In light of the nature of Clark’s work and his engagement with philosophical issues, this exhibition raises the question of the role played by performance art as a form of knowledge in the university, especially given the radical and often violent avant-garde history that has underpinned such an art form. How has the university redefined the nature of performance art, given the fact that it has transformed the social functions of the artist and the artwork since the 1960s, when artists first began to be trained systematically in its specialized disciplinary-based culture? This is a question that points to conceptual art’s role in pioneering a special relationship with one of the university’s basic social mandates (research) and with its privileged media (writing and the book)—which are the vehicles for the inscription and dissemination of knowledge. The artists of the 1960s and 70s used writing and book-based knowledge in their work in order to probe the limits of art as traditionally understood, and such strategies also redefined artists’ social roles and aesthetic practices. Clark’s performance work, his table installations, and his recent feature-length video point to the changing social functions of the artist. As well, these works are emblematic of how art fosters a transformation in forms of knowledge, especially in cases when artworks are used to explore and expand our understanding of what art is, of how disciplines operate, of how knowledge is constituted and disseminated, and of how knowledge can transform the world that we live in and share.

Tim Clark. Reading the Limits presents the full range of the work produced by this important yet little-known artist. The exhibition allows viewers to track and understand the nature of Clark’s engagement with both conceptual art and philosophy over a thirty-year period. In so doing, visitors are also confronted with an underlying curatorial problem which has been addressed through the exhibition’s mode of presentation. How does one present works that are transient to the point of leaving little or no visual traces? An answer to this question has been provided through the exhibition’s conceptualization and layout.