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  • Megan Hoetger, PhD
  • About

Megan Hoetger, PhD, Projects

  • Conversational (8)
  • Curatorial (7)
  • Editorial (8)
  • Exhibitionary (4)
  • Presentational (4)
  • Production (5)
  • Workshop (8)
  • Writing (14) x

The creative labor of translating research into texts that are meant to be read.

An archive of projects, collaborations, and engagements organized according to typologies of labor performed.

Upcoming

Thought-sounds, in collaboration with Paula Montecinos Oliva and After the siren, before the bell (a traveling sound system by Marissa Lee Benedict and David Rueter). Hosted by de Appel, Amsterdam on 7 April 2025.

“Active Archives. On Performance Curatorial Research and Historiographic Method” in The Routledge Companion to Performance Art, edited by Lucian O’Connor, et al. (Routledge, forthcoming 2025).

“Performances of Cinema, Performance Historiography, and Archival Counterapproaches” in Performance/Archiv, edited by Barbara Büscher, Franz Anton Cramer, and Ulrike Hanstein (VALIE EXPORT Center and University of Arts Linz, forthcoming 2025).

  • I don’t believe in revolution, but sometimes I get in the spirit

    2024

    • Writing
    Website with white background. Occupying the majority of the image is the entry for
    An A4 sheet of paper has been filled with handwritten notes. Slightly on top of it, at the bottom, is another sheet of paper, printed digitally. It says 'Co' in a large font.
    A person sits at a table delivering a presentation. Behind them a slide is being projected. The slide is titled 'Accidental archivism' and shows two images. One of a group of people around a camera and another of a male presenting person in a natural setting.
    A slide with an image is being projected. The image is a photograph of a shelf of books annotated with colourful sticky notes.
    Travel postcards and brochures have been set on a table. A group of people is standing around it. Two people observe one of the postcards closely.
    A magnetic flipchart easel has been filled with notes. Behind it, to the left, something is being projected on a screen.
    A film is being projected onto a screen. The captured frame shows a monument with a star on top. Behind it, several flag poles remain empty. The subtitle reads:

    Our Many Easts program description 

    full online text 

  • ‘It Was The Way We Lived’: On Underground Cinema, Reproductive Labor, and Curating

    2024

    • Writing
    Illustration of red-headed person leaning back on elbows in grass. They are wearing a orange jacket.
    Book spread with table of contents on the left page and a photograph of a young person sitting on a sofa and holding a dog on the right page. The background is white, and the text and photograph appear in black.
    A feminine-presenting person holds a baby and faces the camera. To the left, a masculine-presenting person, wearing sunglasses, looks away.
    Book spread. On the left page, a photograph shows a feminine-presenting person holding a baby and facing the camera. To the left, a masculine-presenting person, wearing sunglasses, looks away. On the right page, the first page of the article
    Collage made from a newspaper page. Half of the page is occupied by a photograph depicting a group of people standing in front of a storefront. At the bottom half, there's an article with a photo and a missing chunk, on top of which there's a cut out from a different page, which only partially occupies the missing space.
    A group of three masculine-presenting people stand by the open door of a small Volkswagen bus, facing the inside.
    Section of a poster. It shows a black and while photograph with two people dressed in black, standing against a white background. On top of the photo, in red, there is a drawing of a clown and some handwritten notes. The event name appears above the photo.

    mhoetger_it-was-the-way-we-lived_octopus-notes-11-2024.pdf [pdf, 9.47 MB] 

    more info on XSCREEN 

    more info on Birgit Hein 

    Octopus Notes, No. 11 

  • The Partisan, the Dissident, and the Postsocialist Contemporary

    2024

    • Writing
    White webpage showing the beginning of

    tptdtpsc00-overview.mp4 

    The artist is standing in front of a nude study. She has short hair and is wearing a wrapped white coat, which is smudged with charcoal.
    Exhibition entrance for
    Detail of a thick piece of fabric to which small patches of other fabric have been attached. These patches have drawings or writing on them.
    Section of a piece of dark fabric with stitches in white, brown and yellow. These stitches appear in different shapes and form patterns.
    A large rectangular piece of fabric has been hung on the wall. There is some texture to it, created with stitching. At the bottom, one small object hangs from the fabric.
    Close up section of a large rectangular piece of fabric hung on the wall. There is some texture to it, created with stitching.
    Two feminine-presenting people, dressed in dark colours and wearing head scarves, stand by a clothesline full with white fabric in a natural setting.
    Lawn with several clotheslines, where white fabric and clothes have been hung. There are several feminine-presenting people taking care of this laundry.

