BEST OF 2018 ARTFORUM
DINNER SCENE IN RUBEN ÖSTLUND’S THE SQUARE (2017)
If Östlund’s satirical drama is remembered for one thing, it should be the dinner scene—a gripping, eight-minute sequence that begins as amusing entertainment and spirals into a brutal altercation. The film’s swipes at Minimalist and Conceptual art, overzealous PR executives, smug artists, and self-important white male curators are predictable, but this episode, with Terry Notary’s star turn as a scowling and swaggering ape, cuts to the core of human/animal behavior and the pitfalls of art-world complacency.
Artforum critic Pauline J. Yao (lead curator of Visual Art/ M+ Hong Kong) pics best of year 2018. The dinner scene in The Square by Ruben Östlund is no 5. Mikael Olsson appears in the film as an artist friend of the main character Christian (Claes Bang). In the famous dinner scene he engages in a conflict with Oleg (Terry Notary).
Each December Artforum invites a group of distinguished critics, curators, and artists from around the world to consider the year in art. Ten contributors count down their top ten highlights of 2018, while three others select the single exhibition that, for them, rose above the rest.
DECEMBER 24, 2018
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DINNER SCENE IN RUBEN ÖSTLUND’S THE SQUARE (2017)
If Östlund’s satirical drama is remembered for one thing, it should be the dinner scene—a gripping, eight-minute sequence that begins as amusing entertainment and spirals into a brutal altercation. The film’s swipes at Minimalist and Conceptual art, overzealous PR executives, smug artists, and self-important white male curators are predictable, but this episode, with Terry Notary’s star turn as a scowling and swaggering ape, cuts to the core of human/animal behavior and the pitfalls of art-world complacency.
Artforum critic Pauline J. Yao (lead curator of Visual Art/ M+ Hong Kong) pics best of year 2018. The dinner scene in The Square by Ruben Östlund is no 5. Mikael Olsson appears in the film as an artist friend of the main character Christian (Claes Bang). In the famous dinner scene he engages in a conflict with Oleg (Terry Notary).
Each December Artforum invites a group of distinguished critics, curators, and artists from around the world to consider the year in art. Ten contributors count down their top ten highlights of 2018, while three others select the single exhibition that, for them, rose above the rest.
DECEMBER 24, 2018
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→Artforum