Week 9 - Lecture 2 - Nick Cass - Historical tracings of Artists' interventions in the mid-twentieth century
Historical Tracings of Artists' Interventions in the Mid-Twentieth Century
Relationship Between Decades
The interrelationship between artists of the 1920s and 1930s with those of the 1960s and 1970s exemplifies a return to previously unfinished or sublimated projects not fully articulated originally.
This interrelation is particularly noted in the realm of artists' interventions within galleries and museums.
There is a re-investment in radical art practices aimed at critiquing dominant cultural mores.
Initial Approaches and Later Developments
The radical critiques in the 1920s and 1930s lacked the momentum or widespread impact of subsequent ventures. However, they provided significant examples that would later be appropriated and developed.
Foster characterizes this re-engagement as a 'return', referencing Sigmund Freud's concept of Nachträglichkeit (deferred action in trauma studies), illustrating that earlier radical art fails to register significance until later re-contextualization.
Freud's Theory on Trauma and Art
Freud's theories suggest that the important implications of an event often go unrecognized immediately and emerge only later, indicating that radical art from previous eras had not gained historical significance at the time of its inception.
Duchamp's conceptual art, for example, initially achieved recognition mainly among peers and collectors but did not acquire critical acclaim until the later decades.
Critique by Peter Bürger
Bürger, writing in 1974, described the neo-Dadaist happenings of the 1970s as a continuation of prior radical projects but argues they are unable to realize the protest value of Dadaist manifestations.
He asserts that the earlier radical intentions diminished in later artistic returns.
O'Doherty's Commentary
O'Doherty discusses the compromises present in the successful assimilation of radical art into mainstream practices, suggesting that art can sometimes serve merely as a bartering tool for ideological conformance.
Foster on Transformation and Recoding
Foster emphasizes the potential for transformation in the reworking of art processes, cautioning against mistaking the new form for the original. New forms can sometimes exploit negotiation for effective dialog without radical confrontation.
Institutional Critique and Early Art Practices
Earlier art critiques rarely achieved substantial disruptions or influence in institutional practices.
The significance and acknowledgment of earlier artists’ interventions, particularly those in the 1920s and 1930s, became more evident only decades later.
Emergence of Institutional Critique
There is a strong synergy between artists’ interventions and the emerging practices of institutional critique from the late 1960s onward, often overlapping issues and timelines.
Artists questioned not only institutional practices but also the institution of art itself, as heavily influenced by Duchamp’s legacy.
Challenging the Status Quo
Many artists began to expose the manipulation and co-opting of art for political and economic purposes, fostering on-going critiques of social injustices and marginalization.
Commitment to Ethical and Political Issues
Interventions became widespread as artists scrutinized the historical narratives of art while acknowledging its constructed ‘special status' separate from moral, ethical, and quotidian concerns.
Long-term Outcomes of Institutional Interventions
Artists began to disrupt established relationships with institutions and redefined policies and practices across galleries and museums, leading to new interpretative methodologies.
Interconnections of Art and Activism
The political horizon of the late 1960s prompted artists to dissect the ideological structures sustaining the museum and challenge its configuration as a site of art truth.
Conclusion
Overall, the evolution of these artistic practices from the mid-twentieth century can be traced as a significant movement towards recognizing and critiquing the established norms that govern art and its institutions.
References and Further Reading:
Foster, Hal. The Return of the Real. Seattle, WA: Bay Press, 1996.
Bürger, Peter. Theory of the Avant-Garde. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
O'Doherty, Brian. Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space. Expanded edition. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1999.