Articles by Bojana Matejic
Third Text (Special edition “The (Post)Colony and the Common: Collective Creativity, Agency and Emancipation in a Global Context”)London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, ISSN 0952-8822 (English) , 2020
‘Shaping one’s life artistically’ implies the principle ‘I live as an artist when all my actions,... more ‘Shaping one’s life artistically’ implies the principle ‘I live as an artist when all my actions, and my expression in general, in connection with any content whatever, remain for me a mere show and assume a shape which is wholly within my power’ (Hegel). Drawing on Hegel, the ‘young’ Marx advocated ‘production in accordance with the laws of Beauty’ (‘artistic work/life’), as a kind of work which, inasmuch as it was ‘free’, provided a model for the elucidation of the presupposition of human emancipation. ‘True Art’ appears to be work performed under the umbrella of a ‘free community’, where the division between masters and slaves, working class and capitalists, emancipators and emancipated, is abolished. Does the conception of ‘living artistically’ (still) have a critical emancipatory value, and how can it be formulated under the conditions of a global market economy and post-Fordism, where every critical act, event and activity is appropriated?
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Monitor ISH (Revija za humanistične in družbene vede), Ljubljana: AMEU-ISH, Fakulteta za podiplomski humanistični študij, XIX/2, 2017
Since the early 90s, after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, we have been informed that we ... more Since the early 90s, after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, we have been informed that we ought to be involved with the humanist struggle for the ‘politics of human rights’, and for ‘Art against terrorism’, or engaged with social groups and minorities with the aim of integrating them into a ‘legal sphere’ of life. The humanitarian/humanist imperative, present in everyday political discourse, art and culture, presupposes an opposition between good and evil, where art as a human, humanist and humanitarian activity, is supposed to assume a ‘responsible’ role. In the view of such rhetoric, Art must be ‘political’, ‘socially engaged’ and ‘participatory’, to the extent that it indicates the sharp distinction between the places of violence and those of justice. However, as Marx indicated so many times, the division between those who have the right to be seen (the ‘polis’, or public sphere) and those who do not have a right to a voice (private sphere), assents to social division as such, as well as a rather contingent ethical contraposition between good and evil. Humanitarianism/Humanism in art only affirms the existing democratic phraseology. The humanitarian/humanist regime of art validates a separation between civil society and the abstract society of political equality. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to trace the conceptual distinction between the humanitarian ideology of the current time in the post-socialist context of art and culture, and the thinking and practical application of the concept of the dehumanisation of art.
The manuscript consists of three parts: In the first part, I will recall Adorno’s thesis regarding the ‘after-Auschwitz’ ethic of representation; in the second part, I will discuss the controversy and the implementation of this thesis following 9/11 as related to culture; and finally, in the third part, I will address the issue of how this thesis, as the main current ideological weapon, conditions the contemporary state of affairs in the post-socialist spaces of art and culture, by indicating several key symptoms in artistic production.
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Art+Media: Journal of Art and Media Studies, Belgrade: Faculty of Media and Communications – Orion Art. ISSN 2217-9666, 2013
Zadatak teksta je da dovede u pitanje upotrebu pojma studije vizuelne kulture kao si-nonima, dana... more Zadatak teksta je da dovede u pitanje upotrebu pojma studije vizuelne kulture kao si-nonima, danas u široj literaturi, za područje novih studija vizuelnosti kontekstualizacijom teori-jskog obrta u radu Rozalind Kraus od kritike formalističkih koncepata čiste percepcije, optičkog iluzionizma i materijalne specifičnosti medija prema izvođenju teoretizacije afekta u kontekstu postmedijskog sveta umetnosti. Čini se neophodnim ukazati na razliku koja je eksponirana u pro-ceduralnom pristupu. Dok se područje studije vizuelne kulture oslanja na teorije vizuelne kul-turalne reprezentacije – teorija ideologije, socialni konstrukcionizam, diskurzivna analiza, se-miologija, teorija znaka, istorija umetnosti, antropologija, oblast novih studija vizuelnosti prati promene aspekata ljudske percepcije, vizuelnog opažanja i ontologije medija u odnosu na trans-formaciju prirode (novih) tehnologija (npr. digitalna/pokretna slika). Ovaj potonji pristup dobrim se delom služi pojmovnim aparatom i empirijskim istraživanjima iz oblasti bilogije, fiziologije, neuro-nauka, optike, fizike. Ključne reči: percepcija, optičko nesvesno, besformno, post-medij, afekt;
