THE

LARGE
GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

јournal of contemporary art,

culture and theory

ISSN 1409-5823

9 771409 582008
 The Large Glass No. 25 / 26, 2018 Eyal Weizman is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures,
The Large Glass is being Tihomir again 23received
Topuzovski
published his its
years after doctoral degree
first issue andfrom the
(Journal of Contemporary Art, Culture and Theory) and Director of Forensic Architecture. He isten a founding
years since mem- its lastUniversity
issue. Theofjournal
Birmingham
was firstin the UK. Heinalso
launched 1995 hasbytwoSonjaBAs in Phi-
ber of the architectural collective DAAR in Beit Sahour/Pales-
Abadzhieva, who became editor-in-chief, working with Liljana Nedelkovska,numerous
losophy and Art, and an MA in Art, and has received
Published twice a year. Price for a single copy 500 MKD, Annual tine. His books include Forensic Architecture: ZoranViolence
Petrovski,at the Marikaacademic achievement
Bocvarovska and many awards
other and research grants.
collaborators to create Heawas a
Threshold of Detectability (2017), The Conflict Shoreline
journal (with and
of art reviews postdoctoral
criticism. researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East Eu-
subscription: 1000 MKD Fazal Sheikh, 2015), FORENSIS (with Anselm The journal
Franke, expanded
2014), ropeanon the initial in
Studies ambition of the Skopje
the Södertörn Museum
University of Con- His
in Stockholm.
Mengele’s Skull (with Thomas Keenan at temporarySterenbergArt (MoCA) research
Press, to radiateisnew ideas
at the and maintain
intersection the highest ethical
of philosophy, politicsandand the
Publisher: Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje 2012), Forensic Architecture (dOCUMENTA13 professional
notebook, standards,
2012), visual but also
arta.signified a new beginning
He is currently collaborating of constant reassess-
on a research project
Address: Samoilova 17, MK - 1000 Skopje ment through
The Least of All Possible Evils (Verso 2011), Hollow Land (Verso,criticismon andtheanalysis of contemporary
politicisation of spaces and art.artistic practices, developing
2007), A Civilian Occupation (Verso, 2003), the With seriesthis relaunchait new
Territo- is crucial we are showing
understanding that theurbanism.
of temporary termination of The cur-
Topuzovski
Tel: (++) 389 2 110 123 Large Glass was only rently
temporary and
ries 1, 2 and 3, Yellow Rhythms and many articles in journals, works asthat the pause
a research has only
leader in theserved to com-
interdisciplinary pro-
E-mail: info@msu.mk plement
magazines, and edited books. He has worked with aits history
variety of- fractured
grammelike the Museum
of the artwork from which it derives
of Contemporary Artits in title:
Skopje and is
Web site: www.msu.mk Duchamp’s The Large Glass. For this reason we have decided to mark this new
NGOs worldwide and was a member of the B’Tselem board of editor-in-chief of the journal The Large Glass. He has published
beginning with focus on the current social challenges.
directors. a number of papers and participated in individual and group ex-
The Large Glass will act as one of the essential mediums of MoCA for the
Director: Mira Gakina presentation, analysis hibitions.and discussion of a wide range of current challenges and
Kumjana Novakova works in the field of topics
creative in documen-
culture, art and theory. Publishing the journal in English will also give
Editor-in-Chief: Tihomir Topuzovski tary cinema and audio-visual arts since 2006. theHerMoCAformal
the edu-
opportunity Mira Gakina
to reach is anrange
a wider art historian and aand
of creative director of the Museum
international
cation combines social sciences and research studies in Sofia, of Contemporary Art in Skopje. She
environments and take part in other cultural, artistic and academic communities. graduated from the Institute
Sarajevo, Bologna and Amsterdam. She was the co-founder of History of Art and Archaeology
This will extend the international recognition and cooperation of the Museum. at the Faculty of Philosophy in
Editorial Board: Zoran Petrovski, Jovanka Popova, Melentie Pandilovski, and director of the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival inThisSarajevo.
commitmentShe to Skopje and completed
contemporary art andher postgraduate
international studies
trends in artatand the Faculty
Slavco Dimitrov, Yane Calovski, Artan Sadiku, Hristina Ivanoska and collaborates as a film curator with severalcriticism
film festivals
is in lineandwithof thePhilosophy of theand
original ideals University of Zagreb.
establishment SheMoCA,
of the gainedwhichher PhD in
Ljiljana Nedelkovska was founded in
cinema platforms worldwide. She teaches documentary 1964 asArt
cine- a modern
Managementmuseum fully
at the engaged
Faculty in dialogueinwith
of Philosophy interna-
Skopje. She has
tional authors
ma at Béla Tarr’s film factory and at the non-fiction department and withcurated
a focusaon the ever-changing
number of exhibitionschallenges
in the country in theand sphere of and
abroad
at ESCAC in Barcelona. Kumjana developsculture projects and art.
between has presented her work in New York, Krakow, Berlin, Ljubljana,
Layout: Private Print The revitalization The Large Glass asShe
cinema and contemporary art, exploring the interplay between of Texas and Zagreb. a venture should confirm
has published her writingsthe reputa-
in diverse
identities and memories. Her works have been tionexhibited
of MoCA at Skopje
in- aspublications,
an institution with significant
catalogues, booksexperience
and magazines. and a publisher
Printed by: Feniks Print, Kocani in the
ternational festivals and galleries. She currently areaas
works of acontemporary
film art and critical thought.
curator at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Skopje. Jovanka Popova is a curator and programme coordinator
Mira Gakina
Copyediting/proofreading: Matt Jones at the Press to Exit project space and curator at the Museum of
Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje
Ana Hoffner is engaged in an art practice that excavates Contemporary Art in Skopje. She completed her B.A. and M.A.
moments of crisis and conflict in history and politics. Hoffner’s at the Faculty of Philosophy Institute for History of Art in Sko-
Copies: 1000 performances, video and photo installations seek to introduce pjе. She has curated exhibitions in the contemporary art field
temporalities, relations and spaces in-between established per- in Macedonia and worked on international curatorial projects.
spectives and memories of iconic images and highly performative She has also presented her work at the Humboldt University,
The postage fee for sending the magazines abroad is charged according events. Hoffner employs means of appropriation such as restag- the Central European University in Budapest, the Goethe Uni-
to the current price list of Post of Macedonia and is paid when the ing photographs, interviews and reports and desynchronization versity in Frankfurt, the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in
of body and voice, sound and image. She* has finished the PhD Seoul, the Kunst Historisches Institut in Florence, the Bahcese-
subscription is purchased.
in Practice Program at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2014. hir University in Istanbul, the Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts
and other institutions. She is a president of the Macedonian
ISSN: 1409 - 5823 Coco Fusco, interdisciplinary artist and writer, explores the Section of the AICA International Association of Art Critics.
politics of gender, race, war, and identity through multi-media
productions incorporating large-scale projections, closed-cir-
Financially supported by the Ministry of cuit television, web-based live streaming performances with
Culture of the Republic of Macedonia audience interaction, as well as performances at cultural
events that actively engage with the audience. Fusco has per-
formed, lectured, exhibited, and curated internationally since
1988. Her work has been included in two Whitney Biennials
(2008 and 1993), the Mercosul Biennial (2011), the Sydney Bi-
ennale (1992), the Johannesburg Biennial (1997), the Shanghai
Biennale (2004), and Performa05. She is an associate profes-
sor and Director of Intermedia Initiatives at Parsons The New
School for Design in New York.

2
The Cover: Forensic Architecture, Rafah Master Draw- Conceiving a vision of a different society, inventing new modes of ethical, political
and aesthetic dimensions, is an increasingly difficult but pressing challenge. Artists are
ing (detail), Pléiades satellite photograph of eastern
Rafah, taken on 1 August 2014 at 11:39 am. Tihomir Topuzovski exceptional in this regard insofar as they demonstrate an intersection of creative routes

Large
This master drawing of Rafah includes: viewpoints

Introduction
and the formation of alternative visions. Artists have long taken an active role both in
and plume measurements from every photograph
demonstrating their connections with social movements and political activism and in
and video sourced; craters from airdropped bombs

Glass
and artillery as observed on the satellite images; producing new imaginaries. The importance of such artistic practices can begin to be

No. 25/26, 2018

tank paths and armored vehicles on the move;
reference points; location of possible tunnels; and
Reinventing the grasped when we consider what artists are already doing in terms of reinventing possi-
bilities and generating new forms and knowledge - not only what we have already learnt
the trajectories described in testimonies by civilians
in the strip.
Horizon of Visibility but what we can still learn from their experiences, successes and failures. Working
CONTENT: outside of established ‘common sense’, disputing and disrupting what is ‘visible’, artists
express their strong disagreement and resistance to current conditions and alter our
3 perceptions and understanding of a politically marked spatiality. They act in a field where
Tihomir Topuzovski: Introduction - Reinventing the Horizon of
‘politics is first of all a battle about perceptible and sensible material’1 - one that revolves
Visibility
around what can be seen and sensed and by which politics is brought to visibility, so that
Artistic practices and Political Imagination it ‘renders an object, event, practice, or person at once visible and available for account-
Engaged Visual Methodologies, Unearthing Data and ability.’2 The horizon of visibility in this context is shaped and framed by power relations:
6
Memories ‘Foucault illustrates that during different historical periods, distinct modes of visibility are
Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit
91 produced by power in order to control society.’3 Hence state authorities and powerful
13
Eyal Weizman: Forensic Aesthetics bodies often develop the technology of a disciplinary order, or in Rancière’s words a
Stephen Duncombe: The Power of the Imaginary in Activist
Arts 96 ‘distribution of the sensible’, in order to impose their regime over visibility and modes of
Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence perception – a regime that ‘provides the political life of sensation.’4 This is enforced by
19
decisions, policies and values driven by governing and powerful bodies. This leads us
Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview 106
with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski directly to Berkeley’s claim that ‘to be is to be perceived’5 - or in the specific thematic
Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of
Genocide discussion that what is perceived in a society is associated with an ‘ontological ground’,
25 or in this context into existence within the social sensorium.
Grant Kester: On the Relationship between Theory and 116 This argument can be supported with examples of artists’ joint practices and modes
Practice in Socially Engaged Art Damir Arsenijević: Grupa Spomenik - Repeating the Disso-
of re-configuring sensory experiences, which enable some subject-agents to regulate
ciation
Portrait Ai Weiwei what is visible and what is not. These practices counter and resist predominant politi-
118 cal trends, whatever the political mainstream may be, through various forms of direct
29
Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory intervention. These acts can be delineated as ways and methods aimed at something
The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with
Anthony Downey The Spatiliaties of Inconsistency arbitrarily below a social horizon of visibility, or else at provoking issues proscribed in
39 relation to it. This calls for and entails the creation of a new vision, for perceiving new
128
Ai Weiwei: ‘Mirror’, FOMU Antwerp Coco Fusco: Empty Plaza 2012 contours and participating and constructing moments beyond and counter to regimes of
appraisal that ‘customarily organize the world, compelling us to have to reconfigure our
43 132 own postures’6 in opposition to the world as it is. This includes reflections that provide an
Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms Quotations of chairman Mao (part 1)
of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) innovative and comprehensive understanding of the role of art, which in radical instances
136 achieves ‘a collapse of the representational paradigm, which means not only the collapse
48 Kumjana Novakova: To Resist: The Dream of a Ridiculous of a hierarchical system of address; it means the collapse of a whole regime of meaning’.7
Bojan Ivanov: On the Current Thematizations of Crisis in the Man Accordingly, the main thematic scope of this edition of The Large Glass is that of
Social Superstructure
139 activist art as a form of political protest. It is a common practice in urban landscapes,
51 Johannes Gierlinger: Voyeurs of the Utopian through a manifested in various actions, from the occupation of buildings to the use of walls for
Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić: Fragile Presence, Time for Resisting Body displaying messages, creating resistance that transforms public spaces. Examples
Movement include artists protesting in key public spaces to raise the visibility of certain commu-
160
56 The MoCa’s Exhibition - All That We Have in Common nities such as refugees forced to leave their homes ‘because of war, environmental
MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institution- waste, and famine, marginalized and simultaneously subjected to a new form of slave
al Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of 165
Contributorsaged Visual Methodologies, Unearthing Data exploitation8 at a time when, as Berardi points out: ‘the massive internment of migrant
Contemporary Art workers in detention centers disseminated all over the European territory dispels the
and Memories
77 illusion that the “camp” has been wiped out from the world.’9 The level of complexity of
Steve Lambert: Capitalism these artistic practices can be interpreted as a result of their being attempts to reassess
82 the current visual horizon and to challenge existing boundaries of spaces of power. To
Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… some extent these efforts constitute a critique of museums and galleries as tools that
serve to maintain the capitalist system and the ways in which capitalism commodifies
87
artworks and instrumentalises artists. Some examples recently made public seem be the
Elena Veljanovska: “Mastering the Art of Conviviality” The
work methodology of the art collective Chto delat? (‘What is subject of great attention, such as cases where collective artistic groups and individuals
to be done?’) have attempted to decolonise the domain of museums through direct interventions. This

3
 mode of acting is most evident in the case of interactions between protesters, artists and
audiences in various movements in which artists have protested and occupied cultural
institutions along with the movement. Aside from exploring the possibility of occupying
museums, artists have redirected their creativity from instrumental participation in the art
world to an expanded field of collaborations in order to produce a new vision and political
imaginary.10 What this means is that practices interrupt ‘a set of principles by which a
given society and art institutions are symbolically staged’11 and where specific visibility is
experienced and meanings are established.
Other papers and reports in the second part of this issue highlight engaged visual
methodologies that present an equally important approach, urging the use of visual
materials and data to engage in concrete cases of symbolic, political and legal prosecu-
tions. This is one way in which artistic practices can heighten public focus and connect
artworks as a tool for visualising data and visions for justice founded upon evidence and
intended to achieve profound effects. These actions are anchored in everyday political
situations and have both a responsibility and intensity - aiming to challenge and reorga-
nize societal visibility while pushing back what is hidden by official institutions. The ideas
examined in this part relate to the recuperation of data and the rebuilding of an ‘image’
of what was the case before, which opens new possibilities for artists in creating a
horizon of visibility, bringing visual data to light for public scrutiny and highlighting official
concealment, neglect and distortion, as well as unjust and oppressive acts by state
authorities and official narratives. The focus is on achieving a set of new interpretations,
as in the case of Forensic Architecture, and this issue considers ways in which artists
collaborate with scientists and follow technological developments to present visual data
that can play a valuable role in legal forums. These methodologies have been used to
highlight violations of humanitarian law and war crimes. This part of The Large Glass
includes more extensive combinations of present, historical and comparative data and
analysis, presenting some recent artistic works as well as theoretical insights that afford
1. ‘Jacques Rancière: Literature, Politics, Aes- a deeper understanding of engaged art in this context.
thetics: Approaches to Democratic Disagreement The third part of this journal presents a sequence of different artistic works devel-
(interviewed by Solange Guénoun and James H.
oped in relation to certain spatialities, thus contributing to an understanding of the ways
Kavanagh)’. SubStance Vol. 29, No. 2, Issue 92
(2000), pp. 3-24, p. 11.
in which politics and ideologies are associated with the organization of spaces and visi-
bilities. These artistic examples highlight an important link between regimes over certain

Artistic
2. Davide Panagia. The Political Life of Sensation.
Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009. spaces as well as their inconsistency throughout history.
p. 12. Along these lines, this issue of The Large Glass presents a range of contexts in which
3. Neve Gordon. ‘On Visibility and power: An Ar- artistic practices coexist with further possibilities. As the following papers, interviews,
endtian Corrective of Foucault’. Human Studies reports and other materials show, the status of engaged artistic practices continues to

Practices
Vol. 25, No. 2 (2002), pp. 125-145 and p. 126.
raise questions in important debates and practices, especially reflecting on the complex
4. Davide Panagia. The Political Life of Sensation.
Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009 connotations of artistic visions that challenge the paradigm.
5. George Berkeley. Principles of Human Knowl-
edge and Three Dialogues. Oxford University

and
Press, 1999.
6. Davide Panagia. The Political Life of Sensation.
Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009.
p. 31.
7. Jacques Rancière. Dissensus: On Politics and

Political
Aesthetics. London: Continuum. 2010, p. 159.
8. Franco Bifo Berardi. After the Future. AK Press,
2011, p. 19.
9. Ibid, p. 19.

Imagination
10. Yates McKee. Strike Art: Contemporary Art
and the Post-Occupy Condition. Verso, 2016.
11. Oliver Marchart. ‘The second return of the po-
litical: Democracy and the syllogism of equality’.
In: P. Bowman and R. Stamp, Reading Rancière,
pp. 129-47. London: Continuum 2011, p. 143.

4
 Kim Charnley Guggenheim museum on Saadayit island 2008. New movements coordinated via parts pressed against it and, if enough sure is unusual for art activism, but not
in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.5 The social media irrupted in cities across the people lie on it together, will reveal the unprecedented; it can be compared to

Activist Art and

Precarious Workers Brigade, based in globe as a direct response to neoliberal portrait of a young Syrian migrant named previous occasions when activist work
the United Kingdom, have drawn atten- policies, or as insurgencies in opposition Yusef, who came to the United Kingdom has been showcased in prestigious in-
tion to the effects upon artists’ labour to dictatorial regimes. The ‘movement of and is now studying medicine.7 stitutions, most famously Martha Rosler’s
and consciousness of the neoliberal ide- the squares’ of 2011, and the Occupy pro- Bruguera’s project examines the If You Lived Here, 1989, and Group Ma-

Visibility after
ologies that have come to structure the tests that it inspired, saw the formation of links based on recognition and empa- terial’s Democracy, 1990, both exhibited
experience of cultural workers.6 W.A.G.E. a powerful new relationship between ur- thy that can be formed between people at the Dia Art Foundation in New York.9
(Working Artists and the Greater Econ- ban space, its occupation and mediation. in the context of the migrant crisis. The These shows pioneered strategies that
omy), Debtfair and others based in the The hopes inspired by that period have, work tends to situate emotion in physical sought to turn the exhibition into a space

