemporáneo" en los museos de arte contemporáneo?, trans. Araceli Alemán, Buenos Aires: Libretto, 2018, 126 pp. (Spanish)
  • Radikális muzeológia, avagy mi a "kortárs" a kortárs művészeti múzeumokban?, trans. Sárai Vanda, Budapest: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, 2018, 80 pp. Publisher. (Hungarian)
  • 激進美術館學: 當代美術館的當代性, trans. Wang Shengzhi (王聖智), 一行出版, 2019, 76 pp. (Chinese)
  • Radikaru myuzeorojī: tsumari, gendai bijutsukan no "gendai" tte nani? [ラディカル・ミュゼオロジー: つまり、現代美術館の「現代」ってなに?], trans. Daisuke Murata, Chōfu: Getsuyōsha, 2020, 129 pp. (Japanese)
  • Vers un musée radical: réflexions pour une nouvelle muséologie, pref. Daniel Jacobi, trans. Michaël Bourgatte, Paris: MKF, 2021, 91 pp. Review: Gryspeerdt (Q de communication). (French)

• Tania Bruguera in Conversation with / en Conversacion con Claire Bishop, eds. Donna Wingate and Ileen Kohn, New York/Caracas: Cisneros, 2020, 296 pp. Chapter 2. [9] [10] (English)/(Spanish)

• Disordered Attention: How We Look at Art and Performance Today, London: Verso, Jun 2024, 272 pp. Four essays about changing patterns of attention in contemporary art and performance since the early 1990s, incl. "Research-Based Art: Information Overload," "Performance Exhibitions: Black Box, White Cube, Gray Zone," "Interventions: Seizing The Moment," and "Appropriation as Invocation: Contemporary Art Quotes Modernist Architecture." Publisher.

• Merce Cunningham's Events: Key Concepts, Koenig Books, forthcoming.

Essays

• "Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics", October 110, Fall 2004, pp 51-79.
  • "Antagonism și estetică relațională", trans. Alex Moldovan and Adrian T. Sîrbu, IDEA 19, Cluj, 2004, pp 10-25, PDF. (Romanian)
  • "Antagonismo e estética relacional", trans. Milena Durante, Tatuí, 2011. (Portuguese)
  • "Antagonismo y estética relacional", trans. Maximiliano Papandrea and Silvina Cucchi, n.d. (Spanish)

• "The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents", Artforum, Feb 2006, pp 178-183, PDF; repr. in Right About Now: Art & Theory since the 1990s, eds. Margriet Schavemaker and Mischa Rakier, Amsterdam: Valiz, 2007, pp 58-68.
  • "Sotsialnyy povorot v sovremennom iskusstve" [Социальный поворот в современном искусстве], Художественный журнал: Moscow Art Magazine 58-59, 2005. (Russian)
  • "Řízení reality. Spolupráce a participace v současném umění", trans. Jana Šelová, Sešit pro umění, teorii a příbuzné zóny 1:1-2, 2007, pp 8-36. (Czech)
  • "El giro social: (la) colaboración y sus descontentos", trans. Fabricio Forastelli, Ramona 72, Buenos Aires, Jul 2007, pp 29-37. [11] (Spanish)
  • "A virada social: colaboração e seus desgostos", trans. Jason Campelo, Concinnitas 1:12, 2009, pp 144-155. [12] (Brazilian Portuguese)
  • "Zwrot społeczny: współpraca jako źródło cierpień", in Stadion X: miejsce, którego nie było. Reader, ed. Joanna Warsza, Warsaw: Bęc Zmiana, and Kraków: Korporacja ha!art, 2009, pp 46-58. (Polish)

• "Installation Art and Its Legacy" / "El arte de la instalación i su legado", in Instalaciones y nuevos medios en la colección del IVAM, Valencia: IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, 2006, pp 268-271 & 81-89. (English)/(Spanish)
  • "Installation Art and Its Legacy" / "Umetniška instalacija in njena zapuščina", trans. Tanja Passoni, Maska 23(111-112): "Nomenklatura prostora", Ljubljana, Winter 2008, pp 46-53. (English)/(Slovenian)

• "What Is a Curator?" / "Ce este un curator?", trans. Veronica Lazăr, IDEA 26, Cluj, 2007, pp 12-21, PDF, PDF. Paper presented at Shifting Practice, Shifting Roles: Artists' Installations and the Museum, Tate Modern, Mar 2007. [13]
  • "Cosa è un curatore?", in Vita delle mostre, eds. Adriano Aymonino and Ines Tolic, Mondadori, 2007, 73-84. (Italian)
  • "¿Qué es un curador? El ascenso (¿y caída?) del curador auteur", Denken Pensée Thought Mysl 7, La Habana: Criterios, May 2011. (Spanish)
  • "O que é um curador? A ascensão (e queda?) do curador auteur", trans. Daniel Jablonski, Concinnitas 2:27, 2016, pp 270-282. [14] (Brazilian Portuguese)

• "Zones of Indistinguishability: the Collective Actions Group and Participatory Art", in Empty Zones: Andrei Monastyrski and Collective Actions / Пустые зоны. Андрей Монастырский и Коллективные действия, ed. Boris Groys, London: Black Dog Publishing, 2011. (English)/(Russian)

• "Unhappy Days in the Art World? De-skilling Theatre, Re-skilling Performance", Brooklyn Rail, Dec 2011.

