Traction (Sternberg Press)

Following his futuristic novel Plot, polemical art theoretician Tirdad Zolghadr targets the moral economy of indeterminacy that makes curators and artists politically stunted, intellectually bankrupt and aesthetically predictable in his latest treatise. Curators, in particular, he sees as a necessary evil, at best offering one transgalactic statement, one buzzword after another. Even the mainstream is convinced it s better off doing the curating itself. Drawing on texts and projects by both artists and curators, including some transgalactic blunders of his own, Zolghadr ventures suggestions beyond the gravitational pull of business as usual. Independent writer/curator and professor at Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies, Zolghadr writes for frieze and other publications, and is editor-at-large for Cabinet magazine. He organized the UAE Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2009 and is curatorial advisor to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and frequent lecturer at the Intl. Academy of Art, Palestine.