The contemporary artist’s working relationships : understanding restriction and authority

In contemporary art, some artists enter into working relationships with other\ud groups or institutions to create a final piece. For example, an artist may be invited by a\ud museum to take part in an exhibition, or an artist may work with a city council to create a\ud public artwork. However, these institutions/groups and the artist do not necessarily share\ud similar views on what form the final work should take. Because both the artist and the\ud institution/group possess authority over the project, the artist may encounter restrictions\ud imposed upon him or her.\ud How then does the artist overcome these obstacles in order to achieve his or her\ud goals? One possibility is for the artist to increase his or her creative authority over the\ud artwork. An investigation of the different working relationships of contemporary artists\ud such as Daniel Buren, Fred Wilson, Andrea Fraser, and Richard Serra indicates that the\ud most successful method to achieve greater creative authority is modeled by Wilson.\ud Wilson created a working relationship built on trust and thereby avoided potential\ud restrictions and instead achieved greater creative authority in producing his project with\ud the Maryland Historical Society