Pretenzione Intenzione – Objects of Beauty and Bewilderment from the Archive of Harald Szeemann

"Pretenzione Intenzione: Objects of Beauty and Bewilderment from the Archive of Harald Szeemann draws on a selection of objects in the estate of art historian and exhibition maker Harald Szeemann (1933–2005). These objects were part of what Szeemann called his Museum of Obsessions, a mind mirror that manifested itself through Szeemann’s exhibitions as well as in the workspace and archive known as the Fabbrica Rosa in Ticino. There he gathered the numerous and diverse objects, including papers, sketches, photographs, books, exhibition catalogues, letters, works of art and ephemera. As 'Pretenzione Intenzione' – the phrase from one of Szeemann's handwritten notes that gives the project its title - suggests, a desire lies dormant in these objects. It makes itself felt intuitively while intimating a purpose that attains only passing concretion in the telling of stories. Starting from this mysterious casualness, the authors have embarked on an archaeological journey. While Hayat Erdogan, Simone Lappert, Raimundas Malasauskas, Michele Robecchi, Una Szeemann and Michael Taussig unearth, explore, describe and reimagine the object, Bohdan Stehlik captures their auratic presence through photography. Texts and photographs bear witness to the inspiring illegibility and secrecy of these objects, which meander somewhere between preciousness and ephemera, encouraging readers to let their own thoughts drift. Hayat Erdogan is a dramaturg, theater maker, curator, lecturer, and author. Elsa Himmer is an art historian and curator. Simone Lappert is a writer and poet. Raimundas Malašauskas co-wrote an opera libretto, co-produced a TV show, published several books, and curated a number of projects, and exhibitions. Michele Robecchi is an independent curator, author, and editor specializing in contemporary art. Bohdan Stehlik is an artist and psychologist. Una Szeemann is a visual artist. Michael Taussig is an emeritus professor of anthropology at Columbia University in New York."