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New Sound: International Journal of Music, Belgrade: Faculty of Music Arts. ISSN 0354–818X, 2016
The polemic on waiting for human emancipation in music belongs to the modern aesthetic plane, whe... more The polemic on waiting for human emancipation in music belongs to the modern aesthetic plane, where Adorno's and Heidegger's manuscripts occupy a specific place. However, while Heidegger's ontology of the waiting implies waiting for the metaphysics of presence (Will), Adorno maintains that music should rather express "waiting in vain" (vergebliches Warten) by its spatio-temporal structuration, given that "after Auschwitz" philosophy with metaphysical assumptions is no longer possible. In the light of Adorno's modem interpretation of waiting in vain, my aim is to examine Badiou's conception of the Event-Subject in music. The thesis of this paper is that Adorno's concept of waiting in vain expresses defeatism of the known (perseverance-of-self) - which, due to its own character offilled affect of disappointment, does not leave time-space for newness. On the trail of Badiou's ontology of subtraction, I oppose the conception of affirmative, non-es-chatological, chiliastic expectation ("surplus of waiting") to the passive waiting in vain in music.
Keywords: Adomo, Badiou, chiliastic expectation, Event, non-eschatological, Subject of music, Vergebliches Warten ("waiting in vain"), Wagner
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Theoria: Journal of Serbian Philosophical Society, Belgrade: Serbian Philosophical Society. ISSN 0351-2274 (printed issue) / ISSN 2406-081X (online issue) , 2016
In the 'Third Sketch for a Manifesto of Affirmationist Art' ('Troisiéme esquisse d'une manifeste ... more In the 'Third Sketch for a Manifesto of Affirmationist Art' ('Troisiéme esquisse d'une manifeste de l' affirmationnisme'), Badiou brings together the concepts of Universality, the Senses and Duty in Art. The author will try to reassess the concept of Duty in Badiou's conception of Affirmationist Art, examining the problems of, 1. How is an Emancipatory Art possible in the context of the anti-humanist condition? and 2. What is the ontological and epistemological status of an inhumanity as a fundamental presupposition of human emancipation in Art? It will be argued that the artistic formalization of the Subject(s) – which is 'impersonal and singular', as Badiou asserts – would not be possible without any human participation in the process of subjectification towards human emancipation. The author will demonstrate how it is possible to think the concept of Duty in the aesthetic realm, on the basis of Badiou's presupposition of the Subjective Universality of Art and Župančić's reading of Lacanian theory.
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SAJ Serbian Architectural Journal, Belgrade: Faculty of Architecture, ISSN 1821-3952. COBISS.SR-ID 220470540, 2015
Art becoming life and its relative convergence to the ideality of autarky (αὐτάρκεια), implies a ... more Art becoming life and its relative convergence to the ideality of autarky (αὐτάρκεια), implies a maxim which coincides with the emancipatory promise of Art. Neo-Marxist authors have prescribed this maxim to Marx’s early works, particularly to the thesis from his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, and elaborated it further on these grounds. This maxim has been applied by many avant-garde movements up to the contemporary moment: Bertold Brecht’s political theatre, Guy Debord’s situationism, site-specific art, fluxus, Joseph Beuys’s social sculpture, etc. The common denominator of all these avant-garde practices is the imperative of an affirmation of their use-value – their realisation at the site of their own production, as opposed to the abstractness of their placement in the world.The site of this production is the site of the very production of sociability. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to examine the maxim art becoming life in the wake of Badiou’s ontology of the site by using the example of the modality of site-specific works in the conditions of contemporaneity.
