Curatorial Acts

In a self-critical inquiry into my own recent work of co-curating and the experience of seeing my video work being curated by others, this article examines acts of framing as performative acts that seek to transform visitors' preconceptions. This affective effect is pursued by means of immersion, where the balance between documentary and fiction, as well as that between guidance and self-determination, are key instruments. The analysis of the relationship between artist, writer, curator and museum staff on the one hand, and visitors on the other, clarifies to what extent curatorial acts are collective and dialectic. These issues will be broached in connection to the exhibition Landscapes of Madness in the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum in Turku, Finland.