Crossover is Coming Back

4 May 2012

If in the nineties it was cool for an artist’s CV to declare that he or she lived and worked in at least two cities (preferably on opposite sides of the globe), such cosmopolitan pedigrees pass almost unnoticed today, whereas the number of intellectuals and creative people with expertise in two or even three fields, such as art and architecture, design and music, etc., is growing. Now that the hyperconnected world is within everyone’s reach, the fusion of different areas of knowledge is the new frontier. After so much theorizing about cultural crossovers, the art world too is once again beginning to look for overlaps with other disciplines. It is clear that the new generations, accustomed to the hybridization of the Web, have no need for the autonomy of art. But there are growing signs that something similar is happening at the institutional level too. For example, Klaus Biesenbach’s programming at MoMA/PS1, with experiments like the Kraftwerk retrospective. Or the Palais de Tokyo, which after months of work is up and going again with a multimedia setup. And again, the summer school “under an interdisciplinary banner” at the Castello di Rivoli. A new creative energy is being unleashed. This is Tomorrow, to borrow the title of the exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery put together by a group of architects, artists, musicians and designers in 1956.

Parade (ballet), 1916-1917. Costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso.

Parade (ballet), 1916-1917. Costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso.

Biophilia, Björk, 2011.

Biophilia, Björk, 2011.

Kraftwerk – Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, MoMA, 2012.

Kraftwerk – Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, MoMA, 2012.

This Is Tomorrow, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1956.

This Is Tomorrow, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1956.


Caroline Corbetta

Working freelance, she indulges her restlessness and tries to transcend the self-referentiality of art. She writes for, among others, DomusL’Uomo Vogue and Rolling Stone and oversees projects for institutions like the Moderna Museet and Performa. She has taken delight in scouting for artists ever since the time when, around ten years ago, she came across an unknown Nathalie Djurberg.


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