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Philosophy and Society, Belgrade: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, ISSN 0353-5738 (printed issue) / ISSN 2334-8577 (online issue), 2015
The idea of the relation between art and life as becoming-life of art is a consequence of specifi... more The idea of the relation between art and life as becoming-life of art is a consequence of specific modern developments ranging from the Enlightenment to capitalism. This assemblage of thought and practice is present in one of the most dominant art forms today, and the task of this paper is to reassess the current state of affairs in art considering that the current state of affairs in art is a symptom of the global society of control. In order to be emancipatory art, on the one hand, Art presupposes de-substantialization and deessentialization of the biopolitically formed life and the category of Man, while on the other hand it also presupposes a new „generic in-humanum“ (in Badiou), that is, a people to come (in Deleuze) as the basis of politicity. Hence, emancipatory art needs to break away with the human in order to reach that which is beyond the current democratic materialism.
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Život umjetnosti: časopis za suvremena likovna zbivanja: Zagreb : Institut za povjest umjetnosti, ISSN: 0524-7797 (printed issue) , 2014
The aim of this text is to explore the anti-essentialist orientation of the motif of heterology p... more The aim of this text is to explore the anti-essentialist orientation of the motif of heterology positing in the theoretical, post-Marxist discourse of the American journal October, dedicated to the contemporary theory and politics of art, art criticism, and the (visual) arts. By applying and interpreting the terminological apparatus of Georges Bataille (1897-1962), directed at a Marxistmaterialist analysis of the theoretical implications of heterology, this text aims at offering a critique of hermeneutical power, of the hegemonic, normative, and Western modernism and postmodernism. The leading hypothesis is that the motif of positing of Bataille’s (anti-)philosophical terminological framework in the October project can be traced back to the dispositive of a critique of Marxistmaterialist idealism. The writing of a new, Western and hybrid art history can thus be defined and determined by a (new) utopian historical heterology.
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Treći program radio Beograda, March 29, 2012
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Monograph by Bojana Matejic
Rosalind Krauss, 2018
Heterogen teorijski diskurs Rozalind Kraus ocrtao je „epistemološki prelom“ unutar njujorške in... more Heterogen teorijski diskurs Rozalind Kraus ocrtao je „epistemološki prelom“ unutar njujorške intelektualne, kulturno-političke, teorijske, kritičke i umetničke scene krajem šezdesetih i početkom sedamdesetih godi- na prošlog veka. Kulturni derivati i paradigme njenih teorijskih polazišta višestruko su prisutni u savremenom internacionalnom (hegemonom) svetu umetnosti, bez kojih, osim ostalih, zasigurno, ovaj mnogostruki diskurs umetnosti ne bi bio čitljiv. s obzirom na heterogenost teorijskih elaboracija ove autorke, nije bilo lako trasirati, markirati, razlučiti, prikazati i interpretirati njena osnovna teorijska načela, polazišta, probleme i njihov značaj u kontekstu formiranja neo- i postavangardne kulturne njujorške scene, te implikacije povezane s njenim uticajem na evropski kulturni kontekst i obratno. Pošavši upravo od tih „konfliktnih zona“, cilj nam nije bio da taksativno informišemo o njenom teorijskom radu, niti da istorijski predstavimo tok teorijskog rada Rozalind Kraus. zato, ovaj tekst ne prati tradicionalnu logiku istorijskog metanarativa umetnosti, karakterističnu za klasičan evropocentrični oblik konstruisanja znanja o umetnosti (L'épistémè), već je strukturisan oko koliko teorijskih problema, pri čemu je fokus stavljen na modalitete recepcije i primene francuskog strukturalizma i poststrukturalizma na tradicionalni modernistički i visokomodernistički, dominantni, internacionalni metajezik umetnosti. Drugim rečima, ono što ova studija nudi jeste jedna moguća optika za promišljanje i recepciju heuristike, odnosno „metoda“ kojima je Rozalind Kraus uspela da određeni set istorijski validnih pojmova dotadašnjeg sveta umetnosti dekonstruiše i pokaže naličje njihovih ideoloških tamnica.