Brexit
United States have organised to raise to a great extent, been overshadowed by signs and traces, tears and body heat: of public deliberation about issues of
political consciousness among artists in the nightmare of the war in Syria, the rise somatic experiences that are induced current political concern. For Group Ma-
regard to their labour conditions. and defeat of Islamic State, and the mi- or recorded using technological means. terial, the subjects included democracy,
Typically, art activists have sought grant crisis. The general tenor of public In fact it questions the relationship be- education and the AIDS crisis; for Rosler,
to use art as a platform to contribute to debate has been defined by the electoral tween bodies, collective action and icon- gentrification and homelessness, which
The fortunes of activist art have been more widely circulated and embed- progressive social and political change. success of the populist right, which has ic images. What, we might ask, would was then, as now, rampant in New York
waxed and waned since this hybrid form ded into scholarship on the neo-avant- It is ironic then that activist art has been achieved by fomenting resentment be the result if visitors coordinated their City. There is always a quid pro quo to
emerged from the aesthetic radicalism garde. Artists and groups that were once achieved unprecedented institutional against the economic damage caused actions to reveal Yusef’s image? What this kind of exposure: an artist’s attempt
and innovative protest movements of the treated as context or background to the recognition at the same time as a right- by a broken neoliberal model of govern- would this collaborative act mean? In my to allow actual political issues into the
1960s. Until recently, however, it has usu- key achievements of the avant-garde are wing insurgency has taken hold of liber- ment. The rapidly developing, cumulative reading, the conceptual dimension of this institution will be a negotiation, a game
ally occupied a marginal position relative now given centre stage in revised histo- al democracies in Britain and America, political urgency of these events has work problematizes affect and its repre- of concessions and resistances. As the
to the mainstream museum and gallery ries of the 1960s and 1970s. with the Brexit vote and the election of been the most striking feature of the last sentation, in a world that is forming new activist artist, theorist and curator Greg
culture. In the classic definition provided The project Tucumán Arde (Tucumán President Trump in 2016. Indeed, right- five years. configurations of affect and technology. Sholette has observed, ‘dallying with the
by Lucy R. Lippard, activist art is a ‘trojan is burning), undertaken Argentina by the wing or even proto-fascist governments My first hypothesis is that a certain At the same time, Bruguera’s project also world of museums and galleries remains
horse’, bringing diverse political energies Grupo Artistas de Vanguardia de Rosa- have been elected across the globe, in- type of art activism has been integrated includes community engagement that is a delicate, tactical operation.’10 In the
into art’s citadel, working toward a more rio in 1968, is the most obvious example cluding in the United States, Brazil, India, into contemporary art because it is capa- intended to destabilise the hierarchies case of Bruguera’s work, it is instructive
pluralistic and democratic manifestation of such a work.4 The collective brought Hungary, Poland and Italy. How to under- ble of maintaining contact with the pace embedded within the art institution. Tate to look at the immediate context of Lon-
of culture.1 This subversive border-cross- together trade unionists, artists and stand the continuing role of art activism and unpredictable character of these Neighbours, a group of 21 people who ei- don, especially of the borough of South-
ing has required activist artists to main- journalists, and combined documentary, now, in the light of these events? In this times. Tania Bruguera’s Hyundai Com- ther live or work in the same postcode as wark where the museum is based, to
tain critical distance from the ideological installation and avant-garde media strat- essay, I will explore the current visibili- mission in Tate Modern Turbine Hall is Tate Modern, are integral to the project. shed light on these tensions.
networks of contemporary art. Except for egies to reveal the struggle and depriva- ty of activist art by juxtaposing the 2018 an example of such a project. The work At the request of this group, the Turbine Southwark council has become no-
a brief period in the early 1990s, the po- tion of workers in the sugar plantations Hyundai commission at Tate Modern by is entitled 10, 146, 058, but this number Hall has been renamed in honour of local torious for engaging in regeneration
litical content of art activism meant that and refineries of Tucumán. Tucumán Tania Bruguera and the online activism grows constantly because it indicates youth worker Natalie Bell. This renaming schemes whereby working-class council
it was overlooked by the critics, cura- Arde attempted to create a counter-pub- of Mark McGowan, better known as the the number of people who migrated has been integrated into all Tate’s com- estates have been replaced by new units
tors and opinion-formers who act as the lic sphere under a military dictatorship, online activist ‘Artist Taxi Driver’. These across national borders in 2017 in addi- munication networks for the duration of which, responding to London’s febrile
gatekeepers of artistic visibility. Since a specific political context. At the same examples are chosen to represent two tion to the number of migrants who are the project, and Tate Neighbours’ mani- housing market, inflate prices entirely out
the financial crash of 2008, however, time, this work seems to have anticipated poles of the reconfigured zone between known to have died in 2018. This strange festo for civic action appears on the log- of the reach of local residents. The rede-
something has changed. Art activism has many strategies that would come to be aesthetics and politics that art activism sum, which makes a positive integer in page to the Wi-Fi throughout the insti- velopment of the Heygate Estate in the
come to play an increasingly important identified with art activism in subsequent occupies. My observations are condi- from displaced and subtracted lives, is tution. Tate Exchange, the education pro- Elephant & Castle area between 2010 and
role in debates about contemporary art’s decades. tioned by the continuing experience of stamped onto the hand of each visitor to gramme for the institution, is designated 2013 was fiercely resisted by residents
relationship to the present. The art critic The historical repositioning of the chaotic politics of the Brexit negoti- the ‘crying room’ where chemical com- an integral part of the artwork, breaking and activists, as members of this com-
Boris Groys, in 2014, went so far as to de- Tucumán Arde and other art activist work ations in the United Kingdom; however, pounds are released to induce tears in down the usual boundary between art munity were ‘decanted’ to new homes,
scribe the ‘phenomenon of art activism’ of the 1960s has been inspired by the to the extent that Brexit is symptomatic spectators. The work clearly aims to cre- and education within the museum. Re- with leaseholders even forced to sell
as ‘central to our time’.2 success of a new cycle of artists’ militan- of a wider upheaval of global politics, I ate an alternative circuit of information, sponding to the theme ‘movement’, and properties at prices well below the mar-
This argument, advanced by a cel- cy expressed in museum occupations, hope that the commentary may resonate using art to reveal political actuality. In in dialogue with Bruguera, art educa- ket rate.11 Opposition to the Aylesbury Es-
ebrated critic, signalled greater recog- art strikes and the formation of collec- beyond its immediate context. this respect, it can be situated in the lega- tional institutions from across the United tate regeneration and many other similar

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

nition for activist art, although Groys’s tives. Projects in the last decade have in- cy of the Tucumán Arde exhibition, where Kingdom take up short residencies on schemes is ongoing.12 Professor Loretta
claim that art activism was a ‘new phe- cluded Liberate Tate, which successfully Art activism at the apex of visibility: lights are said to have been switched off the fifth floor of Tate Modern. This pro- Lees, based at The University of Oxford,
nomenon’ seemed to betray a degree of disrupted the corporate sponsorship of Tania Bruguera 10, 146, 058 at two-minute intervals to indicate the gramme is ongoing at the time of writing, suggests that since 1997 a ‘conservative
ignorance about the complex history of Tate museums by British Petroleum, and frequency of child deaths in Tucumán. but among these interventions many are estimate’ of 135,658 council tenants and
this form.3 Art activism is not new; it is just the Gulf Labour Artists Coalition and Gulf The movement of activism from the In 10, 146, 058, a sound system fills the taking art activism as an explicit theme.8 leaseholders have been displaced by this
attaining a different level of visibility. In- Ultra Luxury Faction who have raised periphery to the centre of contemporary space with sub-bass designed by Steve Bruguera’s project is at or near to the kind of gentrification.13 Typically tenants
deed, one of the most pervasive changes awareness of the exploitative labour art debates is symptomatic of a changed Goodman (Kode9), intended physically apex of visibility provided by contempo- are housed in cheaper accommodation
in the status of this form has taken place conditions that affect immigrant work- configuration of aesthetics and politics to unsettle visitors. A heat sensitive floor rary art, installed as it is in the Turbine far from their communities and support
because histories of art activism have ers engaged in construction of the new in the years since the global crash of takes impressions from bodies and body- Hall of Tate Modern. This level of expo- networks, sometimes even outside of

6 Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit 7
 London, causing them stress and psycho- fication have intensified since 2008, as political centrifugal force that throws the museum to its ethical obligations forms of aesthetic politics have encour- result of the snap election called by Prime
logical injury. How do these numbers of quantitative-easing policies adopted as the blood of atrocities onto those (even though the victory of this group aged some critics to view them as an Minister Theresa May in 2017 suggests
people internally displaced by gentrifi- remedies to the financial crash created working for peace.17 was pyrrhic: the oil-giant BP has been emergent model of political engagement. otherwise. At this point the Conserva-
cation figure in relation to the questions an enormous supply of cheap money to Smithson’s commentary seems to replaced as a sponsor by the car manu- In 2015, Peter Weibel wrote in an essay tives hoped to turn a 20-point lead in the
raised by 10, 146, 058 about emotion, visi- be invested in real estate.16 In this very speak to a setting where the frameworks facturer Hyundai).18 Art activism, like any examining global activism of ‘a grow- opinion polls over the Labour Party led
bility and the migrant crisis? difficult and polarised climate it seems for making sense of political action have cultural activism, operates within limits. ing ennui with politics, dwindling trust in by Jeremy Corbyn into a commanding
Tate Neighbours include Counter- plausible that large museums, located at become destabilised. There are signs Bruguera’s 10, 146, 058 explores commu- democratic institutions and parties and majority in Parliament in order to make
points Arts, which sponsors art by and a sensitive nexus of insider reputation- of such a situation in the present: in the nity within the frame of the migrant crisis, a desire for more participation, that is for it easier to push through their interpreta-
about refugees, as well as refugee ad- al economies and public accountabil- polarisation of views, in the panic about which is symptomatic of the uncoordi- direct, presentistic rather than represen- tion of Brexit. In the course of a 5-week
vocacy groups based in Southwark. ity, might want to give space to activist fake news, and in media debates about nated condition of global capitalism. The tative democracy’.22 The immediate ref- election campaign, however, this 20-point
The group is also holding workshops in- artists because they can negotiate the post-truth politics. It is notable that, in vertiginous number that titles the work erence points for Weibel’s argument are lead was cut to nothing - an unprecedent-
tending to encourage campaigning and contradictions involved in using art as a this context, Bruguera does not affirm the signals a human tragedy but also, when the ‘movement of the squares’ that swept ed movement of the polls in such a short
cultural activism. Nonetheless, the role non-elitist space of public deliberation. power of collectivity but rather empha- placed in the context of rampant gentrifi- Greece, Egypt and Spain in 2011, the Oc- space of time. Corbyn’s democratic so-
that art itself has to play in gentrification, Brexit is widely interpreted as a re- sises the spaces of mediation through cation, it can read be read as a gauge of cupy movement, and mass protests in cialist project gained seats from the Con-
which affects vulnerable communities action against urban elites. All the more which any collective action must travel, the pressure that bears down upon and Ukraine, Turkey, Iran and India. The weak- servative Party, although not enough to
throughout London, is a highly-charged reason to commission art that is anti-elit- thematising the gap between represen- disperses community, the pressure of ness, perhaps, of Weibel’s argument - form a government. This result was all the
issue. Since the millennium, so-called ist, perhaps. Jair Messias Bolsonaro in tation and action. This gap might be co- capital accumulation. which would be shared by most commen- more remarkable given that the Conser-
‘creative cities’ policies have integrated Brazil and President Trump have both ercive, seeking to force visitors to shed tary from before 2016 - is that it does not vative party invested millions of pounds in
art into strategies for urban regeneration. made attacks on the arts central to their tears; or ludic, an invitation to mark the Art activism from below: Artist Taxi anticipate that the upsurge of democratic targeted social media campaigns, identi-
The opening of Tate Modern at Bankside reactionary version of populism. The vis- Turbine Hall with the heat of a body; or Driver activism might mutate into a reactionary fying key swing voters and placing politi-
in 2000 was an early sign of changes that ibility that art activism enjoys in this con- symbolic, where the name of an institu- insurgency. Yet Weibel’s point about a cal advertisements into their newsfeeds
would come to Southwark, for example. text is not without risks, but represents a tion is confused with that of a local com- Greg Sholette’s writings on activist hunger for participation holds good, as that were calculated either to supress or
Activist groups document the ‘artwash- recalibration within contemporary art to munity activist. art and ‘dark matter’ have argued very does his suggestion that the insurgency incite action and or shift political opin-
ing’ that has proliferated alongside urban seek to engage those who feel alienat- Although 10, 146, 058 makes refer- clearly that the subversive challenge of might re-energise democracy. Since 2016, ion.24 Crucially important to the Labour
redevelopment, and argue for a radical ed by its enchanted space. Artists who ence to community, in its reference to art activism has always been linked to its democratic politics has been revitalised, Party’s success was a legion of online
cultural policy that would be shaped are socially engaged reject art’s sancti- ‘neighbours’ for example, there is an ele- diversity, its ability to connect work at the in the United Kingdom at least, as a bat- news outlets and activists who worked
‘from below’.14 The housing market in Lon- fied status, putting them in a position to ment of doubt in the work in regard to the top of the artistic pyramid to creative ac- tleground between reactionary and pro- tirelessly and voluntarily to counter the
don is now cooling, according to reports, negotiate these complex issues. At the political significance of community at this tivity ‘from below’ that is embedded in the gressive populism: both tendencies have Government’s attack lines and share
but the speculation-driven boom has cre- same time, they risk bearing the brunt time. This hesitation is appropriate giv- anonymous energies that constitute so- rejected political elites that present no alternative perspectives. Current fears
ated a dystopian situation where luxury of raw social contradiction and of being en the context of Brexit debates, where cial movements.19 There is an enormous alternative to neoliberalism. about the decline of the mainstream me-
developments often lie empty, banked for attacked from both the left and the right the ‘will of the people’, that authoritar- variety of aesthetic forms that constitute The most striking feature of the new dia and the rise of ‘fake news’ often fail to
investment purposes, while homeless- because their work acknowledges, but ian phantom, is routinely invoked by the this space, including the DIY floats and political landscape has been the way take account of this knife-edge situation
ness and insecure housing have reached cannot resolve, the deep divides of class, British government to justify immigration banners that garland public demonstra- that Tactical Media strategies have both in which both dangerously reactionary
levels that have prompted a report from race and gender that are part of cultural controls after the vote to leave the Euro- tions, Tactical Media pranks, community disrupted and revitalised democratic pol- and progressive forces have flourished.
the UN about the damaging effects of politics. In reference to the political crisis pean union. Tania Bruguera’s practice, it engagement projects, and direct action itics. During the US presidential election Mark McGowan, who is known as
austerity policies in the United Kingdom.15 of the late 1960s, the artist Robert Smith- is important to remember, takes on the in museums and cultural institutions. of 2016 it became clear that alt-right ac- Chunky Mark, or as ‘Artist Taxi Driver’
I contextualise 10, 146, 058 in this way son made comments that, because they repressive cultural policies of the Cu- Images are always at stake in poli- counts used pranks, fictions and other (ATD), operates within this space. With
not to take a cheap shot at a high-profile explore the logic of crisis, are once again ban government at the same time as it is tics. This point is thematised in the por- tactics more commonly associated with approximately 100,000 followers on twit-
artwork, but to explore the implications relevant: willing to highlight contradictions in the trait of Yusef in Tania Bruguera’s Turbine left-wing politics to tip the balance in fa- ter his is one among many voices on left-
of the artwork’s political content and to il- Direct political action becomes a democracies of the West. At the time of Hall commission, but also, at another vour of Donald Trump. Of course, there wing social media outlets in the UK that
lustrate some of the limitations that it en- matter of trying to pick poison out of writing this article, Bruguera’s involve- end of the activist spectrum, in political has since been an ongoing enquiry into made possible Labour’s transformation
counters. Bruguera cannot be expected a boiling stew. The pain of this expe- ment with Tate Exchange has been inter- posters produced by anonymous artists the extent to which state actors, includ- of fortunes in the 2017 election. Many
to take sole responsibility for the social rience accelerates a need for more rupted because she is under house arrest working within social movements. These ing Russia, may have contributed to this of these followers will not be aware that
tensions that are caused by gentrifica- and more political actions. ‘Actions and on hunger strike in Cuba, because of posters, as Dara Greenwald and Josh effort. Whatever the extent of Russian ATD is an artist, in the sense that he has
tion in the UK; to take this line would be speak louder than words.’ Such her opposition to decree 349, a proposed McPhee suggest are created ‘from a involvement, the fact remains that the a BA in Painting from Camberwell and a
to throw the baby out with the bathwater. loud actions pour in on one another law that would require Cuban artists to be need to express, represent, and propose power of Tactical Media was recognised long history of performances and media

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And yet, it is impossible now to ignore the like quicksand - one doesn’t have to registered by their government. alternative ways of existing, both within and appropriated by a reactionary politi- interventions. Nor do these distinctions
context of rampant gentrification in aus- start one’s own action. Actions swirl This form of art activism occupies the the movement and to society at large’.20 cal power nurtured on platforms includ- seem to have much meaning for ATD,
terity-era London, especially for artworks around one so fast they appear in- high-ground of artistic visibility perhaps Images of this kind are icons for a con- ing 4Chan. This much has been acknowl- although the persona that he plays - rant-
that are community-oriented. Indeed, art active. From a deeper level of ‘the because it is intensely and self-critically stituency that has been excluded or mar- edged by David Garcia, who co-wrote ing into a desktop camera from behind
activism has often highlighted the role of deepening political crisis,’ the best responsive to political actuality. Having ginalised; but they also suggest an invisi- with Geert Lovinck the original Tactical the wheel of his car - originated in a
art in gentrification, as in Rosler’s If You and worst actions run together and said this, the very different approach of ble ‘anti-power’, as John Holloway puts it Media manifesto in the late 1990s.23 protest against the Frieze Art Fair in 2010
Lived Here, and earlier New York-based surround one in the inertia of a whirl- a group like Liberate Tate, who deployed - an immense reservoir of resistance that It would be wrong to suggest that and is the self-conscious inversion of a
projects by Political Art Documentation pool. The bottom is never reached, direct action against corporate artwash- stands outside of representation.21 Tactical Media has been entirely co-opt- comic stereotype in Britain: the reaction-
/ Distribution. The dilemmas of gentri- but one keeps dropping into a kind of ing, should be given credit for sensitising The possibilities presented by new ed by the right, however: the remarkable ary, opinionated taxi driver who imposes

8 Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit 9
 his views on passengers. ATD’s rants are campaign. In ATD’s filmed response, re- an invisible social form to the visibility of capable of strange mutations. Margin- Criticism can play its part by looking for the Audience: Participatory Art in 1980s
virtuosic in their performance of a strug- leased immediately after the debate, the his work: that of work and the value-form. al positions can emerge from obscurity new connections in and among the differ- New York, Minneapolis, London: Universi-
gle over language, forming baroque ne- metaphor is subjected to multiple re-in- This social reality has been built into to reshape wider cultural attitudes. The ent political constituencies of art activism ty of Minnesota Press, 2017.
10. Gregory Sholette, ‘Merciless Aesthet-
ologisms to describe and re-describe the scriptions. He begins by laughing and re- ATD’s art practice, with the fragments of significance of the existence of a bor- in order to respond to its legacies and en-
ic: Activist Art as the Return of Institution-
horrific landscape of austerity inflicted counting that ‘nobody knows’ where the time available to make becoming a kind der-land between radical politics and able a cultural politics responsive to this al Critique. A Response to Boris Groys’.
by the Conservative government. ‘Tory magic money tree’ is to be found. of endless serial communication, mir- art is difficult to evaluate, but at the very moment to crystallise.□ e-flux (Spring 2016).
McGowan has previously under- Then he answers, ‘You’ve got it’ (to The- roring and re-inscribing the spectacle of least it has aided the circulation of nu- 11. Ian Steadman, ‘Look to the Heygate
taken performances that thematise en- resa May), or ‘it’s in the Cayman islands, political news. anced approaches to the visibility of poli- Estate for what’s wrong with London’s
References
durance, such as The Withered Arm for it’s in Panama’, (referring to the ‘Panama Critics of art activism have tended to tics that are likely to prove useful in these Housing’. New Statesman, 6 November
1. Lucy R. Lippard, ‘Trojan Horses: Activist
2013: https://www.newstatesman.com/
Peace (2006) where he performed for papers’ revelations). Then in a culminat- suggest that it is a hybrid form that re- volatile times. Art and Power’. In Art after Modernism:
politics/2013/11/look-heygate-estate-
two weeks outside the Brick Lane Gallery ing tirade: sults in no significant political or artistic Art activism has played a significant Rethinking Representation, edited by
whats-wrong-londons-housing
over Christmas with his arm attached to The Tories’ magic money tree is called outcome. This is the position of the art role in resisting the hegemony of neo- Brian Wallis (New York: New Museum of
12. George Turner, ‘What the Aylesbury
a lamppost. The persona of ATD posts a the public - you - your zero-hours con- critic Ben Davis, for example, who ar- liberalism since the 1970s. What role Contemporary Art, 1984), 341-58.
estate ruling means for the future of re-
2. Boris Groys, ‘On Art Activism’. e-flux 56,
commentary on news events on an al- tract - you get less, the boss gets more gues in his book 9.5 Theses on Art and might it play now that populist activism generation’. Guardian Thursday 20 Sep-
(June 2014): https://www.e-flux.com/jour-
most daily basis. To illustrate the charac- - the magic money tree - rents go up, Class from a Marxist perspective that is emerging all over the map? From the tember 2016: https://www.theguardian.
nal/56/60343/on-art-activism/
ter of these interventions, I will focus on the Tory landlord gets more - you get art and politics should be understood as anti-capitalist movement to Occupy, the com/cities/2016/sep/20/aylesbury-es-
3. Groys’ article was criticised for its lack
tate-ruling-future-regeneration-sa-
a significant event during the 2017 elec- poor - the magic money tree - your distinctly separate areas of activity. Da- Indignados to Adbusters, the goal was to of engagement with the specific history of
jid-javid
tion. During a televised debate with Cor- kids get debt - the City of London? - vis states: ‘the work of “political artists” shift conceptions of the possible by in- art activism, and especially for suggest-
13. Loretta Lees. ‘Challenging the Gen-
byn, Prime Minister Theresa May assert- they get Lamb-er-fuckin-ghinis - the usually harms no one, and I would defend tervening within visibility through direct ing that art activism is a ‘new’ phenome-
trification of Housing Estates in London.’
ed that there was no ‘magic money tree’ magic money tree. Your library, your their right to make it; what I cannot sup- action and alternative circuits of com- non, requiring a ‘new theoretical reflec-
Urban Transformations, ESRC research
tion’. See: Gregory Sholette, ‘Merciless
to pay for all of the promises made in the fire station, your community centre, port is the self-serving assumption that it munication. The goal was to undermine on cities, March 16, 2018: https://www.
Aesthetic: Activist Art as the Return of
Labour manifesto. This point was clearly your police station - get shut down. “somehow” has a political effect in the the coherence of neoliberalism. But what urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2018/
Institutional Critique. A Response to Boris
presented as an attack line that would be Tory Vulture capitalists property spec- real world’.29 Peter Osborne has argued happens when the global order actually challenging-the-gentrification-of-coun-
Groys’. Field: A Journal of Socially-En-
cil-estates-in-london/
amplified through the print press, which ulators get the keys - the magic mon- that art activism tends toward mimesis does begin to be uncoordinated? gaged Art Criticism, (Spring 2016): http://
14. For example: Artists Against So-
is predominantly right-wing in the UK, ey tree. Google, Starbucks, Amazon, of the autonomy of art: it is a quasi-ar- We continue to live under a globalised field-journal.com/issue-4/merciless-aes-
cial Cleansing (founded by Dr Stephen
to disparage as fantasy the idea that it Apple, the biggest companies in our tistic practice, separated from existing capitalist global order, and its instability is thetic-activist-art-as-the-return-of-in-
Pritchard and Emily Jost): http://co-
stitutional-critique-a-response-to-bo-
might be possible to invest significantly lives pay no tax - the Tory magic mon- forms of social practice but undertaken not to be confused with its imminent col- louringinculture.org/aasc/
ris-groys
more in education, the NHS and social ey tree. Banks, credit cards debt, you to look like political action.30 The result, in lapse. Evidently, though, the periodic cri- 15. Robert Booth and Patrick Butler. ‘UK
4. Brian Holmes, ‘Eventwork: the Fourfold
welfare, and to demand more tax to be can’t sleep at night worrying about Osborne’s estimation, is that art activism ses that have always marked capitalism Austerity has inflicted ‘great misery’ on
Matrix of Contemporary Social Move-
citizens, UN says’. Guardian Friday 16 No-
paid by private corporations. work, feed the kids, paying the rent - defaults to a negative conception of au- are no longer easily contained by the sys- ments’. In Living as Form: Socially-En-
vember, 2018: https://www.theguardian.
The theorist Jacques Rancière has that’s the Tory magic money tree, like tonomy (as an exodus, or freedom from tem as a whole. We are now in a situation gaged Art from 1991-2011, edited by Nato
com/society/2018/nov/16/uk-austerity-
written powerfully of the political impli- a fucking giant triffid, spreading…26 capital or the state) but does not arrive at that resonates with previous periods of Thompson, New York: Creative Time, 2011,
has-inflicted-great-misery-on-citizens-
cations of imagery in a commentary that A transcription cannot quite cap- a relationship to a constructive political political and economic impasse: most ob- 72-85.
un-says.
5. ‘Gulf Labor Artist Coalition’. Last updat-
includes both the visual and the textual ture the subtle aesthetics in ATD’s work, action. Both of these criticisms fail to en- viously, those of the 1970s and the 1930s. 16. See: Gregory Sholette, Delirium and
ed: March, 2017: https://gulflabor.org/
image. He states: where the visual dimension is always gage with the diversity of aesthetic prac- Bruguera and ATD show in different ways Resistance (London: Pluto Press, 2017),
6. Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction, ‘On Direct
…the image is not exclusive to the deskilled, filmed on a dashboard-mount- tices covered by the term art activism. that the relationship between visibility especially Part II ‘Cities without Souls’;
Action: An Address to Cultural Workers.
For the history of this phenomenon, see:
visible. There is visibility that does ed camera. Visuality is suppressed, but As I have attempted to illustrate here, and art activism adapts in response to e-flux supercommunity (June 25th 2015):
Sharon Zukin, Loft Living: Culture and
not amount to an image; there are the invisible power of words is thema- these forms are responsive to changing this situation. In some respects, activism http://supercommunity.e-flux.com/au-
Capital in Urban Change (New Brunswick:
images which consist wholly in tised. ATD’s practice is an endless series political contexts and continue to evolve is more integrated into the art institution, thors/gulf-labor/
Rutgers University Press, 1988).
words. But the commonest regime of of reports, a kind of social media reinven- in an ambiguous zone between art and but in others it is more decentralised 7. Steven McIntosh. ‘Tania Bruguera ex-
17. From Robert Smithson’s contribution
plains Tate Modern’s new Turbine Hall
the image is one that presents a re- tion of the ‘living newspaper’ produced politics. The criticism advanced by Davis from it because digital platforms allow an to ‘The Artist and Politics: a Symposium’,
installation’. BBC News, 2 October 2018
lationship between the sayable and as a kind of ‘poor image’, addressing an and Osborne, by contrast, seems to de- enormous audience to be engaged with- included in Artforum September 1970. In
https: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/enter-
the visible, a relationship which plays alternative media circuit which quickly rive from an idealised conception of pol- out recourse to the infrastructure of ex- Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (eds),
tainment-arts-45708599
Art in Theory, 1900-2000: An Anthology of
on both the analogy and the dissem- resulted in ‘Theresa May’s Tory Magic itics where it is possible to say what will hibition spaces, curators and art critics. 8. My own academic institution, Plymouth
Changing Ideas (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003),
blance between them. This relation- Money Tree’ being remixed with ‘Shut- have, or has had, an effect in the ‘real’ There is a polarisation but in both of the College of Art, is one of the associates and
p.925.
ship by no means requires the two down’, a track by the UK Grime artist world, without taking part in the struggle examples treated here it can be argued it is already clear that this opportunity is
18. A number of commentators have
a stimulus for dialogue around migration

