This catalogue compiles individual collections from artists and considers the act of collecting as a portrait of its collector and also as an artistic method—as a process rather than an end result.
Photographs, books, and knickknacks: artists collect a variety of objects. While artists generate personal collections, which often address different formal, aesthetic, or conceptual concerns, it is difficult to separate this activity from their artistic practices. Over time, whether intended or not, such accumulations of items may become works of art.
The act of collecting is multifarious—it can be an expression of curiosity, a desire to transform things that have been discovered, or a systematic approach to certain objects in the world.
Published following the exhibition “Individual Stories: Collecting as Portrait and Methodology,” Kunsthalle Wien, from June 26 to October 11, 2015.
