Difference on display

Abstract

In society, what passes for normal, and who gets to decide? Who “looks” normal, and where do we draw the line? At a facial wrinkle, at a visible prosthesis, pills to increase intelligence, drastic cosmetic surgery? The ambitious exhibition Difference on Display at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam featured the responses of international artists to this defining social question of our time. Difference on Display offered three lines of approach: perfectibility (the ideal norm), consumer culture and man and technology. Alongside writings on the burgeoning discipline of disability studies—which addresses the needs of marginalized groups and the extent to which society can accommodate them—this well-illustrated publication presents work by over 80 artists, including Marc Quinn, Marlene Dumas, the Chapman Brothers, Viktor & Rolf, Louise Bourgeois and Aernout Mik.