Hans-Ulrich Obrist
![Hans-Ulrich Obrist](/assets/img/authors/unknown.jpg)
Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Hans-Ulrich Obristis an art curator, critic and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of The Interview Project, an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is also co-editor of the Cahiers d'art revue...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionCritic
CountrySwitzerland
morning
I don't wake up in the morning and think about Franz Kline.
amazing art becomes cities fair form happens
I think the art fair is very much a form of urbanism. I think something really happens to the cities when such a fair happens. The city becomes an exhibition; it's amazing.
life studio useful work
I went to the studio of Fischli Weiss, and it was magical. I thought: 'This is what I want to do with my life; I want to work with artists and be useful to them.' I was magnetically attracted.
anchored christmas days felt needed office spent travelled year
I spent 250 to 300 days of every year on the road. But in the end, I felt something was missing. I needed to be anchored so I could concentrate, so in 2000, I established a new methodology - the one I use today. I spent the week in my office and travelled every weekend, even at Christmas.
inspired met realized recorded remembered time vaguely
I met Gerhard Richter and Alighiero Boetti when I was a teenager, and I was really inspired by them. When Boetti died, I realized I only vaguely remembered so many things he told me. It was such a pity. Had I only recorded his voice, he would still be with me, and I could listen to it from time to time.
applying food goes hand high hotel involves line nearly practice produces radio simply word
Fly-in, fly-out curating nearly always produces superficial results; it's a practice that goes hand in hand with the fashion for applying the word 'curating' to everything that involves simply making a choice - radio playlists, hotel decor, even the food stalls in New York's High Line Park.
festival fully manchester produced
At Performa in New York, there are a lot of commissions, but Manchester Festival is the only festival where everything is fully produced by the festival.
art follows matter nor
Making art is not the matter of a moment, and nor is making an exhibition; curating follows art.
carry knowledge middle monastery monks next
I would go from one city to the next, inspired by the monks in the Middle Ages, who would carry knowledge from one monastery to the next monastery.
ephemeral magic
Exhibitions are kind of ephemeral moments, sometimes magic moments, and when they're gone, they're gone.
Everything I do is somehow connected to velocity.
cases intense ongoing
I have many intense friendships with artists. I don't mean we have intense one-day conversations but ongoing conversations that last in some cases for years.
ancient fell love monastery surrounded
I remember going to a monastery library when I was very young and being surrounded by ancient books. I fell in love.
age digital hugely mapping relevant suddenly
In this new age of GPS, Google Earth and multidimensional digital maps, mapping is suddenly hugely relevant again.