• "Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity", October 140, Spring 2012, pp 91-112.
  • "Delegowany performance: o outsourcingu autentyczności", Krytyka Polityczna 24/25, 2010, pp 295-305. (Polish)
  • "Delegirovannyy performans: autsorsing podlinnosti" [Делегированный перформанс: аутсорсинг подлинности], Художественный журнал: Moscow Art Magazine 82, 2011. (Russian)

• "Digital Divide", Artforum, Sep 2012, pp 434-442, HTML. On contemporary art and new media. Response by Lauren Cornell and Brian Droitcour, Response by Bishop.
  • Tsifrovoy raskol [Цифровой раскол], Художественный журнал: Moscow Art Magazine 96, 2015. [15] (Russian)

• "Reconstruction Era: the Anachronic Time(s) of Installation Art", in When Attitudes Become Form: Bern 1969/Venice 2013, ed. Germano Celant, Milan: Progetto Prada Arte, 2013, pp 429-436.

• "The Perils and Possibilities of Dance in the Museum: Tate, MoMA and Whitney", Dance Research Journal 46:3, Dec 2014, pp 62-76. Three institutional histories of dance in the museum from the 1930s to the present day: Tate, MoMA and Whitney. [16]

• "History Depletes Itself", Artforum, Sep 2015, pp 324-330, n408. A critical review of Danh Vo's exhibitions mothertongue and Slip of the Tongue at the 2015 Venice Biennale. [17]

• "Black Box, White Cube, Gray Zone: Dance Exhibitions and Audience Attention", TDR: The Drama Review 62:2 (T238), Summer 2018, pp 22-42. "Relocated from the ‘black box’ of experimental theatre to the gallery ideal of the ‘white cube,’ dance in the museum brings about new forms of performance (the dance exhibition) and new protocols of audience behaviour (in which smartphone photography is permitted, even encouraged). This is the ‘grey zone’ of recent performance, which is both a symptom of, and compensation for, the virtual character of contemporary attention." [18]
  • "Chernyy yashchik, belyy kub: pyat'desyat ottenkov serogo?" [Черный ящик, белый куб: пятьдесят оттенков серого?], Художественный журнал: Moscow Art Magazine 103, 2017. (Russian)
  • "La caja negra, el cubo blanco, la zona gris. Las exhibiciones de danza y la atención de la audiencia", trans. Paulo Antonio Gatica Cote and María Lucía González Castro, Tropelias 35, Jan 2021, pp 43-69. (Spanish)

• "Against Digital Art History", International Journal for Digital Art History 3, Jul 2018, pp 122-131.

• "Palace in Plunderland: The Shed", Artforum international 57:1, Sep 2018, pp 93-97, n316, HTML. "A grumpy take-down of NY"s new performance venue The Shed, in Hudson Yards." [19]

• "Rise to the Occasion: The Art of Political Timing", Artforum international 57:9, May 2019, pp 198-204.

• "In the Bland Scheme of Things", Artforum international, Sep 2019. Review of the Venice Biennale 2019.

• with Nikki Columbus, "Free Your Mind: A Speculative Review of #NewMoMA", Paper Monument, n+1, 7 Jan 2020.

• "Information Overload", Artforum, Apr 2023.

• "Close-Up: Seek, Memory", Artforum 61:10, Summer 2023. On Mike Nelson’s MAGAZIN: Büyük Valide Han, 2003.

• "Capital Offenses: Cultural Whiplash in Warsaw", Artforum, Nov 2023, pp 57-58, PDF.

Interviews, conversations

• Dušan Barok, "On Participatory Art. Interview with Claire Bishop", 2009.
  • "Umělci jako sociální pracovníci. S teoretičkou umění Claire Bishopovou", trans. Lenka Dolanová, A2 21, Prague, 2009. Abridged version. (Czech)
• with Julia Austin, "Trauma, Antagonism and the Bodies of Others: A Dialogue on Delegated Performance", Performance Paradigm 5:1, 2009.
• Gerd Elise Mørland, "Deltagerbasert kunst – ikke nødvendigvis kvalitet?", Kunstløftet, Jul 2011. (Norwegian)
• Terry Smith, "Claire Bishop: Museum Models, Radical Spectatorship", in Smith, Talking Contemporary Curating, New York: Independent Curators International, 2015.
• "Ćwiczenia z choreografii społecznej. Z Claire Bishop rozmawia Magda Szalewicz", Notes Na 6 Tygodni 101, Warsaw, Sep 2015, pp 81-91. (Polish)
• Marisa Hayes, "Recherche sur la danse au musée. Entretien avec Claire Bishop", Repères, cahier de danse 38-39, 2017, pp 38a-41a. [20] (French)
• Ines Kleesattel, "Über ExpertInnen, Kollaborationen und kunstbezogene Multiperspektivität: ein Gespräch mit Claire Bishop", in The Future Is Unwritten, eds. Ines Kleesattel and Pablo Müller, Zürich: Diaphanes, 2018, pp 193-208. [21] (German)
• with Johanna Drucker, "A Conversation on Digital Art History", in Debates in the Digital Humanities, eds. Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein, Minnesota University Press, 2019.
• "Under Review. Roundtable between Claire Bishop, Jarrett Earnest, Eva Hayward, and Eric Otieno Sumba, moderated by Christian Liclair", Texte zur Kunst, Sep 2023, pp 30-69. [22] (English)/(German)

Links

• Website
• Academia.edu
• Profile on CUNY Graduate Center
• Publications on CUNY GC
• https://clairebishop.commons.gc.cuny.edu/