ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine the practical work performed by contemporary art world members while installing artworks for an exhibition. Given the nature of some contemporary works of art, that work mostly draws on instructions: collecting them, formulating them, and following them, so as to present the artwork in the most satisfactory way, has become a major concern for art professionals. But what kind of instructions are formulated in the course of an installation process? Which aspects of the work are instructed? And which aspects of the artwork become a matter of concern? This study draws on materials collected during fieldwork in museums: observations and video recordings of people installing artworks, as well as documents. In particular, what matters in the museum context is to achieve the congruency of a set of instructions and an instructed object not only once, but also repeatedly, at every new artwork's presentation, and by different people through time – since artworks last longer than the people taking care of them at a given moment. However, the study demonstrates that what an artwork should look like, and how to achieve it, is always open to revision and change: it is a local achievement.