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terms to be materially present. The Skepta.27 In this work a circuit is creat- to define that world. that an attempt to situate democracy in speculated that the black, glossy, metal
and decolonization among the student
visible can be arranged in meaning- ed between an anonymous audience Art activism grew alongside a hap- a violently contested space of visibili- floor in the Turbine Hall for 10, 146, 058
body.
ful tropes; words deploy a visibility of media producers and the space of hazard, critical aesthetic pluralism that ty is attempted. In the case of ATD, this may be an allusion to the interventions
9. Brian Wallis (ed.). Democracy: A Proj-
of Liberate Tate. See, for example, Adrian
that can be blinding.25 precarious work: the locations pictured spanned different approaches to cultural practice is undertaken in alliance with a ect by Group Material, Discussions in
Searle, ‘Tania Bruguera at Turbine Hall re-
The ‘magic money tree’ metaphor through the windows of ATD’s ever-pres- expression while retaining a foothold in movement embedded in electoral politics. Contemporary Culture 5, New York: Dia
view - ‘It didn’t make me cry but it cleared
is intended to blind us, in Jacques ent car interior change because he does the legacy of the avant-garde. That has This seems to be a new point of articu- Art Foundation, 1990; Brian Wallis (ed.),
the tubes’’. The Guardian, Monday 1
Rancière’s terms, by its substitution of a actually work as a minicab driver: his art been its strength. A key lesson of recent lation for art activism, as one of the left If You Lived Here: The City in Art, Theory,
October 2018: https://www.theguardian.
Social Activism, Discussions in Contem-
different framework for understanding practice is structured by the space be- times is that the space within which methodologies that can be used to count- com/artanddesign/2018/oct/01/tania-bru-
porary Culture 6, New York: Dia Art Foun-
the political goals of the Labour Party’s tween fares.28 There is, in other words, politics takes place is contingent and er the resurgence of right-wing politics. guera-turbine-hall-review-tate-modern
dation, 1998; Adair Rounthwaite, Asking

10 Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit 11
 19. Gregory Sholette, ‘Merciless Aesthet-
ics: Activist Art as the Return of Institu-
Stephen Duncombe Great talk show and broadcasting it on lo-
cal TV. A fun possibility, but since we only

The Power of
tional Critique’. Field, Spring 2016; Grego- had twenty-four hours to plan, prepare
ry Sholette, Dark Matter: Art and Politics
and stage the action, we rejected this
in the Age of Enterprise Culture (London:
Pluto Press, 2011). proposal along with some twenty others.
20. Dara Greenwald and Josh McPhee. But through these absurd ideas came the

the Imaginary
‘Social movement cultures: an intro- kernel of a good one. Why not create the
duction’. In Dara Greenwald and Josh kind of country we wanted Macedonia to
Macphee (with Exit art), (eds.), Signs of be? A diverse, accepting, loving Mace-
Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s
donia. We couldn’t do it for real. But we
to Now (Oakland and New York: AK Press

in Activist Arts
and Exit Art), 11-15, p.11.
could act it out for a brief time.
21. See chapter 9, ‘The Material Reality Over the next day and night we built
of Anti-Power’, in John Holloway, Change a new Macedonia. Playing off the coun-
the World without Taking Power (London: try’s much despised official name at the
Pluto Press, 2002). time - The Former Yugoslav Republic of
22. Peter Weibel, ‘People, Politics, and Macedonia - we called our country The
Power’. In Peter Wiebel (ed.), Global Ac- I.The Future Republic of the Former four continents. The training workshops
Republic of Macedonia usually conclude with a collaborative Future Republic of the Former Republic
tivism: Art and Conflict in the 21st Century
(Cambridge, MA and London: ZKM and creative action. Together, in the space of Macedonia. For our new republic we
MIT Press, 2015), 29-61, p.29. In Spring 2014 I travelled to Skopje of twenty-four hours, we imagine, plan, printed passports offering a spectrum in-
23. David Garcia. ‘Dark Jesters Hiding with the Center for Artistic Activism to build and execute some sort of pub- stead of a binary choice of genders, and
in Plain Sight’. In Jon K. Shaw and Theo
work with activists advocating for the lic artistic activist intervention. We’ve gave out pencils with erasers so people
Reeves-Evison (eds.), Fiction as Method could change their minds. We erected an
(Berlin: Sternberg, 2017). rights of LGBTI and Roma peoples. Upon erected interactive sculptures with sex
arriving, I discovered that it was a dispir- workers in Cape Town, South Africa; built entrance to our New Republic complete
24. The Conservative Party spent twice as
iting time to be an activist in Macedonia. a creepy Big-Pharma Carnival with ac- with a border guard to check paperwork.
much as the Labour party on social media
marketing in the 2017 election. Joey D-Ur- Since the victory of the conservative VM- cess-to-medicine activists in Barcelona, Whenever a person entered our country,
so, ‘Who spent what on Facebook during RO-DPMNE alliance in 2006, the country Spain, made an inhospitable canal into a the border guard blew her whistle and
2017 election campaign?’. BBC News
had lurched to the Right - an ‘early adapt- neighbourhood beach in St. Petersburg, the new “citizen” was met with joyous
31 March 2018: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ clapping and cheers from the crowd.
er’ of the conservative nationalist pop- Russia, and staged a pop-up magic show
news/uk-politics-43487301 Since ‘old’ Macedonia was filled with
25. Jacques Rancière, The Future of the ulism that would sweep Europe and the with immigration activists in a subway
world over the next decade. LGBTI and station in New York City, USA. As our statues, we built an empty statue podium
Image (London: Verso, 2009), p.7.
26. Chunkymark, ‘Theresa May’s Roma groups in Macedonia were mar- workshop in Macedonia drew to a close, for people to climb onto and hold aloft
Tory Magic Money Tree’. YouTube 01 ginalized at best, and openly harassed at it was time for the group to come up with signs declaring themselves everyday
June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/ worst. A year prior to our arrival, some- a creative action. heroes and heroines of our New Mace-
watch?v=HxM0swbuxQo
one had tried to set fire to the LGBTI The Macedonian activists we were donia. We had music, food, and tables
27. On the ‘poor image’, see: Hito Steyerl and crayons so kids could draw pictures.
‘In Defense of the Poor Image’. e-flux 10, Support Centre in Skopje. Meanwhile, working with were experienced, smart,
the nationalist government was spending creative and embattled. Feeling them- Brightly painted banners were hung over
November 2009: https://www.e-flux.com/
its resources on immense monuments to selves pushed out of their own country, park benches, inviting people to sit and
journal/10/61362/in-defense-of-the-poor-
image/; The remix of ATD can be found mythologized heroes of the Macedonian their first response was to push back. All talk and get to know their Queer and
here: http://grmdaily.com/video/shut- people. A newly commissioned statue the actions initially proposed included Roma fellow citizens.
down-chunky-mark-remix of Alexander the Great astride a horse some sort of confrontational provocation: For two hours on a beautiful Saturday
28. Dawn Foster, ‘Mark McGowan: the
dominated Skopje’s main square, and the proverbial middle finger stuck up to in the capital city’s most popular park we
artist taxi driver with a rear-view manifes- welcomed people into our Utopia. And
to’. The Guardian Wednesday 28 January hundreds more had been erected around those who were doing the same to them.
the city as part of the ruling party’s con- These actions might be emotionally sat- they came not only activists and artists
2015: https://www.theguardian.com/so-
troversial Skopje 2014 project. In this isfying, and could even generate media but also parents with children, old peo-
ciety/2015/jan/28/mark-mcgowan-artist-
taxi-driver-rear-view-manifesto Macedonia there was simply no place for attention - but with what ultimate result? ple, teenagers and curious passers-by.
29. Ben Davis, 9.5 Theses on Class and Queers, Roma and other ‘outsiders’. The right-wing government was selling More than five hundred people took our

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THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Other Writings. Chicago: Haymarket

The Center for Artistic Activism the fantasy that Queers and Roma pose passports, entered the gates, claimed
Books, 2013) p.48. their rights as heroes and heroines, and
30. See: Chapter 4 ‘Theorem 4: Autono-
(C4AA) is a New York based non-profit a threat to Macedonian society, and we
research and training institute devoted would be demonstrating the same thing. pledged their allegiance to a more open
my, Can it be True of Art and Politics at
to helping activists create more like art- Not the best idea. and accepting Macedonia. The local ac-
the same time?’. In Peter Osborne, The
Postconceptual Condition: Critical Essays ists and artists strategize like activists.1 So we did some more brainstorming tivists informed us it was one of the big-
(London: Verso, 2018). At the core of the Center’s work are and we came up with a lot of wonderful- gest and most inclusive demonstrations
week-long training workshops. To date ly silly ideas. Since Alexander the Great of marginalized peoples in the capital in
we have trained over a thousand art- was famous for having male lovers, we almost a decade. (And to underscore the
ists and activists in 14 countries across thought of staging a Queer Alexander the principle that no Utopia is ever perfect, we

12 Kim Charnley: Activist Art and Visibility after Brexit Stephen Duncombe: The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts 13
 forgot to call the press - so our Republic reality, and the limits set on our imagina- importantly, art speaks to the senses. As in Russia, by the Department of Artistic savage.” Writing about Tatlin in particu- Utopia, the genesis for so much of our
was ignored by the Macedonian media.) tion: what can be seen, who can speak, such Rancière provides a way of think- Work of the People’s Commissariat for lar, Lunacharsky levelled a further relat- thinking about the possibilities - and pit-
Our Future Republic of the Former Re- even what we accept as acceptable ing about the political function of art, or Enlightenment. The tower was to stand ed critique: “Tatlin mimics the machine… falls - of firing the imagination.12
public of Macedonia ‘demonstrated,’ not coordinates of things as fundamental as rather the function of all art (since all art 400 meters tall, almost a quarter higher [but] this is a machine on which it is im- When More wrote Utopia over the
what the activists were against, but what time and space, not to mention what is has a social and political functionality, than the Eiffel Tower, and was to strad- possible to work.”8 Other revolutionaries years 1515 and 1516, literary representa-
we were for. It may have lasted only a little an acceptable politics and who is an ac- whether it claims one for itself or not). dle the River Neva in central St. Peters- were no less critical. Leon Trotsky, re- tions of far-away lands that worked ac-
while, but it inspired the activists and the ceptable political subject. Politics, at its Rancière’s concern here is less with po- burg. Tilting at the same angle as the flecting upon the monument in his book cording to radically different principles
visitors to imagine an alternative Macedo- very core, is the delimitation of “the visi- litical intent or even content, but aesthet- Earth (23.5 degrees) and taking the idea Literature and Revolution, wrote: were already common: philosophical
nia. It allowed them to ask ‘What if?’. ble, the sayable, the thinkable,” a regime ics: what does the art do to, and with, our of ‘revolution’ quite literally, the tower I remember seeing once, when a imaginings like Plato’s Republic, fan-
of meaning that renders things sensible, ways of seeing and understanding. As was constructed of three internal revolv- child, a wooden temple built in a beer ciful travelogues like those of Sir John
II. The Avant-Garde and the or non-sensible. he writes, “Aesthetics has its own poli- ing levels. At the bottom was a massive bottle. This fired my imagination, but Mandeville, and - most importantly - the
Re-Distribution of the Sensible With his phrase Distribution of the tics, or its own meta-politics.”6 glass and steel cube intended to house I did not ask myself at that time what alternative worlds set forth in The Bible
Sensible, Rancière is playing a bit of a Rancière divides art into two re- the Soviet legislative assemblies, rotat- it was for… (promised lands of milk and honey and
To help us think about this action as word game, as French intellectuals are gimes: the Representative Regime and ing once a year. Above this was a pyra- But now, regarding Tatlin’s monu- visions of heavens where the lion will
both an artistic expression and an act wont to do. He means us to understand the Aesthetic Regime. The Represen- mid in which the executive committees ment, he writes: “I cannot refrain from lay down with the lamb), were familiar
of politics I would like to now turn to it as a regime of meaning that renders tative Regime constitutes art that holds would meet, revolving once a month. And the question: What is it for?”9 Trotsky, or models, but nonetheless, More’s Utopia
the contemporary French philosopher things ‘sensible’ or not. In any given time, up a mirror to the world as it is or as it over this pyramid was a cylinder, set to course, unknowingly answered his own literally names the practice.
Jacques Rancière and his notion of the at any given place, what is considered is commonly sensed to be. This is art’s spin once a day, intended to accommo- question regarding the function of Tat- But as the text which gives birth to
‘Distribution of the Sensible’. In his own political is that which is recognized as traditional mimetic function. This mirror date the information and propaganda lin’s monument. What is it for? To fire the such a common term, Utopia is an ex-
words, this is: ‘sensible’: sensible subjects, sensible can be celebratory, reflecting the great- services. This cylinder was to be faced imagination! ceedingly curious book, full of contra-
The system of self-evident facts of language, sensible history, etc. Quite ness of great moments in a nation’s his- with a giant screen showing the latest Later in his life, Lunacharsky came dictions, riddles and paradoxes. The
sense perception that simultaneous- simply, a politics that ‘make sense’. But tory (i.e. most of what resides in National cultural and political news and equipped to understand and appreciate this imagi- grandest and best known of these con-
ly discloses the existence of some- this doesn’t fully capture what Rancière Museums), or critical: a revelation of the with massive loudspeakers to broadcast native function of art and design. Writing tradictions lies in the title itself. Utopia, a
thing in common and the delimita- is arguing here. It’s not that other objects, horrors of these ‘great’ moments (cover- revolutionary news. At the very top of about Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poems in made-up word composed by More from
tions that define the respective parts utterances, or meaning-systems outside ing a large proportion of “political” art). Tatlin’s tower was a hemisphere to house 1931, a year before Socialist Realism was the Greek ou, meaning ‘not’, and topos,
and positions within it.2 of the dominant Distribution of the Sensi- The mirror can be realistic, in which the radio equipment, topped by radio towers to become state practice and two years meaning ‘place’, is a place which is lit-
In other words, the Distribution of the ble are recognized and then rejected as material world itself is represented as capable of transmitting world-wide and a before his death, he bravely defended erally no place. In addition, the storytell-
Sensible is the “making sense” which nonsense - as one might do with a politi- physically accurately as possible (e.g. projector with the ability to project imag- the revolutionary function of the patently er of this magic land is called Raphael
creates the “common sense” of a social cal system or ideology that one acknowl- documentary photography), or idealistic: es onto the clouds. impossible: Hythloday, and the name Hythloday, or
system. It defines what we understand edges yet does not agree with. Rather it’s in which an ideal of the material world is Needless to say, the Monument to …though his works are not in them- Hythlodaeus in the original Latin, has its
to be good and bad, beautiful and ugly, that they are not sensed at all. represented as ‘accurately’ as possible the Third International was never built.7 selves utilitarian, they should provide roots in the Greek word Huthlos, mean-
acceptable and abhorrent, possible and Here Rancière picks up on the sec- (e.g. Socialist Realism). What all these There was not enough steel in all of the stimuli or methods or instructions ing nonsense. So here we are being told
impossible. It delineates what a soci- ond meaning of the word sensible: as forms of art share is that they represent - Russia to construct it, and even if there for producing these utilitarian things. a story of a place which is named out of
ety has in common, and what is outside that which can, or cannot, be compre- even if in a critical form - the given distri- had been it is unclear whether it was All this will bring about a change existence by a narrator who is named
that society. It is what reveals (and dis- hended through the senses: sight, taste, bution of the sensible in the society from architecturally stable enough to stand. in environment and, therefore, a as unreliable. And so begins the debate
appears) what there is to be seen and touch, hearing. The Distribution of the which it comes and to which it speaks. The closest Tatlin ever got to realizing change in society itself.10 that has raged in Utopia studies for half a
sensed. And all this sense making and Sensible, he argues, The Aesthetic Regime, on the other his dream monument was a five-metre And Tatlin himself, as much as he millennia: Is the entirety of More’s Utopia
making sense happens not merely in the is a delimitation of spaces and times, hand, is art that no longer follows laws, model built of wood, tin, paper, nails and wrapped himself in the utilitarian rhetoric a satire, an exercise demonstrating the
mind, as conscious activity, but at the of the visible and the invisible, of rules or techniques that ‘make sense’ glue (and a smaller, cruder, one that was of the revolutionary Russian avant-garde, absurdity of social alternatives? Or is it
root level of human sense perception. As speech and noise, that simultane- but instead creates and arranges a new photographed being dragged around on was clear that art could have another an earnest effort to suggest and promote
what art critic John Berger calls “Ways ously determines the place and the sensibility. Here art’s political function is a float as part of a May Day parade in St. function. The ideal of “uniting purely ar- radical ideals?
of Seeing”, the Distribution of the Sensi- stakes of politics as a form of expe- not to represent what is but to imagine Petersburg in 1920). tistic forms with purely utilitarian aims”, There is suggestive evidence for the
ble is a sort of political aesthetics.3 rience.5 what could be, fashioning a new and al- The impracticality of constructing Tatlin writes in his proclamation ‘Art into sincere interpretation of Utopia. The is-
For Rancière aesthetics is at the core The rational, conscious activity of ternative articulation of “the visible, the the monument was recognized and crit- Technology’, is to create “models which land of Utopia is described in painstaking
of any political system of order, or chal- political effect is preceded by political sayable, the thinkable”. The Aesthetic icized at the time by Tatlin’s cultural and stimulate inventions in the business of detail: descriptions of the island, the cit-
lenges to that order. As he writes: affect. “Politics [is] a form of experi- Regime describes art that does not reflect political comrades. Anatoly Lunacharsky, creating a new world.”11 ies, the people and their institutions, as

