Study 1: Participants in the Institutions by Artists Convention Report

Recent years have seen rapid growth in artistic activities using quasi-institutional terminology and procedures. Words like “Centre”, “Institute”, “Laboratory”, and “Office” figure prominently in the names of artist-initiated entities. What accounts for the impulse to project agency and authorship through an impersonal entity rather than through the figure of the individual artist? To examine this tendency, the Artifact Institute developed Study 1: Participants in the Institutions by Artists Convention. The project includes the administration of a survey, analysis of the data collected, and the production of a report. The target group surveyed is defined as the set of all individuals who registered for, presented at, or otherwise attended the Convention. These individuals were invited to complete a questionnaire available at on-site computer terminals for the duration of the Convention and also online. Study 1 uses standard survey methodology and adheres to generally accepted protocols for quantitative research.