Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin on Curating the Whitney Biennial

Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art

Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin, curators of the 2008 Whitney Biennial

Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art

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SMM: The floor plan is one of the most exciting things. It’s how you shape what viewers will see and encourage connections that they might not otherwise make. But it’s particularly challenging in this show for two reasons. First, the Whitney has very few permanent walls, so you start from scratch every time. Second, a lot of the work is project-based: At the outset, many artists didn't have a concrete sense of exactly how much space they needed. Their projects evolved, and every time they shifted in concept and execution they changed what was needed for the space, and potentially everything else in the show. It was extremely challenging, but the structure of the show reflects the way these artists are working: it’s open-ended, with non-linear progressions and dialogs with other work, so you have different sorts of narratives depending on how you walk through the building.

What do you think the Whitney Biennial is for?

SMM: Essentially what we’re trying to do – to use a phrase that often comes up – is to “take the temperature” of contemporary American art. We’re two individuals and we have a vision, but we wanted to include a broad range of work that feels particularly resonant within the current context. But this isn't a survey of any sort. It’s more open-ended than that.