the centre of attention
Michael Connor (illustration: Roy Stanfield)
WHITE CUBE PAVILION
White Cube Pavilion Proposal for Sutton Scarsdale
In order to create the circumstances for a possible renewal of curatorial practice, we must archive and preserve the white cube gallery, thereby allowing it to die. The walls and floor of the white cube have by now absorbed too much content. Actions, objects and experiences staged in this space are nearly overwhelmed by the dense and cloying semiotic thicket of the blank white wall.
Our proposal is to make Sutton Scarsdale a repository of white cube gallery spaces from around the world. A selection of notable galleries will be excised from their surroundings under cover of darkness and transported whole to Scarsdale. Whatever artwork happens be in the galleries at the time of their removal will be left behind; only the space itself is of interest.
At Scarsdale, the white cubes will be carefully catalogued and placed in visible storage, stacked up one on top of another, with ladders and lifts providing access to the upper levels. The Pavilion will serve as a research facility and a test bed; curators of the future will be allowed to use the space to safely re-stage the curatorial gestures of the 20th century. In time, it will become the last refuge of the white cube.
Michael Connor / Illustration Roy Stanfield