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Politics revolves around what is seen ence”: something lived, felt, and above a Distribution of the Sensible but which, who as the Soviet Union’s first Commis- well as facsimiles of maps and alphabets,
and what can be said about it, around all sensed. consciously or not, is an articulation of the sar of Enlightenment had commissioned III.Utopia are all provided to convince the reader
who has the ability to see and the tal- What does this have to do with art? Re-Distribution of the Sensible. This is the the Monument to the Third International that such a place exists. In one of the let-
ent to speak, around the properties of Art is both a reflection of and a model for political aesthetics of avant-garde art. and was generally supportive of the ear- To think through this thinking of the ters that accompanied the original print-
space and the possibilities of time.4 the distribution of the sensible. It is one of As an example of this Aesthetic Re- ly Soviet avant-garde, had this to say in “business of creating a new world” via ings of Utopia in 1516-1518, More worries
Politics, then, is not something ar- those places in which a given regime of gime, one cannot do better than to look 1922 about the Constructivists with whom the “re-distribution of the sensible”, I that he may have recorded the span of a
gued out in government buildings or set meaning is embodied and communicat- at Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third Tatlin was affiliated: “They all play at be- want to go back a bit, about 400 years certain bridge incorrectly and begs his
forth in laws or policies. It is contested ed. It is also one of those places where International. Tatlin’s tower was commis- ing engineers, but they don’t know as before Tatlin built his monument and 500 friend Peter Giles to ask Raphael Hyth-
at the very level of how we perceive our it is contested and re-distributed. And, sioned in 1919, soon after the revolution much of the essence of machinery as a years before today, to Thomas More’s loday for the exact measurement when

14 Stephen Duncombe:The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts Stephen Duncombe: The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts 15
 he sees him next. Such a public concern satirical, earnest and absurd, fact and fic- tive. If made manifest this leads to a num- Utopia is imminent possibility. gins like this: “Where there is no vision, and will forever be. To catch a glimpse
with veracity suggests that More wanted tion. Utopia is someplace and no-place. ber of, not mutually exclusive, unsavoury Utopia as an artwork, however, oc- the people perish…” Usually it is only of a different way of living and being can
his Utopia to be taken seriously. More takes pains to convince the results, including: cupies a different position. It is present. this phrase that is remembered, but the free us from this prison house of grim in-
On the other hand, there is much reader that Utopia is a real place, and it 1) Brutalizing the present to bring it Utopia as an ideal may forever be on the full line continues thus: “… but he that evitability. Utopian art projects, be they
to suggest that More meant Utopia to is through the veracity of the description into line with the imagined future. horizon, but More’s Utopia is a paper and keepeth the law, happy is he.”17 It is the impossible towers or temporary nations,
be read as a satire. In addition to the that they can start to imagine a some- (Stalin’s Five-Year Plans.) ink book - a sensible object that one can passage in its entirety that reveals the have this ability to transport people into
names given to the place and the nar- place radically different than the world 2) Disillusionment as the future never behold (and read) in the here and now. double-edged sword of political imagina- a radically alternate universe. This is not
rator, More’s description of the island of they presently inhabit. Like a theatre arrives and the alternative is never It is like the Messiah who arrives and tion. Utopic imagination is necessary: it an alternative we think about or consider
Utopia makes certain aspects (like fe- piece or an art installation, the audience realized. (The years that led up to the announces their plan for the world. How- gives the people something to believe in but one we can see and feel, and maybe
male equality, an elected priesthood and is presented with a world wholly formed. fall of Communist and Socialist Eu- ever, as was the case with the Christian and hope for. Yet that moment of imagina- even taste, smell, touch and hear: it is a
government, the banishment of lawyers, We experience a sense of radical alteri- rope in the late ‘80s and ‘90s.) Messiah, the presence embodied within tion will - and, for the authors and trans- redistribution of the sensible. It is an al-
and lack of private property) that he, in ty as we step inside of it and try it on for 3) A vain search for a new imaginary More’s text exists only for a moment, its lators of the Bible, must - become law to ternative we affectively experience - and
his real personal, economic, political and size. What is foreign becomes familiar when the promised one fails to ap- power, glory and permanence under- be followed if a new world is to be built. this is the key to its political efficacy.
religious life (as a man, lawyer, proper- and what is unnatural is naturalized. We pear. (The resurgence of Right-Wing mined by its inevitable destruction.15 This This is the Utopian history from which we But of course Utopia is no-place. We
ty holder, future King’s councillor, Lord are not just told that an alternative model Nationalism.) curious state of being and not being, a are desperately trying to awake: Commu- cannot create a real utopia, though with
Chancellor, and dogmatic defender of the for structuring society could be possible; 4) Living a lie. (‘Actually Existing’ So- place that is also no-place, is what gives nism, Fascism, Neoliberalism, and now props and people it can be performed.
faith). He then places these radical polit- instead we are shown that it is possible. cialism, or… the American Dream) Utopia its power to stimulate imagina- Nationalist Populism. Each one starts out For a brief time, and as a scale model,
ical imaginaries within a society where We sense it. More provides us with a vi- 5) Rejecting possibility altogether. tion, for between these poles an open- as imagination and each becomes law. It the experience of an alternative can be
jewels are children’s playthings and gold sion of another, better world. (Dismissing any alternative as a ing is created for the reader of Utopia to appears an inescapable trap. created. But only for a brief time, and as
and silver are reserved for, among other And then he blows it up. naïve impossibility.) imagine ‘What if?’ for themselves. But there is a way out: the vision, and a scale model. When we created the Fu-
things, chamber pots. As such, one might This destabilization is the key. More But what if impossibility is incorpo- ‘What if?’ is the Utopian question. It is the attendant law, must be one that can ture Republic of the Former Republic of
argue, he effectively ridicules all these imagines an alternative to 16th Century rated into design in the first place? This a question that functions both negatively never be fixed or stabilized. This is what Macedonia it was never our intent to ac-
possibilities. One might imagine the argu- Europe that he then reveals to be a work is exactly what More does. By position- and positively. The question throws us Utopia promises: imagined alternatives tually realize the nation’s future. Our goal
ment: “Communal property and elected of imagination. (It is, after all, no-place.) ing his imaginary someplace as no-place into an alternative future: What if there that insist on remaining imaginary - no- was to create a dream. We built a new
priests? That’s as absurd as taking a crap But the reader has been infected; anoth- he escapes the problems which typically were only common property? But be- place. By envisioning impossibilities, nation to stimulate the citizens’ imagina-
in a gold and silver chamber pot!” er option has been shown. They cannot haunt imaginaries. Yes, the alternatives cause we still inhabit the present we are Utopia creates an opening to ask ‘What tion about what it might be possible to
The ironic asides made throughout safely return to the assurances of their he describes are sometimes absurd (gold also forced to look back and ask: How If?’ without closing down this free space do - and then we took down our banners,
the book and the ancillary letters that own present, since the naturalness of and silver chamber pots? A place called come we have private property here and by seriously answering ‘This is what’. disassembled our frontier, carted away
accompanied its initial printings also their world has been disrupted. The No-Place?), but this conscious absurdity now? Utopia insists that we contrast its With such visions the imagined future our pedestal and left. We created Utopia
suggest that Utopia is not to be taken se- opening lines of a brief poem attached to is what keeps Utopia from being a sin- image with the realities of our own so- can never be fixed. There will never be and made sure it was No-Place.
riously. For an example we need turn no the first printings of Utopia read: gular and authoritative narrative, that is: ciety, comparing one to the other, stim- a moment when Utopia can be definitive- What we were doing with our Uto-
further than the one I introduced above: Will thou know what wonders a closed act of imagination to be either ulating judgment and reflection.16 This is ly declared. Instead, these alternative pian artistic action on that sunny after-
More’s concern over the specific span strange be, accepted or rejected. It has to be mod- its critical moment. But this critical re- plans for our future exist only as a fiction noon for a few hours in a Skopje park
of a bridge and his request to a friend to in the land that late was found? ified. It is the presentation of Utopia as flection is not entirely negating. That is, that we know to be a fiction but which was, like More’s Utopia, not meant to be
ask Hythloday for the genuine measure- Will thou learn thy life to lead, no place and of its narrator as nonsense it is not caught in the parasitical depen- inspires us nonetheless. These utopian a definitive plan or some silly art prank
ments. Instead of being understood as a by divers ways that godly be?13 that opens up a space for the reader’s dency of being wed to the very system visions are something we have imagined but a prompt. If there was going to be a
gesture of concern on More’s part with Once an alternative - “divers ways imagination to wonder what their vision it calls into question, for its interlocutor and thus can re-imagine at will. real New Republic it was going to have
the overall veracity of the account of that godly be” - has been imagined, to of an alternative someplace might be. is not only a society that one wants to to come from the imaginations and the
Utopia, it might be better interpreted as a stay where one is or to try something To turn to some Biblical analogies: tear down but also a vision of a world IV. The Future of the Future Republic agitation and organization of the mass of
big joke: More would not be corrected in else becomes a question that demands Utopia is the Jewish Messiah who never one would like to build. (This is what dis- Macedonians. Less than two years later,
his facts regarding the length of a bridge attention and a choice. Yet the choice arrives. But the value of the Jewish Mes- tinguishes the ‘What if?’ of Utopia from “There Is No Alternative” was the that process began as the Conservative
on a far-off isle because Hythloday, his More offers is not an easy one. By desta- siah, as Walter Benjamin points out, is not the same question posed by dystopias.) mantra of Great Britain’s Conservative nationalist government was brought
fact-checker, quite simply, doesn’t exist bilizing his own design of an ideal society that he or she never arrives but that their Utopian criticism functions not as an end Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. To down in a fit of imagination, agitation and
other than as a piece of fiction. he prevents us from short-circuiting this arrival is imminent: “every second of time in itself but as a break with what is for any complaint about the inequity of pow- organization known as the Colourful Rev-
Sincere or satiric, earnest or ab- imaginative moment into a fixed imagi- [is] the straight gate through which the a departure towards something new. By er or wealth or the brutality of cuts to olution. It is not Utopia, to be sure, but it
surd? These are the two sides staked nary: a realizable future. We cannot sim- Messiah might arrive”.14 Similarly, Utopia asking ‘What if?’ we can simultaneously public services - in short: the ruthless- is the beginnings of a new sense of pos-
sibility.□

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out and defended by scholars of Utopia ply swap ready-made Plan A for ready- gives us something to imagine, anticipate criticize and imagine, imagine and criti- ness of the system - she would simply
over many years. I believe, however, that made Plan B. We have to generate our and prepare for. Utopia is not present, cize, and thereby begin to escape the reply: “There Is No Alternative.” Thatch-
this orthodox debate about More’s intent own plans, and this is because Plan B is since that would preclude the work of binary politics of impotent critique on the er understood that the job of the powers- References
obfuscates rather than clarifies, and ac- untenable, impossible - no-place. popular imagination and action (“It has one hand and closed imagination on the that-be is not only, or even primarily, to 1. Center for Artistic Activism: https://
tually misses the genius of More’s book. The problem with many imaginaries already arrived, so what more is there other. keep people down but also to deny them c4aa.org/
Utopia is both. Written in the tradition of is that they posit themselves as realiz- to do?”); nor, however, is it absent, since There is a famous passage in the Bi- the possibility of looking up. The biggest 2. Jacques Rancière, The Politics of Aes-
serio ludere or “serious play” that More able possibilities. Their designers imag- that would deny us the stimulus with ble that those invested in political imag- obstacle to social change is the belief thetics, London & New York: Continuum,
admired so much in classic authors, the ine a future or an alternative and then which to imagine an alternative (“There ination like to cite. It is from Proverbs that there is no alternative: that the world 2004, p.12.
3. John Berger, Ways of Seeing [TK] Lon-
story presents itself as both sincere and present it as THE future or THE alterna- is only what we have always known!”). 29:18, and the King James Version be- as it is now is the world as it always was
don: Penguin, 1972

16 Stephen Duncombe:The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts Stephen Duncombe: The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts 17
 Reassessing
4. Rancière, p.13. practice and on the auction market,
5. Rancière, p.13. where various images, physical objects,
6. Rancière, p.60. sketches and documentation related to
7. Contemporary artists are attempting -
these events are commodified and sold.
albeit in a very conceptual way - to build

Socially Engaged
Tatlin’s monument today: http://www.tat-
We might even say that the event-based
linstowerandtheworld.net/. work exists in order to be re-monetized in
8. Cited in Christina Lodden, Russian Con- this manner, in order to “build the brand”,
structivism, New Haven: Yale University as the art dealer David Zwirner has ar-
Press, 1983, p. 239, n.165; original source:

Artistic Practices
gued. While this work typically claims to
TeatrRSFSR, Pechat’I revolyutsiya No. 7, embody a critique of existing capitalist
1922.
reality, it is also defined by a steadfast
9. Leon Trotsky, Literature and Revolution,
NY: Russell and Russell, 1957, p. 247-8. refusal to engage in any way with forms
Trotsky does, however, preface his cri- of social or political resistance that might
tique of Tatlin by saying that while the first Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski challenge that reality.
needs of the revolution are to repair the I find the tension between these two
infrastructure and take care of neces- Museum of Contemporary Art - Skopje, October 1, 2018 bodies of art practice - activist or socially
sities, there will be time to experiment
engaged projects, on the one hand, and
once these needs are met and there is a
surplus.
art world-based relational or ‘social’ art
10. Anatoly Lunacharsky, On Literature We can start with a question about of a new class of entrepreneurial dealers practice on the other - to be especially
and Art, Moscow: Progress Publishers, your work. How has your own under- and collectors. As a result, the new forms important. They reveal some of the key
1931/1973; http://www.marxists.org/ar- standing and reading of art changed of socially engaged art practice that de- fault lines in the political economy of con-
chive/lunachar/1931/mayakovsky.htm, no through the years? Can you elaborate a veloped during this period often had only temporary art. I addressed this tension
page. bit more on your approach and the the- a tangential relationship to the main- to some extent in my second book, The
11. Cited in Christina Lodden, Russian
oretical line of work you build upon in stream art world of biennales, museums, One and the Many, and it’s an important
Constructivism, New Haven: Yale Univer-
sity Press, 1983, p.65. conceiving the work of art as a process art fairs, private dealers and so on. By ex- issue in my current book, Autonomy and
12. For a fuller discussion of Utopia and rather than a physical object? tension, most of this work was and con- Answerability. It’s significant to me be-
its politics see my introduction in Thomas When I started writing in the mid ‘80s tinues to be ignored by the mainstream cause it highlights a key shift in contem-
More, Open|Utopia, Stephen Duncombe, there was relatively little interest among art critics and journals. This is one of the porary art, involving a transformation in
ed. Wivenhoe/New York/Port Watson, mainstream critics or historians in activist main reasons I founded the journal FIELD the norms of aesthetic autonomy. This is
2012 a transformation that is occurring at two
or socially engaged art practices. Aside several years ago - to provide a forum
13. “Cornelius Graphey to the Reader” in
from a few key figures like Lucy Lippard specifically focused on in-depth critical levels. First, we encounter a changing
More, Open|Utopia, p.13.
14. Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Phi- or curators like Nina Felshin, most of the analysis of activist and socially engaged concept of artistic subjectivity in terms
losophy of History,” Illuminations, New writing in the U.S. was being done by art- art practice. of the sovereignty of the artist, evident in
York: Schocken, 1969, p. 264. ists themselves. Suzanne Lacy is a good Something else happened in con- forms of artistic production that involve
15. Alas, poor Jesus of Nazareth was un- example of this, or Diane Neumaier. Even temporary art around the same time. collaborative or participatory interaction.
fortunate enough to be resurrected, sta- when I was researching my first book The 1990s and early 2000s are identified And second we see this transformation
bilized, and institutionalized by the official in the relative permeability or transversal
Conversation Pieces during the mid- with new forms of ‘social’ or ‘relational’
church, thereby becoming a symbol of
to-late ‘90s this was still the case. The art associated with a cadre of primarily open-ness of artistic production to other,
divine authority rather than an opening to
human questioning. manuscript for that book was finished in male European artists, including Tino adjacent, forms of cultural production,
16. Darko Suvin, writing about Science 2000, but it took almost three years to find Sehgal, Philippe Parreno, Pierre Huyghe, in particular, political or social activism.
Fiction, describes a “literature of cogni- a press that was willing to publish it be- Christian Höller, Santiago Sierra, Thom- One can respond to this shift in one of two
tive estrangement,” marked by “the pres- cause none of the editors I approached as Hirschhorn and Francis Alÿs. These ways. Either you acknowledge that some-
ence and interaction of estrangement and felt there was sufficient interest in the figures developed a hybrid practice that thing fundamental about the nature of art
cognition, and whose main formal device
work I was discussing. By the mid-2000s, combines various forms of performance is changing in contemporary practice, or
is an imaginative framework alternate to
the author’s empirical environment.” This however, the field of socially engaged art and temporary installation work with a you assume that this large body of work is
description applies to More’s Utopia as began to expand dramatically. It expand- more discrete, gallery-based mode of simply evidence of misguided individuals

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

choosing to abandon art’s unique critical
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

well. Darko Survin, Metamorphoses of ed both in terms of geographic range production, both of which are almost en-
Science Fiction, New Haven: Yale Univer- and in the sheer numbers of artists and tirely oriented towards audiences within power. This second response has given
sity Press, 1979, pp. 4 & 7-9. collectives that emerged at this time. In the institutional art world. The highly pub- birth to a ‘neo avant-garde’ critical dis-
17. The Bible, King James Version, Prov- course, associated with the journal Octo-
part this expansion can be understood as licized process and performance-based
erbs 29:18. Oxford: Oxford University
a response by a younger generation of projects that you see in biennales, muse- ber and theorists like Jacques Rancière,
Press, 1997, p.748.
artist to the dramatically increasing mon- um commissions and art fairs provide the which tends to view these disparate
etization of contemporary art, evident in necessary public corollary to the much forms of activist or engaged art as hope-
spiralling sales prices, the expansion of less visible economic transactions that lessly naive. In this view, art practices
commercial art fairs and the emergence occur through the artist’s gallery-based that emerge in conjunction with forms of

