Tag Economics

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Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place | e-flux

Feb 16, ’12 6:49 PM

So what is contemporary about contemporary art? Does art itself point to the term or vice versa? Whatʼs going on? Have people forgotten to ask artists if they are contemporary artists? One answer is that the term is a convenient generalization that does not lend itself to reflection and constant rethinking in the manner of established theoretical terms such as Postmodernism. It allows a separation from the act of making or doing art and the way it is then presented, explained and exchanged. Both artists and curators can find a space in the gap between these two moments where they are temporarily considering an exceptional case with every new development or addition to the contemporary inventory. Yet, an inventory of art spaces alone, for example, cannot help us find a categorization of participation within the realm of the contemporary. The question is how to categorize art today in a way that will exceed the contemporary. The inclusiveness of the contemporary is under attack, as this very inclusiveness has helped suppress a critique of what art is and more importantly what comes next. We know what comes next as things stand—more contemporary art.

The installation—and by association the exhibition itself—is the articulation of the contemporary. Even paintings cannot escape this “installed” quality, the considered and particular installation of things and images, even when approached in a haphazard or off-hand manner. We all have an idea of what contemporary art represents while only knowing the specifics of any particular instance. It is this knowing what it means via evoking a particular that pushes people towards an attempt to transcend this generality.

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Hyperjunk: Observations on the Proliferation of Online Galleries : Bad at Sports

Feb 14, ’12 5:33 PM

Recently the topic of online galleries and their proliferation in the past year has been on the tips of many tongues. Specifically, the argument involves a musing on how the development of online venues for showing net-based work is providing a fundamental shift in the paradigms of traditional art market systems. Although I support and am interested in these projects, I haven’t been convinced one way another of their effectiveness, or if these new galleries are actively engaging, responding, or directly working against the establish status quo of art exhibition. One such criticism of the overall impact of these spaces comes from the striking similarity of artists shown in these venues. In very few instances do these spaces show artists that haven’t otherwise had some kind of successful online exposure (through something like Rhizome, Art Fag City, or even the artist’s own dynamic social networking presence). The amount of overlap between the artists shown in these online venues is telling to the overall quality of work being made and distributed online. It’s not that I want to argue that these artists are underserving of so much attention, or that their work hasn’t earned wide distribution and exhibition, but I do question the value of having multiple online venues showing such similar kinds of work and artists (especially given the availability of so many creative, insightful, and challenging works being made within/around network culture).

This being said, I came to scrutinize my own suspicion of these so-called alternatives by questioning the fundamental basis of my own judgement: is it the responsibility of these websites and galleries to create an antithesis of the standard model of commercial distribution? Is it is also their responsibility to only show artists that otherwise would never have an opportunity to show in physical space? Following this train of thought, I came to question whether it is even the intent of these spaces and sites to operate as opponents or counters to the art market, and if it is fair of me to critique these spaces underneath these expectations. If not, then what intentions and responsibilities do organizers and curators have in the creation of their forum? To provide more substance for these considerations, I decided to talk directly with those that have been cited as promising examples of this trend in an attempt to uncover how these (mostly artist-run) initiatives consider their own activities within the larger scope of contemporary art exhibition and economics.

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Julien Previeux- A la recherche du miracle économique (2007)

Sep 25, ’07 3:45 PM

This piece was included in Julien Previeux’s solo show Management of Change and Conflict, which was on view at the Jousse Entreprise Gallery last Spring. Previeux attended business school before he became an artist, and one could easily speculate that his concern with the nature of current economic structures is an extension of his studies. He produces concise and instructive meditations on value, work, and profit in a world economy marked by globalization and the primacy of information.

A la recherche du miracle économique (In Search of the Economic Miracle) is a triptych made up of three drawings. In the centre of each panel is an excerpt from Volume 1 of Capital, the border, or outer rim, is covered with an amorphous grouping of key words spotted in Karl Marx’s text. The system of deciphering used to highlight these key words goes back to the biblical code. In the Middle Ages, monks used this code to reveal the secret meanings in sacred texts. The decoding technique shows hidden terms according to equidistant series of letters, words are laid bare by choosing a starting letter then by leaving out the same number of letters each time. The words are linked together by arrows suggesting relationships of cause and effect and membership. This network of lines form a graph which Julien Prévieux uses to chart the twists and turns of financial scandals and economic crises. In the first panel, the text written in 1867 predicts the Great Depression. The dates, facts and sometimes even the names of the people involved in the slump can be found. The second drawing brings together terms having to do with the very recent Enron scandal, symbol of today’s malfunctions and of deregulation taken to the extreme. The people running the company, the politicians implicated in the affair as well as a whole set of terms concerning the failure of the company are found in the same way. The third and last element of the triptych depicts a future event: a widespread fall combining the development of an informal economy and the failure of the classic monetary system.

In these conditions, the search for the economic miracle looks to be pretty tough, the oracle tells of nothing but a series of catastrophes, a chaotic picture of the years gone by and the years to come. The events presented are so many icons of capitalism’s spectacular failures. At one and the same time a book of economic analysis and revolutionary tool, Capital is a real “bible of the international workers’ movement” (Engels), and it’s to give him additional power, a prophetic power from which to extort hidden meanings.

The act of deciphering or decoding is at once complex, long and ridiculous. It forces economic analysis into some sort of mystical corner and points the finger at the overly “magical” interpretation of certain texts. The work gives its reading model and serves as a commentary highlighting the need to suspect the secret entries in all work.

Julien Prévieux explores the boundaries between artistic praxis and economic reality, he extracts a kind of visual poetry from a complex reality in which the past, the present and the future get tangled up in a network that is forever wrapped and looped around itself.

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