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Exhibition Catalogues by Bojana Matejic
Left Performce Histories. Recollecting Artistic Practices in Eastern Europe, Berlin: nGbK, 2018
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rafinerymonastery, 2022
The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that re... more The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that reflects the iconic and seemingly contrasting, horizontal and immediate coexistence of the Oil Refinery and the Vojlovica Monastery, and whose interdependence can be symbiotic or conflicting, depending on the point of view. The Biennale "refinerymonastery" raises questions about whether and how it is possible to act outside and over the domains of matrices, patterns and conditions generated by the monastery and the refinery, each for itself and together, and how to resolve the relationship between limited parochial activity and unrestrainable need for openness and inventiveness. The "refinerymonastery" may find temporary answers in art that reconciles speculative imagination and technology. If it is not possible to deviate from both dogmatism and hypercapitalism, then an artistic proposal is possible in the sense of creating a temporary difference. - Maja Ćirić
The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
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Book Chapter by Bojana Matejic
Istorija umetnosti u Srbiji XX vek: Realizmi i modernizmi oko „Hladnog rata“ (1939-1989), Beograd, Orion Art, ISBN 978-86-83305-74-2, 2012
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It's Not All Black and White: Perspectives on Otherness. Ljubljana: A priori, društvo za humanistiko, umetnost in kulturološka vprašanja, ISBN 978-961-93401-3-4, 2013
The paper examines the relationship and contradictions between notions of emancipation and the ot... more The paper examines the relationship and contradictions between notions of emancipation and the other in the context of contemporary political perspectives on art and aesthetics. The author intends to indicate and underline the differences between these terms by comparing two divergent theoretical paradigms: one connected to Alain Badiou’s philosophical work and the other related to the writings of Jacques Derrida. It is argued that both Derrida and Badiou do not understand politics in terms of social consensus, but rather, that they deal with the question of how to create a time-space for
Real emancipation in some state of the situation, and consequently, for an emancipatory artistic practice. As a result, emancipation does not imply seizing and acknowledging the other, but, a radical openness to the other, which is revealed as placing a definitive limit to the power and extent of the Rule. However, it is claimed that time itself, if we understand it as a waiting for an event of emancipation, whether delay and differentiation in time or commitment of Subject(s) of art to a generic event that may happen in an evental site, is the core of the current global ideological anamorphosis – indeed, we might say, of any ideological anamorphosis
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Bodies that Matter Again: Transformative Potentialities of Shape Shifting Corporealities in Contemporary Performing Arts, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
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Nova povezivanja: od scene do mreže, Beograd: FMK, 2017
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Conference Abstracts & Proceedings by Bojana Matejic
BEYOND THE CRISIS IN THE HUMANITIES: TRANSDISCIPLINARY TRANSFORMATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY DISCOURSES ON ART AND CULTURE, 2015
The paper examines the relationship and contradictions between humanist and
anti-humanist aesthe... more The paper examines the relationship and contradictions between humanist and
anti-humanist aesthetic conception of an aesthetic dimension. The author intends
to indicate and underline the differences between these terms by comparing two
divergent theoretical paradigms: one connected to Herbert Marcuse’s humanistic
aesthetic approach and other related to the aesthetic anti-humanism of Jacques
Rancière. The focus of the paper is to describe and analyze the issue concerning
the abolition of the boundaries between art and life, as one of the avant-garde’s
crucial maxims, as well as the conditions of the possibility of reaching the Real
of a generic life (a priori of communis) in the present state of affairs. It is argued
that aesthetic dimension of emancipatory art needs to be thought and grounded
on the certain ethical remainder
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The Aesthetic Regime of Art: Dimensions of Rancière’s Theory
International Conference, Ljubljana... more The Aesthetic Regime of Art: Dimensions of Rancière’s Theory
International Conference, Ljubljana, November 27–28, 2015
at the Atrij ZRC – Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC
SAZU), Novi trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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SHAKIN CONFERENCE BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 26–28 JUNE 2023 In from the margins - Sharing footnotes of subaltern knowledge and practices: Questioning North-South relations and ethics of international collaboration, 2023
The aim of this research is to re-examine the relationship between participatory art, which was e... more The aim of this research is to re-examine the relationship between participatory art, which was established as a concept in the Western episteme at the beginning of the nineties in the last century, and institutional theory, by problematizing and theorizing the notion of collective habit. According to the prevailing reading of Danto´s art world, art appreciation must be a habit like any other. The primary question of this inquiry is,
therefore, why some participatory projects in the contemporary art world cannot be and are not viewed as qua artwork, in comparison to many participatory artworks in which the promise of participation appears merely to be an empty rhetorical phrase. At the same time, some projects are included and recognised within the regime of what is called contemporary art. On the one hand, to apply the old formal aesthetical procedures
of classifying and recognizing participatory art would be misleading, since this type of art emerged from the historical, neo-, and post-avangardes. On the other hand, it seems that unfortunately Danto´s revolutionary sixties theory of the art world, with all its revisions, alongside the rest of institutional theory, is not any longer entirely sufficient to justify the logic of the regimes of recognition for such practices; because, ontologically, epistemologically and practically, at the core of the participatory practice is not the problem of the dichotomy between art (autonomy, i.e. aesthetics, artwork) and non-art (heteronomy, i.e. society, real things), but a certain habit of relation – a habit that is established in-between these entities.