18 Stephen Duncombe:The Power of the Imaginary in Activist Arts Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski 19
 political or social resistance will either its only real value lies in the criticality it The One and The Many: Contemporary political resistance is premature. Never- are restricted to a handful of participants, tions. These projects also involve more
be co-opted or degraded to the status of can induce here and now. Yet precisely Collaborative art in a Global Context. theless, I would contend that artistic proj- with only the most limited extension into extended, quasi-permanent interven-
political propaganda. this form of actualized criticality is en- Could you elaborate on the importance ects developed in conjunction with con- a larger social space. This is exemplified tions in public space, rather than the
This position is founded on a much lon- dangered by the multivalent integration of the balance between the ‘internal’ crete forms of activism can exhibit many by Chu Yuan’s Offering of Mind project in ephemeral gestures associated with Chu
ger tradition in the history of the avant-gar- of art institutions with existing forms of aspects of a collaborative art practice, of the core attributes of conventionally Myanmar, which I discussed in The One Yuan’s work in Myanmar. This approach
de that views the artist as a kind of sur- capitalist domination, resulting in the en- i.e. the interaction that strengthens the ‘mediated’ aesthetic experience - the cul- and the Many. Offering of Mind was pro- is evident in the work of the Dialogue col-
rogate or placeholder for a form of revo- tirely programmatic dissensus evident in organizational capacity of various art- tivation of a reflective, critical awareness, duced in 2005-6, at a time when any sort lective in central India, which I also dis-
lutionary consciousness that the working a great deal of contemporary art. As a re- ists which increases the efficiency and the facilitation of prefigurative forms of critical or anomalous public behaviour cussed in The One and the Many. Over
class has failed to exhibit. And this, in turn, sult, the neo avant-garde model is based synergy between agents, and the ‘ex- of intersubjective experience, and an carried a significant risk of arrest. Chu the past seventeen years this collective
is based on an even longer tradition within on both a recognition and a disavowal of ternal’ ones, i.e. directed towards the awareness of the limitations of conven- Yuan worked with several young Bur- of Indian and Adivasi (indigenous) artists
aesthetic philosophy in which the artist, art’s institutional status, and the hege- effects they achieve and their trans- tional epistemological forms. They do so, mese to create miniature stupas (in the have developed ‘Nalpar’ or water pump
and the work of art, serve as the prefigu- monic economic and political systems on gression in the field of politics and however, through a very different model form of head-pieces) that replicated sites in the villages around Kondago-
rative expression of a utopian future soci- which these institutions depend. On the challenge of dominant representations of artistic production, and a very different the large Theravada temples that are a an. The pump sites were developed as
ety - the sensus communis in Kant, or the one hand the neo avant-garde requires of a given community? social architecture. In particular, they no common feature throughout the country. a technical solution to the problem of
“aesthetic state” in Schiller. In either case, the existence of conventional art institu- I would avoid using the language of longer situate the locus of their critical The Burmese military supports this ver- water collection, which was a gruelling
the only way for the artist to preserve this tions to push off against in order to stage “internal” and “external” factors, or the power within a self-enclosed conceptual sion of Buddhism because it encourages part of everyday life and a burden liter-
critical or prefigurative power is by main- its gesture of critique. In fact the institu- movement from questions of subject-for- field - constituted around the formal con- subordination to the rich and powerful, ally shouldered by young women in the
taining a rigid segregation between their tional critique paradigm is predicated on mation and identity (via conversation) dition of a given medium or a reified dis- who are assumed to have gained their villages. The Nalpar sites were designed
artistic production and any form of direct an awareness that the sacral spaces of on the one hand, and social or political cursive system that they seek to critique privilege through exemplary spiritual not simply to make water collection less
social or political action. This is what Ador- art production are necessarily impure. action on the other. This tends to natural- - that is sealed off from any reciprocal behaviour in a previous life. Burmese physically onerous via new pumps, er-
no disparaged as ‘actionism’ in the art of But on the other hand, the ‘convention- ize a temporal model that doesn’t really influence from the external world or oth- citizens make offerings to these temples gonomically designed ledges, et cetera.
the 1960s, as artists naively assumed they ality’ of the art world, which is produced capture the nature of social change. In er forms of consciousness. Instead, their to pay for gold leaf and other improve- They were also constructed around bar-
could effect some meaningful change in through its dependence on the market this view new forms of subjectivity are criticality is produced through an answer- ments, accompanied by written prayers. rier walls or screens that effectively hid
existing forms of social or political domi- and class privilege, can’t be seen as too produced through ‘conversation’ and lat- able relationship to a dialogically respon- Offering of Mind turns this process in- the young women from scrutiny. This sim-
nation through direct action. In Adorno’s pronounced without admitting that these er deployed in modes of social action. Or sive site of resistance, entailing specific ward. The stupa head-pieces are con- ple gesture had the effect of creating one
view this belief is misguided. Even if these critical interventions are subject to forms we might say that the spatial model of ‘in- institutional forces and counter-forces structed of wire and resemble cages that of the only spaces in the village in which
actions are successful at some level they of co-option that parallel those imposed side’ and ‘outside’ is mapped onto a tem- and concrete interlocutors that can act symbolically imprison the consciousness young women could talk amongst them-
nonetheless do more harm than good, on non-art-world-based practices. As a poral relationship of ‘before’ and ‘after’, back on the work in real time. As a re- of individual subjects, revealing the re- selves and evade the gaze of the village
because they can be used to validate the result, the political imbrication of the art or ‘conversation’ - the transformation of sult, the production of criticality in these pressive function of religion in Burmese elders, and especially men who would
existing system of domination, which can world - its legitimating function relative self - and the subsequent application of projects must constantly be re-articu- society. At the same time, the head piec- monitor their movements. In this sense
point to them as evidence of its tolerance. to various forms of state and class pow- this germinal experience to ‘practice’. lated and modified in response to these es also contain the unrealized ‘wishes they marked an intervention into the spa-
So the only option available to the artist is er - has to be minimized or diminished. Social action is thus seen as something ongoing exchanges. The work evolves, and thoughts’ of each of the participants tial politics of village life and posed a pal-
to remain isolated from the mechanisms of It must be reconstructed as a space of that only occurs after new forms of sub- then, through a series of iterations, each in the form of small written scrolls - evok- pable challenge to the authority of men,
social change, producing instead a decant- radical experimentation rather than a jectivity are created through ‘internal’ building on the experience accrued from ing a future very likely not dominated by who actually complained about the pri-
ed or displaced form of critique, within and showroom for a culturally elevated form forms of experience. I would want to the one that came before. This accounts a military junta. These desires, no longer vacy and autonomy they provided. Thus,
against the formal or institutional struc- of conspicuous consumption. argue that the generation of new insight, for the intrinsic plasticity of engaged art metonymically linked with the interests while the Nalpar sites were developed
tures of art-making. This level of art-world or the transformation of subjectivity, can practices as they move away from the of Myanmar’s ruling class through the to address a set of pragmatic issues as-
specific criticality is meant to preserve the You’ve written extensively on dia- occur across a range of scalar or spatial physical stasis of an object-based aes- adornment of temples that venerate the sociated with water collection they also
protected nucleus of an authentically rev- logical art practices, social overlap- registers. It can occur in the most inti- thetic paradigm. It also accounts for the rich and powerful, became personalized had the effect of re-framing gender re-
olutionary form of consciousness, which ping and discursive exchange among mate forms of intersubjective exchange scalar complexity of socially engaged expressions of resistance that were liter- lationships through a tactical aesthetic
will be actualized at some future moment co-participants, artists and citizens or in the spatially compressed relation- art projects which seek to socialize the ally carried into the streets of Rangoon alteration of the village’s physical struc-
when ‘real’ change is finally possible. in creating a common collaborative ship between an individual viewer and transformation of consciousness that is through surreptitious walking perfor- ture. This project also entailed a series
This is why so much neo avant-garde ground. Can we say that dialogical a conventional work of art, but it can central to the aesthetic, rather than hold- mances. While the public or social com- of direct negotiations with the village’s
criticism continues to be centred on no- aesthetics and these practices always also occur through the action-oriented ing this transformative potential in sus- ponent of these expressions was highly patriarchal power structure (male priests
tions of institutional critique, meaning the have an emancipatory potential, espe- context of larger social configurations. pension in the mind of the individual artist constrained (the walking performances and elders) to secure permission to build
‘institutions’ of art, since the art world is cially in the attempt to construct a mod- I think it’s more useful to think in terms or viewer. As a result, socially engaged were, by necessity, very brief due to the the Nalpar sites, and thus marks the

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the only space within which it is possible el of subjectivity? These practices start of a continuum of practice in socially en- art practices operate along an expanded omnipresent danger of police and spies), movement from a largely symbolic form
to practice criticality without the danger as a conversation and identification gaged art. continuum that reflects the interdepen- they nonetheless carried both a critical of internalized resistance, registered in
of immediate co-option. Given this sche- of societal problems, and through the This takes us back to the issues dence (rather than bifurcation) between and a prefigurative power. the furtive stupa performances - which
ma it is easy to understand why forms of conversation they can provoke or in- raised by your first question. The socially individual consciousness and social or At the next level we encounter proj- could not risk becoming openly intelligi-
activist or engaged art are so threatening. fluence ongoing political action where engaged art practices of the last twen- collective action. ects which move beyond the intimate, ble to the authorities towards which they
If the critical power of art is no longer be- certain values are spreading. We can ty-five years share a commitment to the I’ll outline this continuum with a se- intersubjective sphere of Offering of were directed - to more proximate and
ing held in symbolic reserve for some fu- look at specific examples - your works emancipatory vision carried by the neo ries of brief examples drawn from my Minds, which consisted primarily of one- actualized forms of opposition.
ture revolutionary moment during which Conversation Pieces: Community and avant-garde, but they don’t accept the previous and current research. On one on-one or very small group encounters, This same movement, towards larg-
it might be re-awakened in praxis, then Communication in Modern Art and corollary belief that any form of social or end of this continuum are projects that to encompass larger collective interac- er social configurations and more direct

20 Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski 21
 engagement with existing institutional Flag’ (Lava la Bandera) performances As I suggested in my previous response, lations of dominant power. Here power project the practice into new contexts or seeking to defend its a priori autonomy, a
systems, is evident in the work of Park Fic- staged by Colectivo Sociedad Civil - the in this model ‘action’, or political trans- is understood to operate on three levels. settings in the future. space is opened here for a concept of the
tion in Hamburg. And here again we find a CSC - in Peru during 2000. CSC consist- formation, is always deferred until some First, power is manifested in concrete ef- The second form of insight is asso- self that no longer conforms to the ethos
project that resulted in a permanent trans- ed of artists and activists who came future moment. In socially engaged art fects at a local or situational level - the ciated with new modes of critique and of bourgeois sovereignty. It is a space that
formation of the built environment - in this together in opposition to the dictatorial these two domains are not segregat- deployment of police in Lima’s main plaza, structural analysis directed at a given is defined by modes of self-transformation
case, the creation of a new public park in behaviour of then-president Alberto Fuji- ed, and an engagement with symbolic the effects of gentrification in the Hafen- system of domination. Here critique is that are reciprocal rather than unilateral -
a location that was initially intended for mori, who was in power as the result of a or representational modes unfolds in straße neighborhood, the surveillance of linked to the principle of negation, as a the artist repairing the viewer’s damaged
upper-income housing. Park Fiction works coup in 1992. The performances were ini- an action-oriented context. Rather than Rangoon’s streets by government spies, process which seeks to destabilize the consciousness. The goal is not a finished
in the immigrant, working-class Hafen- tially staged in the Plaza Mayor, directly devolving into propagandistic simplicity, et cetera. This situational expression is, normative perceptions of specific politi- or finalized version of the self, like Schil-
straße neighbourhood on Hamburg’s in front of the Presidential Palace in Lima, the forms of representational experi- however, linked with and conditioned by cal or economic institutions and ideolog- ler’s idealized aesthetic subject or the
waterfront, which was facing incipient and entailed the simple act of washing mentation that occur in socially engaged a broader structural or systemic condi- ical systems. Here, as in the avant-gar- communist “new man” which will render
gentrification during the early 2000s. the Peruvian flag in the large fountain art projects - the ambivalent form of the tion - the political and economic proto- de tradition, the artist adopts a position all subsequent forms of intersubjective
While Hafenstraße has a long history of at the Plaza’s centre. This gesture was stupa in Offering of Mind, the banal but cols of market-based capitalism, for ex- external to the surrounding hegemonic negotiation unnecessary. The goal is
militant resistance, the Park Fiction col- directed at the perceived corruption of subversive gesture of flag-washing in ample, or the civil structure of a military culture. But in socially engaged practice precisely to understand more deeply and
lective, working with other groups in the the Fujimori regime, which was engag- Lava la Bandera - can be enriched and regime. It is linked as well to a series of the artist does not claim this exteriority more thoroughly the process by which the
neighbourhood, chose a less direct line ing in widespread fraud during the 2000 complicated by their association with affiliated discursive components - more as a singular and unique capacity. Nor self is transformed and made more open
of attack to preserve the neighbourhood’s presidential election. The act of washing oppositional practice. We might describe specific ideological sub-systems that do they assume that their critical aware- with the understanding that this process
autonomy. Instead on staging occupa- the flag - a “patriotic cleansing ritual” as this work as marking the transition from are both situational and generic within a ness can only be preserved by abjuring will never be fully complete. This is a pro-
tions and demonstrations the group be- founding member Gustavo Buntinx de- an object or image-based aesthetic to an given socio-economic system. Drawing any practical resistance to the culture cess that no longer depends on a fixed no-
gan by turning inwards to the surrounding scribes it - was soon replicated in towns event-based aesthetic paradigm. The art on the conventions of music theory we it critiques. Rather, the forms of critical tion of identity, which can only ever view
community. They organized an extended and villages throughout the country, pro- work as ‘event’ entails an engagement might describe the forms of knowledge consciousness mobilized by engaged art external determination as marking the ex-
process of consultation with the neigh- viding a powerful visual expression of the with representational materials that generated by socially engaged art prac- practices are produced out of a process pansion of one’s self at the expense of an-
bourhood’s residents, structured around breadth of public revulsion at Fujimori’s provide a frame within which the partic- tices in these contexts as ‘praxial’, en- of collective exchange. At the same time, other. Instead, socially engaged art prac-
the ironic appropriation of the profes- leadership. The government, sensing the ipant’s critical distance from normative tailing both performance-based learning critique is drawn along with action rather tices call into question the very concepts
sional apparatus of urban planning. This threat posed by this performance as a values can be given semantic form. At and new mental or cognitive orientations than isolated from it, which has the ef- of externality and interiority on which the
process was focused on generating locus of popular discontent, attempted the same time, these ‘mediated’ materi- that emerge in response to the situation- fect of providing critical intelligence with schema of conventional aesthetic autono-
a set of concrete ideas for alternative to block or delegitimize the flag-washing als are placed in an answerable relation- al matrix of the performance. a far more nuanced understanding of my is based. What these projects embody,
uses for the waterfront property slat- through police interventions and efforts ship to actual modes of repression, rath- The first form of praxial insight in- the material nature of domination itself. then, is not some final reconciliation be-
ed for re-development. In Park Fiction’s to incite violence among protestors. At er than orienting themselves towards the volves tactical knowledge, which emerg- Domination is not a fixed or static thing, tween self and other, but rather an ongo-
process of “desiring production” the every step the protestors had to revise hypothetical consciousness of a generic es as participants observe the effects to be analysed in abstraction. It is a living ing experimentation with the parameters
privatized wishes contained in the stupa and modify their own actions in response viewer and a discursively internalized produced on an existing apparatus of culture that evolves and modifies itself of identity itself. They ask if it is possible to
headpieces of Offering of Minds become to the government’s provocations. The locus of resistance. Here we must un- power by particular symbolic gestures over time and through the exigencies of produce a social space that exists apart
collective and public. The result was to proliferation of this gesture couldn’t be derstand symbolic or representational and physical interventions - the washing historical development and ongoing op- from both the repressive universality of
confront Hamburg’s political leadership contained, and it played a key role in meaning not in terms of fixed semantic of a flag, alternative planning processes, position. the community, party or state, on the one
with a set of coherent counter-proposals, building a sense of oppositional coher- units - a meaning created by the artist et cetera. These may include changes The third form of knowledge produc- hand, and the sovereignty of the monadic
effectively forcing the city government to ence and solidarity throughout the coun- and handed over to the viewer for inter- in public policy, the blockage of certain tion entails a prefigurative awareness self (epitomized by conventional artistic
perform its role as a neutral adjudicator try, leading up to Fujimori’s downfall. pretation - but as an utterance, a form of economic logics, temporary or more last- associated with the modes of consensual identity as much as bourgeois subjectiv-
of ‘public’ interests, rather than simply speech that is by necessity incomplete, ing shifts in the distribution of power, or decision-making and speculative creativ- ity) on the other, through a series of expe-
acquiescing to the ostensibly inevitable Would you argue that current socially changing and “unfinalizable” as Bakhtin transformations in specific ideological ity that unfold in a specific project. This riential encounters that are both practical
forces of commercial gentrification. Part engaged practices are reflecting the argues. Thus, projects like Lava la Ban- fields or value systems. This knowledge is where your question of “action for the and reflective.□
of the success of Park Fiction’s work in ever more complicated day-to-day dera are constituted around a symbolic is highly situational and includes the ca- future” comes in. These forms of creativ-
Hamburg stemmed from the neighbour- politics and the impossibility of acting armature that faces both inwards, where pacity to adapt and modify a given reper- ity require highly complex negotiations
hood’s long tradition of organized activ- effectively in other ways, or can they it is linked with the recognition of seman- toire of actions or gestures as they elicit across the differing epistemological ori-
ism, including the fortified occupations be considered as a possible strategy of tic and normative contingency among counter-responses from the particular entations, forms of identity, and political
of squatted buildings by residents during authentic action for the future? the participants, and outwards, to an ‘au- governmental or regulatory structure belief systems held by individual partic-
the “barricade days” of the late 1980s. The question of “action for the fu- dience’ consisting of the representatives they are targeting - evident, for example, ipants. We might describe the process

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At the third level we encounter proj- ture” is extremely important, but also of the state. in the Lava la Bandera performances. of working through these intersubjective
ects in which the correlation between fairly complex. Conventional models We can identify three discrete but It should also be noted that this form of tensions as a kind of social labour that
artistic production and broader forms of of aesthetic autonomy, from the early contiguous forms of insight generated knowledge is both creative and pragmat- partially suspends normative modes of
political activism is not simply sequential modern to the avant-garde, are defined by socially engaged art practice. In each ic and carries along with it the capacity being driven by autonomous self-inter-
or mnemonic (like Park Fiction, building by the bifurcation between art, the pri- case these insights are derived from the to transform the consciousness of the est. Here the tensions and discontinuities
in part on the fear evoked in Hamburg’s vatized domain of representational play new modes of agency and speculative participants or collaborators, as the that exist between self and other are not
elites by Hafenstraße’s dissident past), and critical distance, and the world of understanding that are opened up by a initial success of a specific set of ges- dissolved but openly thematized, as part
but is actualized in real time. This ap- political practice or action, which is seen practical engagement with specific in- tures can produce an enhanced sense of the very material of artistic practice
proach is evident in the ‘Washing the as entirely instrumental and unreflective. stitutional, discursive and spatial articu- of agency and a greater willingness to itself. Rather than two fixed selves, each

22 Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski Reassessing Socially Engaged Artistic Practices - Interview with Grant Kester by Tihomir Topuzovski 23
 have been especially problematic when
Grant Kester directed at the analysis of socially en-

On the
gaged art.
- The assumption that any form of art
practice that produces some concrete
change in the world or is developed in

Relationship
alliance with specific social movements
(via the creation or preservation of a
park, the generation of new, prefigurative
collective forms, shifts in the disposition

between Theory
of power in a given community etc.) is
entirely pragmatic and has no critical or
conceptually creative capacity.2 Or, alter-
nately, that such projects, by suggesting
that some meaningful change is possible

and Practice
within existing social and political struc-
tures, do nothing more than forestall the
necessary, but inevitably deferred, revo-
lution.

in Socially
- The assumption that any given art
project is either radically disruptive or
naively ameliorative (trafficking in “good
times, affirmative feelings and positive

Engaged Art
outcomes” as a typical blog posting de-
scribes it).3 This is paired with the failure
of many critics to understand that dura-
tional art practices, and forms of activ-
ism, always move through moments of
both provisional consensus or solidarity-
Recent debates around socially en- artists today actually have the option of formation and conflict and disruption.
gaged art have focused on the spatial aligning themselves with an existing rev- This isn’t to say that there aren’t
and temporal nature of social change olutionary movement, poised to launch numerous “social art” projects that are
(the relationship, for example, between an all-out assault on neo-liberal capi- based on simplistic, de-politicized con-
an ephemeral event and the more last- talism, and have simply refrained from cepts of community. However, if these
ing transformation of a given social doing so. The conventional avant- garde projects are problematic it’s not because
structure, or between local or situational resolution to this impasse is to withdraw they seek to engage in a concrete man-
action and global, or geographically ex- from any direct engagement with the ner with the world outside the gallery or
tensive, forms of organized resistance). social or political world in order to em- museum, or rely on processes of con-
More specifically, these debates ask how body a pure principle of radical negation, sensually-based action. It’s because
the local, situational or “ad hoc” actions assaulting all existing values and sys- they have a naïve or non-existent un-
often encountered in socially engaged tems of meaning. Not surprisingly, these derstanding of power and the nature of
art practices are related to systematic gestures have become almost entirely resistance. The most damaging of these
forms of domination.1 A typical reproach routinized within the protocols of inter- assumptions, for a theory of socially en-
directed at projects of this nature is that national exhibitions and biennials (often gaged art practice, involves the failure of
they function as little more than window serving as the necessary scandal that critics to grasp the generative capacity
dressing for a fundamentally corrupt sys- demonstrates the openness of a system of practice itself - it’s ability to produce
tem. The only way to produce real, mean- predicated on hierarchy and wealth). In

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

new, counter- normative insights into the
ingful change is to engage in the direct most cases they simply allow artists to constitution of power and subjectivity.
overthrow of the capitalist economy in pose as incendiary critics of capitalism Is there another way for us to under-
its entirety. This criticism is necessary while securing a comfortable living from stand the transformative nature of social-
but not sufficient. The problem with this the investment habits of the 1%, to whom ly engaged art practice? This complex
approach, of course, is that it relies on they sell their work. question is made more difficult by the ac-
a hyperbolic model of capitalism (as an The residues of this larger belief sys- cumulated weight of past art theory and
entirely impenetrable and fixed system tem continue to inform art criticism. We criticism. Conventional forms of artistic
of domination) while also assuming that can identify two related assumptions that practice (installation, painting, sculpture,

