Miwon Kwon's proposition Ends of the Earth (and Back) is a work-in-progress report on the exhibition "Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1977," currently scheduled to open at the Geffen Contemporary at Los Angeles MoCA in fall 2012. Co-organized with MoCA curator Philipp Kaiser, the exhibition seeks to capture the simultaneous impulse emergent in the 1960s to use the earth as an artistic medium and to locate works in remote sites far from familiar art contexts. Kwon will share some of the preliminary ideas, artworks, and challenges that are shaping the thinking about the exhibition and its goals. Her special guest on Saturday, April 25 is Dr. Alexander Nagel.

The structure of Propositions is as follows:


Friday, 7:00 PM – Initial proposition and lecture
Saturday, 12:00 PM – Alexander Nagel responds, followed by Discussion

Art Historian Miwon Kwon's research and writing encompasses several disciplines including contemporary art, architecture, public art, and urban studies. Kwon is currently Associate Professor of Art History at UCLA. In addition to her curatorial experience at the Whitney Museum of American Art, she serves on many advisory boards, including October  magazine, the Hudson Valley Art Project, and the Excellence in Design Program of the U.S. General Services Administration. Kwon is the author of One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity (MIT Press, 2002), and was a founding editor and publisher of Documents, a journal of art, culture, and criticism (1992-2004).

Propositions is a public forum that explores ideas in development. Inspired by the scientific method of hypothesis, research, and synthesis, each two-day seminar explores a topic of current investigation in an invited speaker’s own artistic or intellectual practice. Over the course of a seminar session, these developing ideas are presented to the public, responded to, “researched,” and discussed to propel the ideas forward in unique ways.

One Friday evening per month, an invited artist or cultural thinker will present on an idea in process—the hypothesis—as the seminar topic. This initial presentation introduces the seminar leader’s current thinking on a concept or idea as well as unresolved questions that remain. The next day, starting at noon, an “expert” lecture, screening, performance, or activity presents new perspectives or specific knowledge, followed by a lunch break. In an afternoon discussion, hypothesis, research, and public dialogue converge in an informal working session in the fifth-floor Museum as Hub space at the New Museum.

Propositions is part of the Museum as Hub initiative, a laboratory for art and ideas realized through a partnership of five international arts organizations that includes Insa Art Space, Seoul; the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; the Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. The initiative seeks to support art activities and experimentation; explore artistic, curatorial, and institutional practice; and serve as an important resource for the public to learn about contemporary art from around the world.