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ART AND AESTHETICS UNDER POST-TRANSITION, 2016
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Articles by Bojana Matejic
The manuscript consists of three parts: In the first part, I will recall Adorno’s thesis regarding the ‘after-Auschwitz’ ethic of representation; in the second part, I will discuss the controversy and the implementation of this thesis following 9/11 as related to culture; and finally, in the third part, I will address the issue of how this thesis, as the main current ideological weapon, conditions the contemporary state of affairs in the post-socialist spaces of art and culture, by indicating several key symptoms in artistic production.
Keywords: Adomo, Badiou, chiliastic expectation, Event, non-eschatological, Subject of music, Vergebliches Warten ("waiting in vain"), Wagner
Monograph by Bojana Matejic
Exhibition Catalogues by Bojana Matejic
The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
Book Chapter by Bojana Matejic
Real emancipation in some state of the situation, and consequently, for an emancipatory artistic practice. As a result, emancipation does not imply seizing and acknowledging the other, but, a radical openness to the other, which is revealed as placing a definitive limit to the power and extent of the Rule. However, it is claimed that time itself, if we understand it as a waiting for an event of emancipation, whether delay and differentiation in time or commitment of Subject(s) of art to a generic event that may happen in an evental site, is the core of the current global ideological anamorphosis – indeed, we might say, of any ideological anamorphosis
Conference Abstracts & Proceedings by Bojana Matejic
anti-humanist aesthetic conception of an aesthetic dimension. The author intends
to indicate and underline the differences between these terms by comparing two
divergent theoretical paradigms: one connected to Herbert Marcuse’s humanistic
aesthetic approach and other related to the aesthetic anti-humanism of Jacques
Rancière. The focus of the paper is to describe and analyze the issue concerning
the abolition of the boundaries between art and life, as one of the avant-garde’s
crucial maxims, as well as the conditions of the possibility of reaching the Real
of a generic life (a priori of communis) in the present state of affairs. It is argued
that aesthetic dimension of emancipatory art needs to be thought and grounded
on the certain ethical remainder
International Conference, Ljubljana, November 27–28, 2015
at the Atrij ZRC – Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC
SAZU), Novi trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia
therefore, why some participatory projects in the contemporary art world cannot be and are not viewed as qua artwork, in comparison to many participatory artworks in which the promise of participation appears merely to be an empty rhetorical phrase. At the same time, some projects are included and recognised within the regime of what is called contemporary art. On the one hand, to apply the old formal aesthetical procedures
of classifying and recognizing participatory art would be misleading, since this type of art emerged from the historical, neo-, and post-avangardes. On the other hand, it seems that unfortunately Danto´s revolutionary sixties theory of the art world, with all its revisions, alongside the rest of institutional theory, is not any longer entirely sufficient to justify the logic of the regimes of recognition for such practices; because, ontologically, epistemologically and practically, at the core of the participatory practice is not the problem of the dichotomy between art (autonomy, i.e. aesthetics, artwork) and non-art (heteronomy, i.e. society, real things), but a certain habit of relation – a habit that is established in-between these entities.
The manuscript consists of three parts: In the first part, I will recall Adorno’s thesis regarding the ‘after-Auschwitz’ ethic of representation; in the second part, I will discuss the controversy and the implementation of this thesis following 9/11 as related to culture; and finally, in the third part, I will address the issue of how this thesis, as the main current ideological weapon, conditions the contemporary state of affairs in the post-socialist spaces of art and culture, by indicating several key symptoms in artistic production.