Grant Kester: On the Relationship between Theory and Practice in Socially Engaged Art 25
 time-based media, and more traditional, ing an exhaustive analysis of the nature only be refusing to debase itself through disruption of habitual forms of thought, References sity Press, 1979, pp. 4 & 7-9.
actor-centered modes of performance of capitalist domination and the most any direct involvement with social resis- the cultivation of an openness to our own 1. Center for Artistic Activism: https:// 17. The Bible, King James Version, Prov-
art) raise a very different set of questions effective mechanisms for challenging it. intersubjective vulnerability, and a rec- c4aa.org/ erbs 29:18. Oxford: Oxford University
tance or activism. This is the foundation
2. Jacques Rancière, The Politics of Aes- Press, 1997, p.748.
that are, in many cases, not applicable to The reciprocal interconnection between for Adorno’s famous attack on what he ognition of our own agency in generating
thetics, London & New York: Continuum,
socially engaged art projects. Here the theoretical reflection and political action viewed as the naïve “actionism” of stu- normative values. In order to develop a 2004, p.12.
“practice” entails the artist devising a was central to the definition of a “criti- dent protestors during the late 1960s.4 more substantive theoretical analysis 3. John Berger, Ways of Seeing [TK] Lon-
particular set of forms, events or objects cal” theory. By the mid-1940s the mission We can observe here a symptomatic of socially engaged art, however, I do don: Penguin, 1972
that are presented to a viewer. In this of the Frankfurt School had been dramat- ideological and discursive transference, believe it’s necessary to challenge the 4. Rancière, p.13.
case the primary generative moment, ically curtailed, leading to an often sterile in which the conventional principle of singular privilege we’ve been taught to 5. Rancière, p.13.
6. Rancière, p.60.
the moment when decisive choices are functionalism. Confronted with the failure aesthetic autonomy is infused with a assign to art and the personality of the
7. Contemporary artists are attempting -
made regarding the formal, material and of the proletariat to unite in opposition to new, revolutionary, rationale (the very artist, and to acknowledge that art exists albeit in a very conceptual way - to build
discursive constitution of the work as a fascism and the emergence of a “total- distance that art takes up from quotidian along a continuum with a range of other Tatlin’s monument today: http://www.tat-
unified, apprehensible object, occurs ized domination” that made the capital- life provides it with a privileged vantage cultural practices that hold the potential linstowerandtheworld.net/.
prior to the arrival of the viewer. The sit- ist, fascist and communist state systems point from which to diagnose the over- to produce disruptive or counter-norma- 8. Cited in Christina Lodden, Russian Con-
uation is, of course, quite different with virtually indistinguishable (at least to determination of this life by economic tive insight. Artistic practice certainly structivism, New Haven: Yale University
many socially engaged art projects. Here Adorno and Horkheimer), the germ of an imperatives). This transformed concept carries its own specific methods, proto- Press, 1983, p. 239, n.165; original source:
TeatrRSFSR, Pechat’I revolyutsiya No. 7,
the act of production (“practice” in the authentic revolutionary drive had been of aesthetic autonomy is evident across cols and capacities, generated through
1922.
conventional sense) and reception are transferred to the sequestered realm of a range of contemporary art practices, its extremely complex history, but it 9. Leon Trotsky, Literature and Revolution,
coincident. Moreover, artistic practice fine art, where it would be held in trust most recently in Thomas Hirschhorn’s also shares points of productive coinci- NY: Russell and Russell, 1957, p. 247-8.
at this level becomes “transgradient” (to until a more fortuitous historical moment crude opposition between “pure art” dence with other practices. I would also Trotsky does, however, preface his cri-
use one of Bakhtin’s favorite concepts) called for its reactualization. (the foundation of his own practice) and suggest that we need to reconsider the tique of Tatlin by saying that while the first
with other, non-artistic, forms of cultural The key effect of this shift was to un- “social work”. In his widely publicized specific ways in which the relationship needs of the revolution are to repair the
production, from participatory planning couple theory from any relationship to the Gramsci Monument project, Hirschhorn between the pure and the impure, theory infrastructure and take care of neces-
sities, there will be time to experiment
to environmental activism to radical ped- specific, empirically verifiable, effects of was able to provide an extraordinary and practice, and art and life, have been
once these needs are met and there is a
agogy. Thus, we have a form of art pro- social and political resistance. Under the level of economic support (including configured in existing art criticism. To surplus.
duction that requires us to reconceptual- monolithic power of a “totally adminis- summer art classes and a computer often each of these is treated as a syn- 10. Anatoly Lunacharsky, On Literature
ize our understanding of both the “view- tered society” outlined in The Dialectic center for children, as well as compar- chronically fixed, a priori entity, when and Art, Moscow: Progress Publishers,
er” and the act of reception, and that also of Enlightenment, virtually every other atively well-paying jobs) to the residents the space between them is always, po- 1931/1973; http://www.marxists.org/ar-
exhibits a promiscuous relationship to cultural form except art, and every other of the Forest Houses complex, located tentially, semipermeable. Certainly “life,” chive/lunachar/1931/mayakovsky.htm, no
page.
other modes of cultural action. intellectual discipline, except a very spe- in a chronically under-resourced work- if fully comprehended, is not the realm
11. Cited in Christina Lodden, Russian
This promiscuity opens up an import- cific mode of self-reflexive philosophy, ing class neighborhood in the Bronx. He of simpleminded habitual blindness that Constructivism, New Haven: Yale Univer-
ant line of analysis that connects socially had been irredeemably contaminated by was able to retain his “purity” precisely is so often evoked by the canon of crit- sity Press, 1983, p.65.
engaged art with a larger set of debates the instrumentalizing drive of capitalist by refusing to take any responsibility for ical theory, and art, in its actual effects, 12. For a fuller discussion of Utopia and
over the more general interrelationship rationality. If no real change was possible the disappointment, frustration or disillu- is not always its opposite. Autonomy, or its politics see my introduction in Thomas
between theory and practice. We might here and now, then there was no point in sionment of those residents when, after the space of autonomy, is produced dia- More, Open|Utopia, Stephen Duncombe,
recall here the dramatic transformation cultivating a set of analytic tools for un- eleven weeks, these resources, and the chronically, through the tactical shifting ed. Wivenhoe/New York/Port Watson,
2012
that occurs in the ambitions of the Frank- derstanding the nature of contemporary accompanying outpouring of public con- of certain material frames and discursive
13. “Cornelius Graphey to the Reader” in
furt School between the moment of its political resistance. And if art could only cern that the neighborhood had enjoyed, and institutional systems. And in these More, Open|Utopia, p.13.
founding in the early 1930s and the peri- preserve its new role as singular bastion were abruptly withdrawn. The lesson, for spaces it’s possible to engage in both 14. Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Phi-
od during and after WWII. As Horkheimer of revolutionary truth by abjuring any di- the residents of Forest Houses, was that “practical” action and the generative, losophy of History,” Illuminations, New
outlines in his inaugural lecture (“The rect involvement with the social or politi- in the absence of the artist’s charismatic distanced reflection that we have come York: Schocken, 1969, p. 264.
Present Situation of Social Philosophy cal world, there was no reason to reflect personality (and funding sources), “art” to associate with theory. Action, as such, 15. Alas, poor Jesus of Nazareth was un-
and the Tasks for an Institute of Social on the potential relationship between art, as such is no longer sustainable.5 For always contains both a practical moment fortunate enough to be resurrected, sta-
bilized, and institutionalized by the official
Research” in 1931) the goal of a proper- or theory, and practical resistance. Here Hirschhorn, the practices and methods (in its orientation to concrete change and
church, thereby becoming a symbol of
ly “critical” theory was to challenge the we encounter two key beliefs that remain of creative transformation necessary to in the pragmatic feedback loop that must divine authority rather than an opening to
abstraction and pseudo- transcendence a persistent feature of much contempo- produce more sustainable or meaningful always exist between this change and human questioning.

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

of traditional theory by integrating the- rary art criticism. First, that the artist (or change in Forest Hills are dismissed as self-reflection) and a utopian or prefig- 16. Darko Suvin, writing about Science
oretical production with the empirical artist qua theorist) possesses a uniquely intrinsically uncreative “social work”. urative one, expressing in embryo forms Fiction, describes a “literature of cogni-
analysis of, and practical engagement privileged capacity to comprehend the I would suggest that, far from violat- of the social that might be reactualized in tive estrangement,” marked by “the pres-
ence and interaction of estrangement and
with, actual social movements. The totality of capitalist domination, stand- ing the purity of the aesthetic, socially another space or time.□
cognition, and whose main formal device
Frankfurt School was thus organized ing in for a proletariat that has remained engaged art practices often represent a is an imaginative framework alternate to
around a transdisciplinary approach that stubbornly indifferent to its historical compelling re-articulation of it, involving the author’s empirical environment.” This
would unite scholars in the fields of so- destiny (Adorno uses the metaphor of the as they do many of the key features we Posted on “Fertile Ground,” at A description applies to More’s Utopia as
ciology, psychology, political economy artist as a “deputy”). And second, that art have come to associate with aesthetic Blade of Grass (July 2015) well. Darko Survin, Metamorphoses of
and philosophy with the goal of produc- can preserve this remarkable prescience experience, including the suspension or Science Fiction, New Haven: Yale Univer-

26 Grant Kester: On the Relationship between Theory and Practice in Socially Engaged Art Grant Kester: On the Relationship between Theory and Practice in Socially Engaged Art 27
 The Politics of Shame
Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey

From October 2017 to February 2018 the Fotomuseum An- lost my scholarship from Parsons and then I just moved on,
twerp (FOMU) presented the first photo exhibition of Chinese in New York. But it’s not easy in New York City… For me it is
visual artist and political activist Ai Weiwei. Entitled ‘Ai Weiwei a very lonely city, and there are a few artists, most time they
- Mirror’, the exhibition included seminal political statements spend on the street and I know a few poets and musicians.
such as Study of Perspective (1995-2011) and the artist’s daily I met Allen Ginsberg at that time because I went to a poetry
stream of selfies and snapshots on social media. The show reading, he was living in the house that his mum left him…
also addressed the years that the artist spent under constant with a lot of books and it’s just a regular apartment building.
surveillance by the Chinese government and his ongoing com- So, the ‘90s in New York. I spent about ten years there and I
mitment to presenting work that engages with social and politi- had nothing to do. I bought a second-hand camera from the
cal issues, including the worldwide refugee condition. thieves who sell these cameras in the night-time on the street.
In the following conversation, recorded as part of a public So, now I can take some photos. But I realised that my life
event in Antwerp on 25 October, 2017, and transcribed here for was so meaningless because I had no purpose: I never want
the first time, the artist talked to Anthony Downey about his to establish anything, and I did not know what I can become.

PORTRAIT
photographic work from the 1990s until today and how those So, I said then maybe to record that meaningless it becomes
earlier photographs, taken in New York City during the 1980s some kind of meaningful act. I did a lot of photographs which
and early 1990s (but not developed until he returned to Beijing is kind of boring and after a few years it became quite accom-
in 1993), in part signal later concerns with activism, image plished, but I never really developed it because who is going
production, and human rights. A central element in Weiwei’s look at this kind of life? But at that time, you kind of think back,
concerns is his use of the internet, specifically in his efforts to it has some meaning in my life because, you know, in agricul-
hold the Chinese authorities accountable for events surround- ture sometimes you have to plant the seeds before the winter
ing the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. The interview also cov- comes, and then it goes through the whole winter, then next
ered the artist’s more recent works regarding his subsequent spring it comes out and even if it’s not necessarily that, it has
imprisonment and constant harassment. The artist talks frankly to go through that kind of time, before I look back positively.
about the extent to which shame played a part in his motiva-
Anthony Downey: You were in New York for about twelve
tions here, both his efforts to shame the government, but also
years and there are 10,000 photographs taken during that
their attempts to shame him and, during the Chinese Cultural
time apparently. You returned to Beijing in 1993 - your father
Revolution, his father before him.
was ill - but then you developed those photographs. Looking

Ai Weiwei
Anthony Downey: Your show at FOMU is very much based back now, even though it’s quite some time ago, what was the
on photography and I wanted to take you back to New York in impression you had when you developed those photographs?
the 1980s. You lived in New York from 1981 until 1993, and the Some of the subject-matter of those photographs to a certain
80s in NY were an extraordinary time. It was a time of great po- extent pre-empts subjects that have become quite important
tential - a time of great possibility. You took apparently 10,000 for you.
photographs, none of which were developed until 1993 when
Ai Weiwei: Life is magical in a way, so it’s better to take
you returned to Beijing. I would like to talk about two things
some photos… and it’ll sound very silly why you should take
to begin with: what it was like in New York at that time, as it
photos of your real life that is just a copy of life. But then very
seemed to be an important period for you, and also what it was
often we don’t really understand our own life. It improves - and
like to be taking photographs on such a regular basis?
I hate to look at the photos - but twenty years later people think
Ai Weiwei: The ‘80s were a moment for possibility, but for oh my God, those are traces of what you did at that time which
me it was a non-possibility in New York. For someone coming do reflect what you are doing today. Recently I had a show in

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

from a communist society without speaking any English, as we New York City called ‘Good Fences Make Good Neighbours’. The
were educated by Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolu- project under the Washington Square Arch generated a lot of
tion (1966-1976), and with no money, you have to make a living. discussion, as the neighbours were against it. The reason they
Of course, students were not allowed to work, and very soon were against it is because for the past ninety years they used
I decided I’d either have to quit school or it will be almost not the arch for their Christmas tree - and the project destroyed that
possible to keep school because I had to work. So, I dropped tradition. I really have sympathy for that, but is that a very sound
the school, and I became an illegal alien in the United States argument? I assume art can be a little bit more interesting than
because it’s just very difficult to not attend class, as the teach- a Christmas tree. Forgive me, I’m not in that tradition. So, with all
er feels you are not respecting them. This was the reason I the procedures and meetings, finally I got the chance to put the

The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey 29

piece or installation there. This turned out to become a very pop- simply be doubled - who will help him? It’s not possible. That
ular photograph, image, across social media. And I kind of found was a punishment, a physical punishment. I think in this kind
out about the arch in the 1980s. It’s only recently I realised that I of society - or almost any kind of society - I think they are deal-
had a lot of pictures of that Square and the arch. ing with people who are intelligent, intellectuals, as they can
never really give them a lesson by making an argument. So the
The time when we were demonstrating - just before the
punishment is always very physical, very harsh, and it makes it
gentrification of parks, back in the 80s and 90s, also in the low-
unbearable for you. At the time, I didn’t understand anything. I
er East Side parks, Tompkins Square Park, Washington Square
thought he is an enemy of the State and an enemy of the peo-
Park - there was a curfew at night-time. So I was demonstrat-
ple, and the sum of that was that I thought we were kind of a
ing with the local activists. And they were all kinds of people
bad root in a way. They often say that our blood has some kind
- people who were homeless, all kind of activists. And we
of problem and they call us the kind of children that should be
really tried to occupy the parks. But it turned out, in those early
re-educated. It means that you are originally bad and you need
photos, that I already had those images, which is impressive
education. That is why I hate education. As basically the idea
if you think about what happened in the next thirty years. So
of education is that you are not as good as you should be, so
somehow life can become a nightmare, and you really have to
you have to be educated. I never simply really agreed with that
go back to where you started.
idea. That’s why I never educated my son. I never thought that
Anthony Downey: Speaking of going back to where you I could be influenced by my father - I am deeply influenced by
started, in 1993 you return to Beijing and you develop the pho- my son, but I never thought I could be influenced by my father
tographs. You go back because your father is ill. I would like because he was, in their eyes, an enemy of the State. It’s such
to talk a little about your father, Ai Ching, who is a renowned a dangerous name to be called by in revolutionary China. But
modernist Chinese poet, as his experience with you has left he is my father, he was my father - I had no other place to go.
traces on what you do. You spent sixteen years with your fami- I had to stay with him, just keep a little bit of a distance. He
ly after your father was sent for re-education, effectively living would have never, never asked me to become an artist or a
in a camp, at first in Dongbei province, latterly in Xinjiang. In writer, because in his generation about half a million writers
interviews, you have already shared that your father never were punished, sent to labour camps. Even in China where
wanted you to become an artist, and he felt that becoming an they have almost one billion people, 500,000 intellectuals prob-
artist was very dangerous. But it seems that has empowered ably already includes everyone - even professors, or even in-
certain processes in your own work, and his influence seems telligent students in the schools, all could be called writers. So,
to be ever-present - increasingly present - in what you do. I grew up in that kind of life. So, I was hardly influenced by my
father, except that I helped him burn his books - as he had a lot
Ai Weiwei: Again, I’d say that life is like a nightmare.
of books of poetry. I helped him and we had to burn them. Also
When I grew up my father was somebody fifteen years or so
books about art. He studied in Paris in the 1930s - modern art
apart from me. I knew he was a poet, but I know better now
mostly. So, we had to burn the books, page by page, because
that he was also not allowed to be a poet. I will never under-
otherwise they will not burn. And if you want to burn a book,
stand why he was forbidden to write words [by the Chinese
you have to do it completely, make every page disappear. And
authorities]. So, the first twenty years I spent with him in a very
that’s basically the influence of my father. I know he loved all
remote camp in north-west China. The times were very diffi-
those books and he would tell me stories about his early times,
cult. We had to live underground underground and it was very
the time he spent with Neruda. He was influenced by Rimbaud
dark, no light and we dig out a house of sorts which may be
and de La Mare, Mayakovsky, Hikmet, the Turkish artist, and
twelve square metres or a little bit more. We had bushes above
Lorca, the Spanish poet… but we couldn’t really openly talk
us, and to live under that has some very interesting aspects,
about it, because all those things are anti-Revolutionary for the
because in the winter in the Gobi Desert winter could be as
Chinese Communist Party. It was a very harsh time. So now I
cold as under 40 degrees. And in summer can be above 30 to
really understand that I am completely and quite influenced by
40 degrees. So, it’s 70-80 degrees apart. But living underground
him because I deeply believe that all those people are sectari-
means in the summer it’s a little bit colder and in winter it’s not
ans - they hate art, they really hate poetry: they will not accept
as cold. That’s the condition, and he - he would clean the pub-
art to exist because art always reflects the kind of liberty of
lic toilet and our school-mates would run after him. Those little

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

something, and so the censorship is always there. Still today,
kids would just throw stones at him or curse him. Basically,
in China, censorship is strong. There are certain vocabularies
he was almost sixty years old and he never really had physical
you cannot use on the internet. You cannot even see a movie
work because he was always a poet. Even as a refugee, he
or watch TV only because the vocabulary can reflect another
was still a poet - he was always trying to find a job as editor
meaning. So, you can see how deeply dictators believed that
or a teacher. He never really worked physically. But for such
art can threaten their existence.
hard labour, to be taking care of cleaning the public toilet for
many years, he couldn’t even rest for one day for the simple Anthony Downey: You returned to Beijing, and I don’t want
reason that people don’t rest when they go to the toilet, so he to be too chronological but Beijing had obviously changed
couldn’t take off. If he rests for a day, the next day the job will dramatically since you had lived there. Deng Xiaoping was

The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey 31

 in power, the economic revival had happened, and so forth, underground police than tourists. So, the only thing I can do is started to make arguments on the internet and then put myself of interest from the tourist, and I realise I am a bored tourist
alongside the economic move from what was effectively a sin- take a few photos. Of course, you would never imagine those in the same path as my father - I would never imagine that - of life. But I also have to make a mark I am there, you know,
gle-market to a mixed market. When you returned to Beijing, photos ever could be published because I never considered but my father was put in jail for six years right after he went so I take that. I gave it a name later, much later. I’ve suddenly
how did you find it? Was it difficult? Because it seems that it myself as an artist anymore, because I had no chance in the back to China by the Nationalist party. He was only twenty-one been recognised as an artist many, many years later, so I call
also opened up a new period in your work where you felt more United States, and again I would have no chance in China. And at that time. And I thought that would not happen to me. But it a Study of Perspectives because that makes it a little bit
comfortable taking photographs - specifically photographs I started to publish some underground books, trying to do this later - I was wrong - I was also being put in jail, and then in scholarly, more acceptable. But it’s really very rude or rough,
such as June, 1994, 1994, which is again a pivotal work. It looks kind of editing curatorship, to ask people to print down what’s detention I was beaten and all those things repeated itself. or made up kind of careless images, created out of nonsense.
throw-away, it looks incidental, but it’s an extremely important happening among the artists, the kind of conceptual activities, So, photographs... This seems the easiest thing you can do I never believed that it was art but it becomes art anyway. I
photograph in the progression of your work. so as to leave some kind of evidence for the future. So, I pub- and it requires the private. It’s always related to some kind of know if you repeat many many times people will think that that
lished three books: White Book, Black Book and Grey Book, unexposed or exposed image that can stay in the dark and it could be art because otherwise why this guy keeps repeating
Ai Weiwei: To talk about 1993 I have to talk about 1981,
annually, and then later I curated an art show in the year 2000 doesn’t even have to be printed out. So, you can have this kind that. You can see the attitude of those images - they are not
before I left Beijing. On the way to the airport my mum was
called “Fuck Off” and forty or fifty artists participated. That’s of safe-box there. So it’s easy without doing anything or to ex- really very passive but rather a kind of bored images. A lot
really worried - this boy that doesn’t know a word of English
the short history of that time. hibit it, but then rather just take one clip and then that’s done. of them are out of focus, especially the ones taken with the
and has no money - has around $300 in the pocket. I told her
left-hand. Later images from digital cameras could be framed
“Don’t worry, you know I am going home now”. So, I tried to Anthony Downey: In that photo - June, 1994, 1994 - your Anthony Downey: It seems, though, at a certain point, that
better. And then later I wanted to really gradually become
make her laugh, but she couldn’t laugh. I said, “You know in then wife lifts her dress, and obviously it’s a wee bit scan- making photographs becomes more politicised - more overtly
active again in the art world, and two things happened. One is
ten years you will see another Picasso”. Now, you can see dalous, but the photograph is not titled after your then wife, political - and I want to shift here to works in Study of Perspec-
the internet and I got on the internet. A state-owned internet
how naïve I am. Of course, twelve years later I came back to it’s named after June and the June 4th incident in Tiananmen tive. Obviously you could suggest that there is a politics to that,
company called SASAC. They said we will have to open a blog
China, in 1993. I could never imagine I would go back to China. Square and directly references the fifth-year anniversary of giving the middle finger to cultural sites, including your own
because at that time I’d done a lot of interviews in fashion
In twelve years I never even had a moment that I thought I the massacre that happened there in 1989. But it also seems to studio. I note that one of the images has you giving the finger
magazines and so on. Be-
would like to go back to reference a lot more. Mao to Mr. Trump’s hotel casi-
cause I already practised
China. Of course, every- Tse-Tung’s tomb is in that nos in Atlantic City before
architecture for quite some
body was challenged as Square too. This is a site Mr Trump became as in-
time I’d become very well-
Deng Xiaoping opened where people would go - famous as he is today. But
known in the architecture
up markets, and China Chinese and Westerners then they start to become
world in mainland China.
modernised. But I never - to have their photograph more politically-driven,
Nobody knew - almost
had an illusion that China taken. This is also a site Weiwei, if I may say, and
nobody knew - I’m an artist
would change. I went back that has a history to it, a I’m thinking of Fairytale,
but they all knew I’m an
to China and a lot of roads very specific history to it. 2007, in particular, which
architect and I’m allowed
were fixed, a lot of build- It’s also one of the most was a mass exhibition
to talk about myself or de-
ings, and they looked quite heavily surveilled sites in staged in Kassel in 2007
sign or new life philosophy
modern. But some things China, if not the world. And as part of documenta 12,
or study. So, they said you
never changed. And that’s it seems to me that there’s and you photographed
can open a blog, you’re a
true until today. From 1993 quite a lot of playfulness every single one thousand
perfect person to do that.
till today another twenty in that image, which you and one people - Chinese
I said I never touched a
years has past. And it nev- use a lot in your photogra- people - whom you had
computer, I don’t know how
er really changed in many phy - a humorous, playful, planned to move from
to type. They said we’ll give
ways. It never trusted its own people. After sixty-eight years in parodic approach which doesn’t lack seriousness but enables China, the mainland, to Kassel as part of that show. Kassel is
you an assistant. They helped me set up my blog and I think
power they never let the people to vote, not even once, not in you to do things that perhaps you wouldn’t be able to get away also the home of the brothers Grimm who wrote fairy tales. I’m
they did something really wrong, horribly wrong, because I
any matter. They have a one-party system. The judicial system with otherwise. I am also thinking in 1995 of the photograph sure there’s a connection there? Could you talk a little bit about
immediately fall in love with the blog - I will not do anything
belongs to the party, the army belongs to the party, the media Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995, which was one of the first that movement in Fairytale and the Study of Perspective, 1995-
else, just keep writing, you know the daily average I would
all belong to the party: there is no single independent media. works of yours that I became aware of. And I’m just wondering 2011? Because things start to get a bit more edgy. I think you
write three blogs a day, and the next morning I would find that
Every word, every line has to be checked, you know? So, com- what level that playfulness plays in your work, specifically the start on a path which, at a certain point, it must have crossed
blog has been visited by maybe 200,000 people, which is not
ing back from the United States I was quite independent, liber- photography from that period? your mind that the Chinese government were going to hold you
such a big number in China but I was already very satisfied.
al and - as later my interrogators thought - I was “brainwashed to account, physically if not legally.
Ai Weiwei: I think there’s some kind of playfulness or I thought, hmm, it’s better than having a newspaper. So, I be-
through Hollywood movies”. This was the sentence they used.
humour. Or mostly you find a moment of contradiction and you Ai Weiwei: Well I think you know my life better than my- came extremely popular which encouraged me to create my
And it’s very hard for me to find my home. It’s not my home. I

