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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).

“Projections from the Archive. Performances of Cinema, Its Archival Counterapproaches, and Performance Historiography,” 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

    White page with a large photograph in the middle. The photograph shows an indoor space. On the left, there is a person with long hair sitting on top of a table. They face the opposite wall, which is full of drawings and hand-drawn posters. There are bags and others objects and materials on the floor, next to the walls. Above the photograph, large black text reads:
    White page with two images. The left image shows a black grid with some green scribbles. The right image is of a white paper with a purple handwritten sentence, which reads:
    White page with four photographs. One of the photographs shows a person with a microphone touching someone else's wrist, in front of a crowd. The other three show two video installations and a wall with several small photographs and a large handwritten word on top. There are paragraphs of text both above and under the images. On each side of the page, there is a vertical pink banner.

    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
    In the middle of the page, a photograph shows light streaks against a dark background. The image description appears underneath, in black. It is marked as
    Word document. At the top, larger text reads

    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
    White page with black text. Large black text reads
    Black-and-white portrait of a person on stage. They are wearing a leather jacket and holding a sheet of paper. The person is looking up and smiling.
    Digital black text on top of a white page. In the middle, there is a block showing two images, which look like two charts.
    A person wearing a suit and tie holds a camera at their eye. The image is slightly blurry.
    Digital black text on top of a white page. In the middle, there is a block showing two images. On the left, a close-up of a white door, showing the door knob and keyhole. On the right,
    On top of a grey background, three different photographs show three different stamps in front of the same blue box. The stamp at the top reads

    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 “Incorruptible Flesh”

    2013

    • Writing
    Blue page, with a photograph occupying the majority of the space. It shows a person on top of a square, white platform. They are standing inside a glass cuboid, up to their hips. Above the photograph, white text reads
    On stage, three people appear behind a metal structure. Purple light lights the space.
    A person wearing a tall hat and a cape is at the center of the stage, with one of their arms raised. A spotlight shines on top of them.
    Blue page with white banner at the top. At the top, black text reads

    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
    White page with yellow dots and lines occupying most of the page.
    White page with yellow dots and lines occupying most of the page. There is black text on top of it, with numbers to the left of each block.
    Black wall with a black wallpaper with white shapes. On the wall, there is a lit up, green
    A band is playing inside a white canopy tent. There are five elements in the band, all bare chested. The person at the front, wears only boxers.
    On a white wall of an indoor space a single image appears several times, filling nearly the entirety of a wall. The image appears larger at the centre of the wall, inside a frame. It then appears smaller also on the wall, in six rows. The image shows an American shot of a person wearing only white briefs. They have short hair and their lips are painted red.
    A large mural is outside a building with a glass facade. Two people look at the mural, which has a large map with large yellow areas. A section with a few paragraphs of text is on the right edge of the mural.

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

    X-TRA issue listing 

    full text online