"Contemporary art is no unworldly discipline nestled away in some remote ivory tower. On the contrary, it is squarely placed in the neoliberal thick of things. We cannot dissociate the hype around contemporary art from the shock policies used to defibrillate slowing economies. Such hype embodies the affective dimension of global economies tied to ponzi schemes, credit addiction, and bygone bull markets. Contemporary art is a brand name without a brand, ready to be slapped onto almost anything, a quick face-lift touting the new creative imperative for places in need of an extreme makeover, the suspense of gambling combined with the stern pleasures of upper-class boarding school education, a licensed playground for a world confused and collapsed by dizzying deregulation. If contemporary art is the answer, the question is: How can capitalism be made more beautiful?"
Hito Steyerl, Politics of Art: Contemporary Art and the Transition to Post-Democracy
Kathleen Yma's post 'It is worth noting here' that I use the designation of “postmodern” with skepticism and suspicion as I remain personally and academically unconvinced that we are presently residing in an era in which the issues of the modern have been successfully resolved." That left me wondering that when i have used 'post contemporary' in the exhibition concept note, did i use it in the context of a complete break? Of course i did not, especially since i completly agree with Kathleen that we are not living in a era in which "the issues of the modern have been successfully resolved" . However, the truth is that i have never understood the post in post modernism to signify a complete break or a resolution. The existence of the word 'post' could never do away with the weight of the word 'modernism' within the same word.(One would also want to refer to'Is the Post- in Postmodernism the Post- in Postcolonial'.)
So what is the 'post in 'post contemporary'? For me the contemporary period in art was the time of from when the neo liberal was emergent to the point in which the neo liberal was dominant. (The concepts of dominant, residual, and emergent are drawn from Raymond Williams. These concepts can give us a framework for understanding the complex and dynamic ways in which a culture operates as it continuously attempts to maintain stability and balance in the face of ever-changing views...). With the neo liberal being challenged the dominance of of the cosmopolitian, globalized world view that informed the flat, sleekness of 'contemporary' world view, together with the great faith in the internet is being questioned, together with the questioning of consumerism and the economic growth model; has opened doors for a questioning of the 'contemporary'.
No comments:
Post a Comment