A Counterpart to Solid Walls: On Céline Condorelli’s Curtain Installation Host

Abstract

Paying heed to the entanglement of the roles of host and guest, this article enquires into the large-scale curtain installation Host by Céline Condorelli at Kunsthal Aarhus (2019-20). The article argues that as Host takes on the role of host by wrapping around a film program and other events, the soft and pliable curtain walls unsettle the role of the white cube and change the conditions of perception in the gallery. With Host as host, visitors are no longer reduced to minds and eyes as per Brian O’Doherty’s characterization, bodies and ears are welcome too. The article further examines the double ontology of Host as both host and guest in the gallery in dialogue with Jacques Derrida’s concept of hospitality.