    Full text online 

  • Garden as Material, Map, Metaphor, State of Mind

    2023

    • Writing
    Workspace with large windows. There is a desk, a shelf, a smaller round table and large sheets of paper or photographic print on the floor. On the wall, hang several photographic prints showing the same flower.
    In an exhibition space, a large photographic print with green foliage is suspended from the ceiling. To the left, a photographic print has been placed on top of a plant in a vase. To the front of the print, a long line of flower prints that stretches across the floor is partially visible. On the walls, there are more prints with images and text.
    In an exhibition space, a large photographic print with green foliage is suspended from the ceiling. To its sides, we can find a red chair (right) and a wooden table with some photographic material on top (left). To its front, a long line of flower prints stretches across the floor.
    Four white A4 sheets, with Dutch words handwritten in black ink, are stuck to a wall.
    A white A4 sheet is stuck to a wall.
    A person sits in front of a large photographic print that hangs from the ceiling in the middle of a space. The print partially depicts green foliage. They hold a piece of paper and are gesturing with their right hand. In front, a long line of flower prints stretches across the floor.

    A Rising Flower Makes a Garden 

    The Garden as Material, Map, Metaphor, State of Mind, by Megan Hoetger 

  • Review “Black Joy/White Fragility”

    2022

    • Writing
    Indoor space with three video projections, where three different feminine-presenting people appear in domestic settings.
    Website page with event listing for Jo Mariama Smith's
    Indoor space with a large round top window and purple walls. In this space, there is an object on a plinth in the middle of the space, a neon sign on the wall, a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling and a small stool.

    mhoetger_black-joy-white-fragility-review-joy-mariama-smith-_theatre-journal-f2022.pdf [pdf, 13.52 MB] 

    Theatre Journal, Volume 74, Number 3, September 2022 

    Black Joy/White Fragility 

  • Film Distribution and 1968: Radical Aspirations

    2022

    • Writing
    A person runs through an empty street. The trees are bare and the sky is grey. They are holding a large red flag. The title of the book,
    1986 appears in a vertical line, occupying the middle of the book cover from the top to the bottom.
    Social media post. Under a text description, an image shows the photograph of a couple, who are kissing. The image appears inside a dark grey square. Above the photograph,

    hoetger_films-distribution-and-1968.pdf [pdf, 37.89 KB] 

    Discourse homepage 

    Celluloid Revolt book webshop 

    1968 and Global Cinema book webshop 

  • Honouring Sands’s Horsepower

    2022

    • Writing

    Part of:Gift Science Archive

    Screenshot.
    Screenshot.
    Screenshot.

    hshp-scroll-through.mp4 

    hoetger_honouring-sands-s-horsepower.pdf [pdf, 1.56 MB] 

    giftsciencearchive.net/about 

  • Learning from “Gift Science Archive”

    2022

    • Writing
    In white, the words
    Two paragraphs of black text are aligned to the left of the page, starting near the top. The background is dark salmon.
    Table of contents showing as main sections of the book:
    Second table of contents page, showing as main sections of the book:
    Several colourful sheets of paper with handwritten notes have been loosely stacked. A digital page with text and images has been superimposed on the image. On the bottom right,

    hoetger_learning-from-gift-science-archive.pdf [pdf, 114.62 KB] 

    nGbK event series listing 

    full PDF for download 

    nGbK book webshop 

  • Reassembling East German Nightlife: Scores for Curating from Elusive Archives

    2022

    • Writing
    Spread around the page, several words in different positions and rotations have been written in white, often with the end of the word more faded than the beginning. These words are:
    A book lies open. Across the two pages, several words in different positions and rotations have been written in black. Extra text, in a smaller font, appears underneath each word. These are words like:
    A book lies open. On the top page,

    hoetger-kong_reassembling-east-german-nightlife.pdf [pdf, 2.49 MB] 

