The thoughts presented here have to a large extent been developed through an extensive conversation we have been having around the “Academy” project, an exhibition-symposia-book project supported by the Siemens Art Fund, the Hamburg Kunstverein, MuhKa Antwerp, the Van Abbemueum, Eindhoven, and the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College. This conversation initially included, among others, Bart De Baere, Rob Stone, Charles Esche, Angelika Nollert, Dieter Roelstraat and Florian Schneider. It is at times a bit difficult to tell whose thoughts are whose, but that too is in the spirit of “Academy ”.