Keywords: Adomo, Badiou, chiliastic expectation, Event, non-eschatological, Subject of music, Vergebliches Warten ("waiting in vain"), Wagner
The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
Real emancipation in some state of the situation, and consequently, for an emancipatory artistic practice. As a result, emancipation does not imply seizing and acknowledging the other, but, a radical openness to the other, which is revealed as placing a definitive limit to the power and extent of the Rule. However, it is claimed that time itself, if we understand it as a waiting for an event of emancipation, whether delay and differentiation in time or commitment of Subject(s) of art to a generic event that may happen in an evental site, is the core of the current global ideological anamorphosis – indeed, we might say, of any ideological anamorphosis
anti-humanist aesthetic conception of an aesthetic dimension. The author intends
to indicate and underline the differences between these terms by comparing two
divergent theoretical paradigms: one connected to Herbert Marcuse’s humanistic
aesthetic approach and other related to the aesthetic anti-humanism of Jacques
Rancière. The focus of the paper is to describe and analyze the issue concerning
the abolition of the boundaries between art and life, as one of the avant-garde’s
crucial maxims, as well as the conditions of the possibility of reaching the Real
of a generic life (a priori of communis) in the present state of affairs. It is argued
that aesthetic dimension of emancipatory art needs to be thought and grounded
on the certain ethical remainder
International Conference, Ljubljana, November 27–28, 2015
at the Atrij ZRC – Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC
SAZU), Novi trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia
therefore, why some participatory projects in the contemporary art world cannot be and are not viewed as qua artwork, in comparison to many participatory artworks in which the promise of participation appears merely to be an empty rhetorical phrase. At the same time, some projects are included and recognised within the regime of what is called contemporary art. On the one hand, to apply the old formal aesthetical procedures
of classifying and recognizing participatory art would be misleading, since this type of art emerged from the historical, neo-, and post-avangardes. On the other hand, it seems that unfortunately Danto´s revolutionary sixties theory of the art world, with all its revisions, alongside the rest of institutional theory, is not any longer entirely sufficient to justify the logic of the regimes of recognition for such practices; because, ontologically, epistemologically and practically, at the core of the participatory practice is not the problem of the dichotomy between art (autonomy, i.e. aesthetics, artwork) and non-art (heteronomy, i.e. society, real things), but a certain habit of relation – a habit that is established in-between these entities.
Bio-art; Biotech;t rans-genetic art;art as life; transhumanism;Virilio; Gessert; CAE (Critical Art Ensemble)
How do they or the traces they left behind live on in
the context of exhibitions? What do performances in
socialist Eastern Europe reveal about artistic expres
sion, political critique or nonconformist social be
haviour? The exhibition Left Performance Histories
features action art in Eastern Europe from the 1970s
on in a way that also relects on its continued relevance
in the present. The show includes works of over 25
artists, some wellknown to those familiar with
the alternative culture of the former Eastern Bloc,
others possibly a new discovery even to the insider.
Rather than a comprehensive retrospective, the ex
hibition zooms in on a handful of selected topics that
have been often left out of critical debates. Where the
unoficial art of socialist Eastern Europe is convention
ally framed as a reservoir of subversive gestures
against an oppressive social, cultural and political
environment, the present selection prefers instead to
approach performance art as a site of jouissance where
conventional selfpresentation or socially approved
forms of gendered identity, sexuality and standards of
beauty may be bypassed. The exhibition also revisits
the question of politicized artistic attitudes to suggest
that the socialist state apparatus was not only chal
lenged by anticommunist positions but also by critical
voices insisting on democratic socialist principles or
remonstrating the bitter ideological competition of the
Cold War.
Through a diversity of curatorial approaches (including
documentary display, discursive events and re
per formance), the exhibition also interrogates how
per formance art can be presented in the context of
later exhibitions. It considers the relics, documentation
and memory of events as part of these works expan
ded materiality to propose a possible understanding
of performance pieces as unixed and continuously
generated archives that need to be conigured anew
every time these works appear in public. With this
approach, the exhibition explores how the histories of
performance art are generated, controlled and under
stood over time. Left Performance Histories poses
questions of what constitutes the artwork and who are
the archivists.