Is a Factory a Museum?

Abstract

I read Hito Steyerl’s essay “Is a Museum a Factory?” with great interest. Not only because she quotes me and announces in the most aff able—if nonetheless unmistakable—way her doubts about my remarks, but because she touches on subjects I have been thinking about for some time and that are relevant for a broader audience. Th e basic argument of “Is a Museum a Factory?” could be summed up as follows: Now, because more and more factories are being converted into museums, it is about time to ask what these two seemingly diametrically opposed institutions have in common that makes it so easy to transition from one to the other. And if that is the case, what consequences does this transition have for (a) the concept of production in art and society, (b) the experience of space and time, (c) the relationship of the masses and the individual, and, fi nally—here I add my own point—(d) the formatting or programming of the human senses and body? All of this is focused on the question of the fate of the socially committed fi lm and political cinema that once was shown in factories as well and now leads a hybrid and confl icted existence as installation art in museums, exhibitions, and galleries. Th e areas of tension cannot be discussed in detail here, so let me just try and extend Hito Steyerl’s essay to include a further thesis: At one time people did