ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses elements of the research and exhibition project Eric Andersen Exhibition Lab, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark, in 2018. The project revolved around the activation of a paper archive with materials by the Danish intermedia artist Eric Andersen (b. 1943). In particular, it discusses the activation of the scored piece Opus 51, which Andersen submitted to a national composers’ competition in 1964, sparking controversy and debate in the Danish media. One of the activation strategies within our project was the commission of a new performance of Opus 51 by the vocal group Union for Open Vocalism—a curatorial strategy that prompted reflection on the relations between past and present as well as identity, change and difference in relation to works of art in musical and visual arts traditions and contexts. By exploring these institutional and temporal contexts and their backgrounds, the chapter argues that the activation of the piece in performance presents a more direct and actualized staging of the questions of trust and historical interpretation raised by Opus 51 than more traditional museum exhibiting or research strategies and practices.
