Me, Myself and I was an exhibition curated by Jens Hoffmann, that aimed to critically and creatively investigate the following concerns in relation to museum collections and their display: the motives and criteria for acquiring works for a museum collection, the forms of display and presentation of museum collections, the role and function of a curator in the selection and display of works for a museum collection, the position and responsibility of a curator in the set up of an exhibition.
The exhibition consisted of six individual two-week long presentations of works drawn from the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which holds about 8750 individual works at this point. Each presentation took place in a small exhibition space at the Gallery that were specifically designed to mimic a traditional Beaux Arts-style gallery space to evoke the atmosphere of conventional museum displays while in fact creating the exact opposite.
Each of the six exhibitions of Me, Myself and I displayed works from the collection that have been selected according to a particular criteria that is determined by one distinct feature or characteristics of the curator of the exhibition. The display followed a similar logic and also was based on the curator’s features or personality while keeping in mind the Beaux-Arts-style display.
The six categories and sections (Part I):
Category 1 – Month of Birth (March – the curator’s month of birth)
This section displayed works of artists that were born in March. The maximum number of works displayed was 13 as the curator was born on the 13th March.
Category 2 – J.H. (the initials of the curator)
This section displayed works made by artists with the same initials as the curator, either J.H. or H.J. The works were installed according to the number of letters in the artist’s name that matched the ones in the name of the curator (i.e. an artist who has the exact same name was in the front of the room, an artist who has half of the letters matching those of the curator’s name were in the middle and someone who has only one or two letters in common were towards the back).
Category 3 – Dual Citizenship (the nationality of the curator)
This section displayed works by artists who, like the curator, have dual citizenship. For each artist two works were presented alongside each other.
The six categories and sections (Part II):
Category 4 – 1,78 metres (the height of the curator)
This section displayed works that were made by artists that have the same height as the curator. The works were installed accordingly (wall based work 1,78 meters up on the wall, sculptures 1,78 meters away from a wall, etc.).
Category 5 – 64,3 kilograms (the weight of the curator)
This section included works that in total amount to the weight of the curator at the day of the installation of this display.
Category 6 – 33 (the age of the curator)
This section displayed works that were made when the artists who made them were 33 years old. The maximum number of works was 33.
The publication to accompany the exhibition was supported by Outset UK.