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

cannot cope with the contradiction it generates. Some kind of self! I really have to follow your instruction. And, that is true: revolution… You can write on the blog every day. So I started
would never call China my home because those things never
interest - an argument in the photo itself or in the image itself. you can easily examine somebody from their traces. I think to experience that, and at that time China was still not very
changed. But it’s very funny, it is my home - my mum is there,
So, in China they are full of this kind of moment. China has a that’s the best way. From 2004, I was taking one photo of my alert or didn’t know how to react to this because China wanted
my dad is there, all my, you know, relatives are there. So, I be-
long history, but it also has a very brutal contemporary history left hand and I have a middle finger sticking out. The series to become a modern society - they wanted to have their own
came a stranger at my home. And I started to make a few pho-
and all those elements coexist at the same time and my life is called A Study of Perspectives. In the beginning it was to- internet and they also sense that’s very dangerous but still
tos, of people - to take those photos as evidence of my attitude
has been through the most harsh things that happened in the wards some kind of institutions or mostly institutions, which didn’t know how. Now they have a great Firewall which can
or my response to that time. And every June you know, June
twentieth century - communism, feudalism, and capitalism. All could be political institutions or symbolic monuments. It’s just shut off anybody at any second. It’s not a problem for China
4th or around that time, I would go to Tiananmen Square to do
happening in the same life and I’ve been exiled and escaped, like any tourist’s gaze. Anybody, any scenery, would reflect anymore. But I had about three or four years of totally wild life
some kind of protest, just to be there. This Square, after 1989,
then went back to but couldn’t find a self-identity or identity. I some kind attention or attract some kind of attention or a kind on the blog. I did write over 250,000 words. It could be the sum
after the army crushed the student’s movement, has more

32 The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey 33
 of work that many writers spend their lifetime writing. I gave to what’s happening in that moment. Could you talk a little bit
up architecture. I gave up art, basically. I did a lot of shows about the impact of that? Because that impact has definitely
but I never really paid attention to making those works. But by informed some of your more recent work, but equally the work
2007 a friend of mine introduced me to a documenta curator, to that comes out of that, and specifically of the earthquake pho-
say this is Ai Weiwei and he was an artist but his work may be tographs.
interesting. So they included me in documenta in 2007. I said
Ai Weiwei: The Sichuan earthquake happened in 2008,
right this is a chance to come forward because I never really
which is the year China would hold its own Olympics - an
see myself as an artist but this is documenta. So I told myself
Olympics that China made a great effort, for decades, to gain
I’m not going to do anything which is sculptural or painting but
more recognition through. I know they think it’s the best op-
I would just bring 1,001 Chinese people to Kassel and call it
portunity to establish a modern conversation between China
Fairytale, 2007. And so on the internet I could select those peo-
and the West and they want to try and even speak the same
ple easily and very efficiently, because in China it’s very hard
language, and they even invited a foreign architect to design
to even get a passport at that time. But I successfully made the
their main stadium. For China this is already almost impossible
applications and convinced the German ambassador to give a
act. Several buildings being designed by foreign architects.
hundred of them a visa. When you plan anything in China, it’s
One is Rem Koolhaas’ building for CCQA, which is the State-
very difficult. They would ask if you are working, your bank-
owned media group. Back home, it’s the Communist Party’s
ing account, and many people that I invited are farmers or a
hard-core propaganda machine. Now there is a stadium - a
minority from very poor areas. They never deposited a penny.
National Stadium that reflects national pride, and I happened
But the German ambassador, after I explained him about my
to be involved with one of the architects involved in the com-
work, he said I could give you the green light and everyone got
petition - Herzog and de Meuron, architects from Basel in
their visa. I became also quite well-known in China and then
Switzerland. They called me, and since they’ve never been
in Germany. China thinks “people can really fly to Germany”,
in China they know I love architecture and also understand
which is really a miracle. And you know today it’s not possible.
contemporary western culture, and so they invited me to be
You have to do everything very fancy at an early time because
part of the design team. I had to fly to Basel, where we made
later it’s not possible. I managed to do that, and in Germany, in
the schematic design in a very quick fashion. Then after that
that little town in Kassel, they never see two Chinese walking
design meeting Jacques Herzog told me “Weiwei we won
at the same time in their lifetime. When they saw 1,001 people
the competition”. I completely don’t understand why we won
it’s like a little earthquake that they are having. But also those
the competition. There’s another thirteen groups - they are all
1,000 people, almost nobody understands contemporary art.
invited from the West - but Jacques is very confident that we
They just take photos, take selfies, all those types of things. I
had made a conceptual design that no other company would
enjoyed that moment and it became a big event for documenta
do. And among these thirteen designers probably ten of them
that year. I feel sorry for the rest of the artists - 150 of them -
would come from the same kind of concept, but we stood out.
almost nobody mentioned them. They all talked about the 1,001
So I really thought let’s see, but as a result when it comes out,
Chinese.
yes, I realised we really made a big difference from the others
Anthony Downey: Kassel is a small town, for anybody and we won the competition. So that’s a year that China was
that’s not been there, and 1,001 Chinese suddenly arriving is really busy preparing for this celebration, but at the same time
definitely going to make a stir. Weiwei, I want to shoot forward right before the opening of the Olympics May 12th, as you
because you’ve talked about - in interviews that I’ve read, at mentioned, probably one of the biggest earthquakes that ever
least - how your incarceration changed everything. It made happened in contemporary times. Over 70,000 or 80,000 people
you what you are today. But arguably, if I may, it wasn’t your disappeared, mostly farmers, and in a very remote, poor area.
incarceration that started this shift but the event of 12 May But among them there were about 5,000 students. When some-
2008 - specifically the Sichuan earthquake where 70,000 thing like this happens I feel as if I have suddenly been stoned
people died. Of those 70,000, 5,000 were schoolchildren who - I am speechless. People would ask me, Weiwei you normally
were tragically caught in buildings that were inadequately would write two or three articles a day, why in the past week
and illegally built - the so-called ‘Tofu dregs’ buildings. These you didn’t write anything - what’s wrong with you? Because
buildings were not fit for purpose. They were the result of cor- people were really frustrated. But I became speechless be-
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

ruption. More than 5,000 school children died and a further 70 cause I simply realised I don’t have the vocabulary to talk
to 90,000 people died, while 4.8 million people were displaced about a situation like this. I am not equipped and I don’t have
and made homeless. You went to Sichuan in the immediate enough words. So I said I have to go to the place. I brought my
aftermath of that. I think Tan Zuoren had already started a assistant with me and with his camera we went to those ruins
Citizen’s Report Bureau by then, which you were aware of and did the research and did the interviews. Then we realised
and for which he was later given four years in prison. Could what had really happened. Then that was not enough. I kept
you talk a little bit about it, because I think - personally, if I asking questions- who are those children who lost their life?
may - that Sichuan changed everything for you? At that point And of course the State will never answer us. We made about
being an artist is not enough. It simply isn’t enough to respond 200 phone calls to state government officials, to every level,

34 The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey

 college departments, education departments, civil depart- - the idea of honour or the idea of shame. Basically, that’s it, job which is the most unthinkable job in any kind of labour be- Ai Weiwei: It’s very interesting when you talk about this
ments, just trying to find how many people are dead, how many my argument is related to that. I think that by digging out the cause they think it’s not enough to punish him physically but you calculated risk. Blackjack playing requires that you understand
students were dead. They said ‘It’s secret, you are not allowed facts you put this kind of authority on trial, on public trial, but have to shame him. So each day he would go to those latrines the game - that means you understand the potential loss, what
to ask for the numbers’. ‘Who are you, are you a spy from the that trial is only to morally question their legitimacy in being and it’s almost impossible to figure out how to clean those kind you can lose really. I mean whatever you’re doing can end in
West?’ ‘What are you really trying to do?’ Why do you have to in power - and I was quite naïve in doing so I think. That’s the of places, but after one or two hours struggle, he would make loss and you know you have to have something to play other-
ask us all these questions?’ I said okay, if you don’t answer me only way to expose the truth, and to make any argument we the room very clean, you know he would use his shovel, so he wise you are completely lost. As long as you do still have some
I will do a citizen investigation, I will send people to the local have to base it on certain truths, and if that truth can never would cut off all those corners very precise and go and put this stacks then you can get back, it’s not a problem, it’s a matter
area. I thought this is very simple so I used my social media be revealed the argument simply doesn’t exist. But later when dry sand on top of those, how do you call that dis…? of how you rationally analyse the cards. Whether the odds are
power to invite volunteers to take part in the investigation. they arrested me they also used that technique. They said, against you or can be, in theory, up for you, but you have to be
Anthony Downey: Disinfectant?
Over one hundred people answered in one day, so I selected they accused me of having two wives or that I had married very disciplined, you have to be very concentrated, extremely
them. I ask them the questions - Did they know how to deal twice - which was not true. They would say that I committed a Ai Weiwei: Yes. And, it’s very difficult because there’s no concentrated. We know if you are extremely concentrated
with the police? Did they know the local dialect? Are they eat- big crime. ‘You don’t pay your taxes’ they said, which is a very water and almost no toilet paper. People just use the grass or it really generates your potential of winning in every aspect
ing spicy food? Are you afraid to be alone in the darkness or ridiculous accusation, but still they try to use shame as tactics sometimes use cotton or a cigarette packet. in your life. You know most of the time our potentials are not
to walk on the street having no light? I tried to prepare those to destroy my reputation. They openly told me ‘Weiwei, is it being fully used because we don’t have enough concentration.
Anthony Downey: But never the Communist Party news-
young people who wanted to get involved. And so we selected considered a crime in the West if you don’t pay the tax?’ I said We lose concentration and that means the potential of you as
paper.
a few thousand people who I thought are okay to do this. I yes, it’s a very serious matter because it’s like you are stealing someone who plays or has the potential within the game is not
knew it’s going to be a problem. So, we gradually sent people property from the common pocket. But of course in China it’s Ai Weiwei: No, no, because you can’t use the newspaper fully being recognised. I’ll not talk about those games anymore
in but immediately we would get a report back that - after they different. I asked them ‘Do you believe that people will trust because every line mentions Chairman Mao’s name. To a de- because I already lost the magic, because I simply don’t need
find out some names - they were seized by the police. They you and believe your accusations against me?” And they said gree it is a very, very ironic, but you have to be most serious in to make money anymore… But in the real life, when I deal with
would confiscate all the equipment and delete the photos and ‘Weiwei, 90% of people will trust us’ and he is very honest in dealing with those issues. So my father made those toilets so extremely complicated political situations and the situation is
send them back. But we said if you send them back we will that. That’s the way it plays out if you control the media. You’re clean, his job made this look like a sculpture. He really did a very dangerous, if you concentrate on the cards you have in
send more. We always talked about it on my blog. Each day we the authority, your voice will be heard. Even that is manipu- good job and the people started to be very proud of this guy - your hand, you still can make the best out of it and that means
were putting the names that they found on the blog. So, after lated but still you can trick the 90% of people into believing in walking into his clean toilets, in those kind of very rough, very you really have some kind of possibility of revenge. I do not
those kind of struggles, our people were being arrested, some you. But of course not today, in my case they actually failed. rural areas, were more like walking to a church. But still the really argue about large principles, but rather deal with the
of them about thirty to forty times. But we finally had all 5,200 And they also realise that. next day will be a big mess again because there is no roof, if matters, such as surveillance. So, I said okay, you like surveil-
students’ names, their birthdays, their parents’ names, the it’s raining or it’s snowing, it’s part of nature, and it would be a lance if you have to put twenty-five survey cameras around my
Anthony Downey: I want to suggest something crucial
name of the school they belonged to and which class. So those mess again. So, day after day, I realised that nobody can de- compound - that means you really have a strong interest in me,
in why they did fail, and I do see shame as a key thing here.
were all published on my blog until the day the government stroy this guy because he is so proud of whatever he’s doing. so let me put a surveillance camera right above my bed or my
Shaming a government, literally shaming, rather than taking
felt this is unbearable and shut off all my blogs. That is really He has this kind of method of doing things. It’s just nobody can working table in my office, which they are shy to do, because
up a weapon or, you know, inciting revolt, shame is quite an
a very historical moment for me because since then I have penetrate him. Its only very later that I realised that and how they try and scare me. It is intimidating to say you are being
important thing, and how you use it is crucial. Perhaps one
disappeared from the Chinese internet, and nobody there can important it was for me. watched. So I said let me set up this. I set up a camera right
of the reasons why you were able not to give in to what must
type my name. If they type my name the words would come out above my bed, and I started to broadcast it online. After I think
have been extraordinary pressure, eighty-one days in jail un- Anthony Downey: That’s understandable. I want to move it
like sensitive words that are being used or illegal words - the two or three days, seventy hours or something, the State po-
der constant watch, is that perhaps - and you might disagree on from shame, but maybe we’ll return to it. I want to talk about
whole database disappeared online. lice called me, they begged me and said ‘Weiwei please shut
with me here - that what the Chinese government were trying calculated risk, the notion of calculated risk, because I think
down your camera!’ because over a million people are watch-
Anthony Downey: Because everything changes after that? to do with you, they had already tried with your father - that is, it’s played a big part in your life and I think it’s played a big
ing it. They start to grab the image which I’ve made picking my
In 2009, SandWeb closed you down and you effectively be- they tried to induce shame in him during the cultural revolution part in your work from 2009 onwards when you knew you’re
nose, or how the nude body moves in sleep, and I carried on
come a persona non grata in China. But something interesting and they were trying to do that to you too. There’s a wonderful being under surveillance, you knew you are being threatened.
this kind of thing because it’s really hard - even if you do noth-
happens in that process - specifically in relation to Sichuan story that I read from you some time ago. Despite the fact that You are placed under house arrest in 2010. In 2011, you are
ing very spectacular, it’s very shameful to see those images
- and I want to talk to you about something - the notion of your father was assigned the lowest job, cleaning the public in prison for 81 days. You are then accused of crimes against
on the internet. But they sincerely said ‘Please, shut it down!’.
shame. It seemed that the Chinese government attempted, in urinals, he nevertheless ‘took a poet’s pride in cleaning those the State. You’re accused of tax evasion, and your passport
I said ‘Is that an order or is that just trying to convince me?’.
their clampdown on the parents of those children, to shame urinals’. And I get that, to take a poet’s pride in something is is taken away. And yet you continue working. And this notion
They said ‘This is a State order,’ so I said okay. I thought you
them into not asking questions. But in effect your blog, the re- quite extraordinary actually because he did it relentlessly of calculated risk I think is quite important to your work, as a
wanted to really know me, I said. I always use their tactics to
lentless efforts made to list every single child, attempted, using and he did it right, which perhaps to a certain extent - and simple piece of research will reveal the following. Apart from
push it a little bit further, to make them feel that it is impossible
digital means, social media, to shame the Chinese government. you might again disagree with me - you didn’t feel shame, you being an internationally-known artist and indeed activist, you
to deal with this guy. And after they took my passport, I said
And shame in China means something very specific - the loss felt pride in his endeavour and attitude and were able, many were, and I don’t know if you still are, a very good blackjack
okay let me just put a bicycle in front of my door. Every day I
of face in and of itself is almost incomprehensible if you’re years later, to actually resist that shaming device which is a player which is very much involved in calculated risk. You

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

will put new fresh flowers into the basket of that bicycle and I
a member of the Communist Party, for example. Was it your key component in the People’s Republic of China, specifically would know what calculated risk is, literally, if you are accred-
take one photo and I put it on the internet. I repeat this exactly,
intention to shame them? Was shame part of the motivation to when it comes to dissidents. I don’t know whether you made ited as a blackjack player. Do you think to there is a notion of
almost to the same second - 9 o’clock in the morning - and af-
make them admit responsibility, and at the very least list and that connection - perhaps I’m over-interpreting it - but do you calculated risk to these projects? In photos of surveillance, for
ter 600 days they returned my passport. They said ‘Here’s your
acknowledge the children who had died? think there was a connection between what happened to your example, you are literally photographing the people who are
passport, please stop that!’ So, it’s just fun that art still can
father and what happened to you? surveilling you. That’s a calculated risk. The new project that
Ai Weiwei: You are the first person I spoke to that really use as a bargaining tool. It’s very strange, because the people
you’ve embarked upon, Human Flow, relating to the condition
gets that vocabulary of shame which is a very important word Ai Weiwei: Yes, I think you are very sensitive and very cor- in this kind of power they don’t really understand art, but they
of refugees, and the Iraqi Project, they all involve calculated
in China. Because we are living in a fatalist society, the whole rect on that matter. But I recognised it much, much later, when think that art is some kind of mystical activity. So, why is this
risks. Could you talk a little bit about this notion of risk in the
Confucian culture there is about the idea you are relating to I really consciously thought about it. My father worked in that guy, an artist, dancing Gangnam style with one million people
context of the work?