  • Notes from the Table. A Not-Yet Manifesto

    2022

    • Writing

    Part of:Zone Collective

    Scans of a list and of a diagram appear next to each other. There are blocks of transparent yellow across the top of the list and bottom of the diagram. The words
    Black-and-white diagram, with a block which reads
    Black and purple diagram.
    Three images have been overlaid. At the back, a diagram has its blocks empty. At the front, two images with notes in blue and red have been superimposed.
    Close-up of diagram, where the words
    Close-up of diagram, where the words

    Notes from the Table. A Not-Yet Manifesto 

  • Art/Obscenity/Underground Cinema in West Germany, 1968–1973: Circulating through the Debates

    2021

    • Writing
    Book cover. *In and Out of View: Art and the Dynamics of Circulation, Suppression, and Censorship*, edited by Catha Paquette, Karen Kleinfelder, and Christopher Miles (London: Bloomsbury, 2021).
    Still. Kurt Kren, *23/69 Underground Explosion*, 1969. 16mm film; color; sound; 5:00 minutes. Courtesy of sixpackfilm, Vienna.
    Megan Hoetger,

    art_obscentiy-color-plate.pdf [pdf, 1.26 MB] 

    hoetger_art_obscenity_underground-cinema-in-west-germany-1968-72.pdf [pdf, 4.02 MB] 

    In and Out of View 

  • Falter, Stumble, Plunge: Kurt Kren’s Structures

    2018

    • Writing
    Megan Hoetger,
    Portrait of Kurt Kren taken at his film retrospective, San Francisco Cinematheque, California, 1996.
    Megan Hoetger,
    Still. Kurt Kren, *44/85 Foot'-age Shoot'- out*, 1985.
    Megan Hoetger,
    Stamp collection of Kurt Kren. Kurt Kren Archive, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna.

    legrice_kurt-kren.pdf [pdf, 7.86 MB] 

    tscherkassky_lord-of-the-frames-kurt-kren.pdf [pdf, 92.01 KB] 

    Full text online 

  • Double Review “Tiresias” and “Messianic Remains”

    2013

    • Writing
    Journal cover. *Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts* 19, no. 3 (June 2014). Special issue
    Ron Athey, *Incorruptible Flesh: Messianic Remains*, 2013. Pigott Theater, Stanford University, California. Photo: Megan Hoetger.
    Ron Athey, *Incorruptible Flesh: Messianic Remains*, 2013. Pigott Theater, Stanford University, California. Photo: Megan Hoetger.
    Table of contents. *Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts* 19, no. 3 (June 2014). Special issue

    hoetger-athey-psi-review_perf-research-_fall2014.pdf [pdf, 523.55 KB] 

    hoetger-cassils-psi-review_perf-research-fall2014.pdf [pdf, 226.4 KB] 

    Performance Research issue listing 

  • History As An Experience To Be Had

    2012

    • Writing
    Journal cover. *X-TRA: Contemporary Art Quarterly* 15, no. 1 (Fall 2012).
    Table of contents. *X-TRA: Contemporary Art Quarterly* 15, no. 1 (Fall 2012).
    Installation image. Liz Glynn, *Black Box*, January 2012. Organized by LAxART. Photo: Megan Hoetger.
    Dorian Wood, *Dorian Wood is Faggot Tree and Killsonic is Killsonic* in Dorian Wood’s “Athco, or the Renaissance of Faggot Tree
    Installation image. Heather Cassils, *Advertisement (Homage to Benglis)*, 2011. Photograph and Xerox copies; Key art: 30 x 40 inches, and tabloid-sized Xerox: 11 x 17 inches. Key image ©Heather Cassils and Robin Black 2011. Wall installation ©Heather Cassils 2011. Installation photo: Joshua White, courtesy of LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions).
    Suzanne Lacy, *Los Angeles Rape Map* installed at Deaton Auditorium, Los Angeles Police Department, as part of *Three Weeks in January*, 2012. Photo: Meg Madison, courtesy of LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions).

    hoetger-history-as-an-experience-to-be-had.pdf [pdf, 7.79 MB] 

    X-TRA issue listing 

    full text online