The more we rely on the well-used path, the more we want an art that is easy to understand. An artwork which we understand and have gained knowledge of, but often we have understood a particular type of knowledge system. A system in which the artwork is often over-interpreted by the text. The over-interpretation of information provides us with a supposed universal language, and this creates a general text to provide general care to the audience. Audiences are initiated into the system of consuming art through text and must fit themselves into the system first, to be qualified in the use of general care. However, with this general care, many audiences cannot access the knowledge and this universal system of staging art writes over the top of a plural system of multiple voices. I aim to advocate the importance of a situated care, as general care cannot include all people and will only produce one path.
To conclude, both my practice and thesis aim to not over-determine the information or path to be used by the audience. In treating the audience as co-interpreter of the artwork, their experience is additive and not subtractive; they can be active subjects that produce new paths rather than passive subjects that consume one path. I define this practice as a form of situated care, as each audience member can produce a positive glitch in the exhibition as an actor-network based on their own lived experience. This acts in contrast to the educational exhibition models that try to provide a general experience for all, which produces a universal or singular narrative for interpreting art practice.
By giving the power of situated-interpretation back to the audience/reader, my research and practice is dependent on your readings as supplementary to the work. No one interpretation is privileged over the other. Therefore, my practice facilitates participants in producing multiple readings and potential beginnings of paths to discover their own situated ‘use of use’.