My words are too big for the system!
Bourriaud
Pg7
A constructed situation does not necessarily correspond to a
relational world founded on the basis of a figure of exchange. Is it just a coincidence that Debord
divides the temporality of the spectacle into the “exchangeable time” of labor, (“the endless
accumulation of equivalent intervals”) and the “consumable time” of holidays, which imitates
the cycles of nature but is at the same time no more than a spectacle “to a more intense degree.”
The notion of exchangeable time proves here to be purely negative: the negative element is not
the exchange as such—exchange is a factor in life and sociability—but the capitalist forms of
exchange that Debord identifies, perhaps wrongly, with interhuman exchange. Those forms of
exchange are born of the “encounter” that takes place in the form of a contract between an
accumulation of capital (the employer) and available labor-power (the factory or office workers).
They do not represent exchange in the absolute sense, but a historical form of production
(capitalism): labor time is therefore not so much “exchangeable time” in the strong sense of the
terms, as time that can be bought in the form of a wage. An artwork that forms a “relational
world” or a social interstice can update Situationism and reconcile it, in so far as that is possible,
with the world of art. [...]
Pg7
A constructed situation does not necessarily correspond to a
relational world founded on the basis of a figure of exchange. Is it just a coincidence that Debord
divides the temporality of the spectacle into the “exchangeable time” of labor, (“the endless
accumulation of equivalent intervals”) and the “consumable time” of holidays, which imitates
the cycles of nature but is at the same time no more than a spectacle “to a more intense degree.”
The notion of exchangeable time proves here to be purely negative: the negative element is not
the exchange as such—exchange is a factor in life and sociability—but the capitalist forms of
exchange that Debord identifies, perhaps wrongly, with interhuman exchange. Those forms of
exchange are born of the “encounter” that takes place in the form of a contract between an
accumulation of capital (the employer) and available labor-power (the factory or office workers).
They do not represent exchange in the absolute sense, but a historical form of production
(capitalism): labor time is therefore not so much “exchangeable time” in the strong sense of the
terms, as time that can be bought in the form of a wage. An artwork that forms a “relational
world” or a social interstice can update Situationism and reconcile it, in so far as that is possible,
with the world of art. [...]
pg7
How is aesthetics to be used, and can it
possibly be injected into tissues that have been rigidified by the capitalist economy? Everything
suggests that modernity was, from the late nineteenth century onwards, constructed on the basis
of the idea of “life as a work of art.” As Oscar Wilde put it, modernity is the moment when “art
does not imitate life; life imitates art.”
Kwon
How is aesthetics to be used, and can it
possibly be injected into tissues that have been rigidified by the capitalist economy? Everything
suggests that modernity was, from the late nineteenth century onwards, constructed on the basis
of the idea of “life as a work of art.” As Oscar Wilde put it, modernity is the moment when “art
does not imitate life; life imitates art.”
Kwon
93
For example, in Mark Dion's 1991 project On Tropical Nature, several different
definitions of the site operated concurrently. First, the initial site of Dion's inter-
vention was an uninhabited spot in the rain forest near the base of the Orinoco
River outside Caracas, Venezuela, where the artist camped for three weeks collect-
ing specimens of various plants and insects as well as feathers, mushrooms, nests,
and stones. These specimens, picked up at the end of each week in crates, were
delivered to the second site of the project, Sala Mendoza, one of the two hosting
art institutions back in Caracas. In the gallery space of the Sala, the specimens,
which were uncrated and displayed like works of art in themselves, were
contextualized within what constituted a third site-the curatorial framework of
the thematic group exhibition.14 The fourth site, however, although the least
material, was the site to which Dion intended a lasting relationship. On Tropical
Nature sought to become a part of the discourse concerning cultural representations
of nature and the global environmental crisis.15
96
In addition, current forms of site-oriented art, which readily take up social issues
(often inspired by them), and which routinely engage the collaborative participa-
tion of audience groups for the conceptualization and production of the work,
are seen as a means to strengthen art's capacity to penetrate the sociopolitical
organization of contemporary life with greater impact and meaning. In this
sense the possibilities to conceive the site as something more than a place-as
repressed ethnic history, a political cause, a disenfranchised social group-is a
crucial conceptual leap in redefining the "public" role of art and artists.19
For example, in Mark Dion's 1991 project On Tropical Nature, several different
definitions of the site operated concurrently. First, the initial site of Dion's inter-
vention was an uninhabited spot in the rain forest near the base of the Orinoco
River outside Caracas, Venezuela, where the artist camped for three weeks collect-
ing specimens of various plants and insects as well as feathers, mushrooms, nests,
and stones. These specimens, picked up at the end of each week in crates, were
delivered to the second site of the project, Sala Mendoza, one of the two hosting
art institutions back in Caracas. In the gallery space of the Sala, the specimens,
which were uncrated and displayed like works of art in themselves, were
contextualized within what constituted a third site-the curatorial framework of
the thematic group exhibition.14 The fourth site, however, although the least
material, was the site to which Dion intended a lasting relationship. On Tropical
Nature sought to become a part of the discourse concerning cultural representations
of nature and the global environmental crisis.15
96
In addition, current forms of site-oriented art, which readily take up social issues
(often inspired by them), and which routinely engage the collaborative participa-
tion of audience groups for the conceptualization and production of the work,
are seen as a means to strengthen art's capacity to penetrate the sociopolitical
organization of contemporary life with greater impact and meaning. In this
sense the possibilities to conceive the site as something more than a place-as
repressed ethnic history, a political cause, a disenfranchised social group-is a
crucial conceptual leap in redefining the "public" role of art and artists.19
Questions
How do you deal with and reflect on the importance of site specificity and the fluidity of social practice in one's practice?
As makers and artists move away from the dogma and theologies of the culture in which they come, they are creating another layer of these things. As Relational Aesthetics, and Social practice for that matter, develop, will they continue to acknowledge the nature of rejecting the ideals goals as a healthy pursuit? How does one navigate the layers of dogma in the new dogma?
Is it dangerous to refer to a hegemonic culture as generic?
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