Florence Ostende

Hailed as British dance's true iconoclast, Michael Clark is a defining cultural figure in the contemporary dance world. Since emerging in the early 1980s as a prodigy at London's Royal Ballet School, Clark has remained at the forefront of innovation in dance, working in close collaboration with a broad range of pioneering artists such as Sarah Lucas, Leigh Bowery, Charles Atlas, Cerith Wyn Evans, Peter Doig, Elizabeth Peyton, Wolfgang Tillmans and musicians such as Mark E. Smith, Wire, Scritti Politti, and Relaxed Muscle.

As a young choreographer, Clark brought together his classical ballet training with London's club culture, fashion, and punk rock to establish himself as one of the most innovative artists working in modern dance. His work, variously referencing punk, rock, and pop—is marked by a mixture of technical rigor and experimentation in a way that disrupts and reimagines our understanding of dance.

This book features a series of enlightening essays and vivid illustrations of Clark's best-known performances, alongside archival material. Loosely tracing the chronological evolution of his career, a variety of cultural figures, ranging from Jarvis Cocker to Charles Atlas, write about the countercultural undercurrents with which Clark's work connects.

An invitation from Mudam Luxembourg to consider the place, role and future of cultural institutions in the twenty-first century.

This publication collects and preserves the ideas put forward during the symposium "A Model: Reimagining Museums," which took place at Mudam – The Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg, in June 2024. The convening explored the mission of museums today and examined how contemporary institutions can continue to serve as sources of culture, preservation, education, and community in the future.

The symposium marked the final chapter of a broader program dedicated to examining the museum as a model. The series was introduced by "A Model," a three-part exhibition curated by Bettina Steinbrügge that reflected on the role of the museum in the twenty-first century, reaffirming the need to consider the institutions a dynamic, living place, sensitive and receptive to contemporary debates. It also considered the possibilities that arise when museum collections are reimagined as active and performative environments. More than thirty artists were involved – some conceiving new commissions, others responding to works in Mudam's collection.

Texts by Giulia Bellinetti, Clémentine Deliss, Ben Eastham, António Mendes, Florence Ostende, Agustín Pérez Rubio, Bettina Steinbrügge.

Foreword by Bettina Steinbrügge; interviews with Claire Fontaine, Bettina Steinbrügge.