36 The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey 37
 watch him? Anything that becomes ridiculous. When I held my ourselves, or today’s life and our future, and what are we going
leg as if it was a gun [which started the so-called “leg gung” to leave to our children or generations to come? These are the From 27 October 2017 until 18 February
craze on the internet], and then somebody hold their leg as questions that I think everybody cannot afford not to ask.
a weapon to shoot, they realise this man can really generate
Anthony Downey: The mirror is also a key source of in-
2018, FOMU presented the first solo
some kind of revolution by doing ridiculous things… They think
that whatever they do, it’s not ridiculous. When I take selfies,
ducing shame in someone. Shame, I’m sure you well know, exhibition of Chinese visual artist and
is when people try to literally split you in two to make you
it’s just to show your existence, show you’re the being, you’ve
been there or you’re still doing those things. For me I think it’s
ashamed of something that you’ve done, to distance you from political activist Ai Weiwei in Belgium.
that act. Some people can cope with shame much better and
very powerful.
it seems the western world increasingly can deal with shame With his radical visual critique of
Anthony Downey: It also seems that we’ve embarked upon
a new period in your work, dare I say, that has always been
much better these days.
human rights violations, abuse of power,
Ai Weiwei: Yes, that would seem to be the case.□
present. We could go back and look at the Tompkins Square and the unchecked state control of
photographs. We could go back and look at the black man
holding the photograph - all those images from ‘84,’85, and the Chinese government in particular
’86. And looking at your new film, Human Flow, 2017, which
involved filming in twenty-three countries and forty refugee he’s one of the world’s most important
camps, to produce a panorama of what is today the largest
humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. More spe-
contemporary artists.
cifically it represents the condition of the refugee. It’s not a Designed by the artist himself, the
refugee crisis, and you’ve been very clear about this. To call
it a refugee crisis would suggest that the problem is with exhibition at FOMU presents a thought-
refugees. It’s a humanitarian crisis and it’s probably a crisis in
the West liberal democracy and how it deals with this human- provoking overview of Ai Weiwei’s
itarian disaster. So I just wanted to ask you a question that’s
perhaps ultimately unanswerable - Is being an artist enough
photographic work from the 1990s until
at this stage to address these issues? Because you’ve already today.
deftly and very cleverly managed to mix art and activism. But it
seems to me you’re almost fulfilling your father’s wish that you
didn’t become an artist, because you seem to be attempting to
reinvent what potentially art can do in relation to these cata-
clysmic events. So is being an artist enough for you today Ai
Weiwei or is there something else to come, is there something
else already happening?
Ai Weiwei: It sounds as if I have some kind of conspira-
cy, but I really don’t know that much about being an artist or
being an activist. I act the way I do by some kind of intuition
and some kind of curiosity. I think of those things, the signs of
life, and I talk about how we recognise our life and how we,
through our curiosity, discover ourselves and we find a new
possibility of being ourselves… I never really found out, until
now, and I’m still very confused… So I’m very happy that I got
involved, my sensitivity got me involved, to take action in this
so-called ‘refugee crisis’. I learnt so much through the past
year and a half. I made the film and it’s very much like you are
trying to hold up a mirror, or it could be a broken mirror, already
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

shattered, to what you see before you. But still, even a broken
mirror still reflects some kind of reality. Through that we still
recognise ourselves. That’s the purpose of the film - to have
something to reflect ourselves in. It’s not about the refugee,
about our humanity, about us - it’s really about how a society
functions and how we look humanity as one. Can we really
accept this situation exists? If we do accept that human dignity
or humanity is being crushed or being ignored, being totally
damaged like this, then who are we? How do we think about Ai Weiwei Exhibition Mirror, Fotomuseum Antwerpen (FOMU), 2017 © Guy Voet

38 The Politics of Shame - Ai Weiwei in conversation with Anthony Downey

Ai Weiwei Exhibition Mirror, Fotomuseum Antwerpen (FOMU), 2017 © Guy Voet
 Maja Ćirić vate and reproduce socialism in order to
preserve society, while ‘gentlemen’ are

‘Comrades’ &
driven by purely profit-oriented design
that can symbolise the ‘high-life’ and rep-
resent their achievement of high status.
If we want to understand how the so-

‘Gentlemen’ -
1
cial tissue is developing in post-socialist
conditions4 in the Balkans,5 we need to
examine how activism responds in un-
certain times of wild transition6 from a so-

Contemporary
cialist to a capitalist agenda in the realm
of culture. Here we will take Belgrade in
Serbia as an example. Although the Ser-
bian Ministry of Culture has proclaimed a
Strategy for the Development of Culture

Forms of
2017-2027,7 the fact that further commer-
cialisation of culture will continue to be
encouraged indicates a dynamic and
rather wild system in which private and

Activism in the
public capital and interests are blurred.
As part of the dynamics of complex sys-
tems, albeit representing opposing poles,
both ‘comrades’ and ‘gentlemen’ deal

Balkans
with uncertainty. To put gentlemen and
comrades in one sentence is to take ac-
count of mutual antagonisms. Uncertainty
presumes a lack of knowledge about how
to deal with the past, present and future8
(The case of Belgrade) and provokes conflicts and struggle.
Analysis shows two opposed and
opposing ways of being active in soci-
This cultural rather than class anal- of neoliberal capitalism. It is said that the
ety, in the sense that the only way that
ysis of the characteristics and positions renovation of the Kiosk owned by MoMA
comrades and gentlemen coexist is by
of activists comes full circle with K67, a was extremely expensive and that the
contradicting each other’s perspectives
kiosk designed by the Slovenian designer museum displayed the kiosk as an icon-
and values. While gentlemen were rigid-
Saša J. Mächtig and displayed at MO- ic symbol of the past without any critical
ly excluded in socialist times, comrades
MA’s 2018 exhibition Toward a Concrete reflection. Just like kiosks, free(lance)
are to a certain extent allowed within the
Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948- artists were previously supported by so-
neoliberal agenda as long as they do not
1980. cialism through artistic associations that
challenge it. While comrades were and
To understand this kiosk - a shape-shift- defended their rights, but in a neoliberal
are considered citizens, gentlemen cre-
ing system of modular fibreglass struc- context have had to reinvent themselves
ate consumers and are therefore respon-
tures - is to understand what it once - to become precarious cultural workers
sible for cultivating servants.
meant to be a ‘comrade’ in Yugoslavia, as or to redefine their function. Following
The term ‘activism’ initially emerged
well as to gain some insight into the sym- the model of other economic sectors, the
in the USA and the usage of the term
bolic value this term serves today. What Serbian government has progressively
there is slightly different to its use in the
was once a symbol of socialism and of the increased its financial support to private
Balkans. Activism in the USA is a collec-
right of every comrade to be active and to investors while the basic rights of cultur-

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

tive term for a variety of social practices,
indulge in socially integrative design that al workers are undermined.2 As the artist
from being active in one’s neighbour-
provided some metaphorical colour in and activist Danilo Prnjat notes, the over-
hood to lobbying for the representation
grey socialism has now become a sym- laps between governmental structures
of African Americans and LGBT com-
bol of a past depicted as having enjoyed and corporate speculators have generat-
munities in Congress. In the Balkans,
greater social justice before the newly ed a unique superstructure so powerful
by contrast, activism has at least two
revived class struggle. The kiosk start- that it is completely transforming the field
different branches and is manifested in
ed out as a functional entity distributed of work, including work in culture.3
Ai Weiwei Exhibition Mirror, Fotomuseum social work or in ’political work’ within
Antwerpen (FOMU), 2017 © Guy Voet throughout the whole of Yugoslavia but The kiosk is an ambivalent indicator
the confines of a party or trades union
has ended up as a rebranded by-product of the present. ‘Comrades’ try to reacti-

Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) 43
 (syndicate). All these forms are labelled men are entangled with current politics of vanity. This new conservativism is solidarity, equality and non-profit, was able. It is an attempt to create a new type one believes is in need of support and
as activism today and there is no priority and deal in the field of hypervisibility (me- generated and disseminated through the very quickly taken over by the police. of institution based on civic-public part- requires action.
in terms of which should be more import- dia exposure) and have access to infor- new gallery scene in Belgrade that gen- Same activists involved with the NKK So- nership, reusing urban space for commu- Belgrade Raw is a collective that is
ant than the other. In all the above cases, mation through governmental networks, tlemen are generating, consuming and cial Center continued their actions by ini- nity purposes. Magacin accommodates self-assembled around communal prac-
actions capable of transforming society the ideals of comrades belong to another participating in. They tend to be rivals to tiating a self-organized University of Sve- communities and is of great social and tices of making and sharing photography
should be labelled as activism. era. Comrades thus have to cope with a comrades only when competing to take tozar Marković. Amongst other things, cultural value for the city. in and about the public space via FLICKR
When it comes to activism in cura- lack of information and have to organize over existing and inherited institutions they attempted to rethink the ideas of What was initially a warehouse, a as a platform. The attribute ‘Raw’ stands
tion in the USA, which is a driving force themselves flexibly. Uncertainty among and their resources, including the media. Herbert Marcuse and Kornelius Kastoria- property of the city of Belgrade, is now for the collective idea to confront unem-
behind the articulation of artistic practic- comrades is manifested in their margin- Gentlemen participate in an inaccurate des. The drive behind this self-organized being run by various organizations, some bellished urban realities, following the
es, the emphasis is different than in the al and oppressed position in relation to and unjustifiable emotional economy that university was embedded in socialism: of which are very active within an um- principle of YIMBY (‘Yes, in my own back-
Balkans. In the USA, “curatorial activists authoritarian capitalism. Gentlemen’s conceals the current authoritarian cap- knowledge is not the privilege of elites brella body called the Independent Cul- yard’) as an attempt to initiate new polit-
[…] address sexism, racism, homo-/les- uncertainty is hidden in their shallow at- italist condition and even deprives it of and all people should have access to cer- tural Scene of Serbia. They have reno- ical realities and meanings at local level.
bo-phobia, and Western-centrism that titude and superficial ignorance, both of any critique capable of making up for the tain knowledge, experiences and skills vated the warehouse together with help This principle, defined as an expansion
is endemic in that world” in order to which are symptoms of problematic ways morality it lacks. The emotional economy that can voluntarily be shared. According from local participants and the support of of influences and risks, does not entail a
“counter the persistent under-represen- of acquiring (social) capital (in transition of comrades is based on a different kind to the organizers, instead of hierarchical a radical international grants body called complete decentralisation of communal
tation, silencing, and erasure of numer- from socialism to capitalism). The agen- of solidarity - one embedded in critical relations and pre-established authorities, FundAction, which consists of activists services but a network of thinking that
ous artists throughout the world.”9 In the da of gentlemen is the blossoming of a thinking. the self-organized University of Svetozar exploring how existing relations of do- uses economies of scale.13 It also entails
Balkans, however, curatorial activism transparent art market that leads back to Uncertain times of undefined or Marković, bearing the name of a famous nors and recipients can be improved. connections between all systems, art
has recently become divided between the autonomy of the art object and neo- wildly defined cultural politics also gen- socialist, cultivates equality, aspires to The Belgrade-based artistic duo and society in this case, and a necessity
comrades and gentlemen. While com- conservatism as a result of a dystopia of erate a strange combination of artists breaking down the barriers between Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić are critical to create a vibrating whole.
rades are more oriented in the articula- artistic imagination. The beliefs and aims and curators who oscillate between the teachers and learners - with the empha- of the use of the word ‘activism’ when it Their collective has gained a much
tion and transformation of newly estab- of gentlemen are connected to the neo- positions of comrade and gentleman. sis on dialogue and exchange of ideas. comes to labelling their practices, since larger impact as the years have pro-
lished class struggles and geopolitics, liberal agenda and lie in the possibility Not in the sense that gentlemen want This self-organized University is open for they consider the term to be an Ameri- gressed. They have managed to gather
gentlemen and their curators are bounc- of using culture to make profit or to gain to participate in comrades’ struggles all areas and contents, including many canisation of a syntagma that can have and mobilise people around the medium
ing back to the discourse of the fine arts additional symbolic capital, but rarely to but rather that they flirt with such posi- topics that are under-represented in the many different forms. Activism, for them, of photography in 13 cities of Serbia and
and commercialisation. More specifical- project a vision of a better future. They tions like chameleons in order to conceal mainstream media and the formal educa- should be a very precise political agen- to gather them under the label Serbia
ly, they are resorting to politically uncon- are not able to resolve theoretical stanc- their true intentions, one of which is the tional system. It is embedded in the inter- da communicated by the means of visual Raw.14 In this way they have managed to
scious and theoretically blind figuration es that have become visible in new mod- disempowerment of actual comrades. disciplinary approaches that aim to over- arts. Like comrades, in their practice they establish social horizontality by assem-
and abstraction. Co-habiting multiple els of community-building. Comrades’ Preoccupied with branding and posture, come rigid borders between humanities have tackled a vast array of issues from bling people from different generations,
temporalities at the same time, they are actions are embedded in critical thinking gentlemen ignore critical thinking, while and sciences. One of the key aims of the human rights violations and hatred while class, gender and educational status to
neither are progressive nor regressive. and based on social responsibility and the main concern of comrades is to cul- self-educational University is the devel- advocating values such as solidarity, produce both photography and commu-
The institutions and para-institutions accountability. tivate socially responsible substance. opment of critical consciousnesses and love and conviviality.11 They are in close nities. Expending from Belgrade Raw to
providing for action by means of art are Gentlemen’s exhibition openings are Gentlemen think that creativity can be opportunities to learn from other people’s connection with communities to which Serbia Raw, the production of photos
discussed here. Belief in a solid artworld lavish and highly instagrammable, while narrowed down to impromptu, commer- worlds, as well as how to connect theory they provide support with the means is getting closer to the places where
is what activates the processes for deal- all praises involved could be described cially-oriented policy-making detached and practice and ultimately become cre- they have. According to Rastko Močnik, it is consumed. Closeness established
ing with uncertainty: both institutional by the Latin expression similis simili from any theory. Context-insensitive and ators of social change. Collective self-or- theorist and activist, the artistic duo Rä- through FLICKR through files and likes,
and self-organized, para-institutional ini- gaudet (‘like rejoices in like’), as they ar- artificial policy-making will instead only ganized artistic practices have emerged dle & Jeremić have produced a specific mutual discussions and distributions
tiatives are driven by the need to resolve tificially create an unwarranted sense of produce a reversed effect out of a concern for community cohesion artistic transformation in their Workers’ have influenced not only this online com-
uncertain times. mutual achievement and belonging. They that cultivates leftist ideals within and Collective (Bor, 2013). What Močnik con- munity but have also shifted from the
are activated by a belief that acquiring Activating Para-Institutions through para-institutions. These artistic siders to be transformational is the taking platform, stimulating dynamics in provin-
Types of Uncertainty art can generate symbolic capital that and activist interventions are primarily of workers’ daily life situations and ele- cial cities.
gentlemen would otherwise lack. That Comrades are using old and aban- concerned with civic dialogue. ments (newspapers, public library) into Uniting and integrating a diverse
Comrades, being influenced by the is where their passion and aspiration for doned socialist infrastructures in the In order to avoid indirect oppression the realm of arts and revitalizing their public in the project, as a sign of urban
socialist ideological apparatus, are lo- culturepreneurship comes from. But it sense that they are creating self-orga- and exploitation by gentlemen’s brutal programmes, integrating the social tis- collective intelligence is founded in the
cally specific. They depend on state is important to note that no passion for nized and self-driven para-institutions. commercialisation, comrades self-orga- sue into artistic action. Their attempt to joint signature on their photographs.
money and on self-organized volunteer- culturepreneurship would ever be ben- One such example is the NKK Social Cen- nize themselves around notions such as find a transformative practice of art, in a Although rawness is based on impul-

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ing. Gentlemen, on the other hand, are in eficial if it weren’t for the entanglement tre. This para-institution was formed in a radical solidarity and volunteering. way to overcome history and represen- siveness, a joint signature implies that
an ambivalent situation: they have tight of gentlemen with state infrastructures former military hotel in Belgrade. Activ- Another example of a para-institution tation in favour of life and practice, has nobody is rejected or ‘dissident’ within
relations with governmental structures, which, in accordance with the pro- ists wanted to provide for an alternative is Magacin - a self-organized common continued ever since. the project.
but also with private interests connected claimed strategy for culture, provide for institution based on communal shared space that operates outside of the main- On the other hand, examining the In terms of collective authorship,
to global flows of capital.10 Gentlemen their support. Whereas comrades cre- beliefs and perspectives and whose pro- stream public or commercial sectors. shift from institution to a platform in con- Belgrade Raw shares some similarities
exploit the possibilities of wild, uncon- ate action diligently in addition to and in gramme was interdisciplinary and whose Magacin started off as an idea to provide temporary society reminds us that the with the self-organized Croatian perfor-
trolled transition in the realm of culture spite of art worldly pleasures, gentlemen discourse was embedded in critical a working space for the independent cul- word ‘institution’ has stayed true to its mance collective BADco, a “nameless
and make a profit from the blurring of adore exposure and are integrated in thinking. The building, initially occupied tural scene (druga scena) in Belgrade, Latin root in the sense that Instit- means association of authors”.15 All of the char-
public and private money. While gentle- the world artworld mainly for the sake by leftist activists to promote democracy, since there was no such resource avail- to give action, to instruct, to fix12 what acteristics of BADco - including rotated

44 Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) 45
 responsibilities, variables in wishes and ing new audiences (customers).17 leries. The director of the Drina Gallery ferent temporalities in Eastern Europe.21 Central and Eastern Europe, A Critical lQ8fMQAoaVQ.
concerns, transformed roles within the While comrades are searching for became a board member of the Belgrade Gentlemen are entrapped in pursuit of Anthology, eds. A Janevski, R. Marcoci, 13. The principle of saving on fixed invest-
work process, avoidance of established ways of integrating the past in the pres- Museum of Contemporary Art. Commer- profit and fame while comrades are K. Nouril, MoMA, Duke University Press, ments per unit of production when a larg-
New York, 2018, pp. 227-273. er quantity is produced instead of less.
competencies - can be found in Belgrade ent, the above-mentioned para-institu- cial galleries piggybacked on the October stuck preserving horizontal communities.
5. Nebojša Milikić prefers to avoid the 14. Bor, Novi Pazar, Valjevo, Pančevo,
Raw, with the sole difference that Bel- tions and activists do so with the goal of Art Salon by showing their artists in their Comrades do show a tendency to con- term ‘post-socialism’, considering it to be Novi Sad, Subotica, Vranje, Zrenjanin,
grade Raw is working in the field of vi- simultaneously transforming contempo- gallery spaces. Such conflicts of public ceptually transform society through art; an apolitical and possibly quasi-chrono- Požega, Niš, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Kn-
sual arts. raneity. As there is insufficient capacity and private interests are a direct threat however, almost none of them are acti- logical term that depoliticises and natu- jaževac.
Belgrade Raw is still co-dependent to activate people through revisionism to the Code of Ethics of the International vating attitudes towards notions such as ralises counter-revolutionary processes 15. Bojana Cvejić, ‘A Parallel Slalom from
on financial support from the govern- alone, there must be a transformative Council of Museums. However, just as in hypervisibility, algorithmic domination or that make the destruction and decay of BADco: In Search of a Poetics of Prob-
the socialist project a pure matter of time. lems in: Art and Theory of Post-1989 Cen-
ment. As a vital and dynamic collective element as a reference and as a contri- sport, the model of merging businesses progressive forms of collective intelli-
On the contrary, this “decay” is a matter tral and Eastern Europe, A Critical Anthol-
they are contributing to the programme bution to the present condition. and art is threatening to prevail, utterly gence. Such avoidance of innovation and of very intensive and complex political, ogy, eds. A Janevski, R. Marcoci, K. Nou-
of governmental institutions. However, The Yugoslav economy began its ignoring the significance of uncontrolla- contemporary narratives is again a sign economic, military, and propaganda ac- ril, MoMA, New York, 2018, pp. 261-272.
as a collective they have succeeded in fragmentation through the kiosks of the ble factors in both sports and the arts. of delay in the Balkans, preventing all tivities, focused, of course, on small in- 16. Nebojša Milikić, ‘Implantacije vs. im-
politically mobilising crowds by produc- 1980s. Whether because of entangle- sides involved in participating in current herent problems and the contradictions plementacije’ - I deo’, October 10, 2018:
ing unambivalent political meanings and ment with the ideological apparatus or No Radical Change: Delayed Devo- debates and creating a new culture with of various attempts to build socialism, http://dematerijalizacijaumetnosti.com/
alternative contexts (e.g. photography in governmental structures in the practic- tion Once Again (differently): post-post-humans involved. It seems that October, 22, 2018: http://dematerijalizaci- implantacije-vs-implementacije/.
jaumetnosti.com/implantacije-vs-imple- 17. ‘We Have Built Cities For You: Visual-
other cities or in the public space). es of both comrades and gentlemen, the both comrades and gentlemen are more
mentacije/ isation of the Research’ was produced
Another question that arises in the past is still very dominant in the sense The timeline and the dynamics with regressive than progressive. What are 6. While the uncontrolled transition may by the artistic collective Udruženje Kurs,
midst of uncertainty is that of which be- that fragmentation is ongoing. Today, al- which art from the Balkans is recognized, the political reasons and characteristics be ending, culture seems to be the last October 1, 2018. Available at: http://www.
liefs require actions and by whom? Both most all galleries still focus on their niche absorbed and preserved within Western of this new conservativism and what are bastion to undergo through this uncon- udruzenjekurs.org/en/aktivnosti/gra-
para-institutions and artists are driven by while depending heavily on government institutions of art should be taken into the repercussions for art? The very con- trollable process. dove-smo-vam-podigli-vizuelizacija-istra-
the idea of a more equal society, a bet- support. consideration. The kiosks mentioned at cept of utopia in Belgrade is regressive. 7. Strategiju razvoja kulture Republike zivanja/.
ter community, and the nurturing of al- Gentlemen are more driven by belief the beginning of this text had already Instead of fostering a future-oriented Srbije od 2017. do 2027, September 15, 18. Danilo Prnjat, ‘Labour is Working’,
2018, http://www.kultura.gov.rs/docs/do- Prostorni agens - 18. Bijenale umetno-
ternative critical thought. Whether their in the legalised art market and accord- been exhibited once at MoMA in 1970 as society and art, it promotes a new con-
kumenti/nacrt-strategije-razvoja-kulture- sti, Kulturni centar Pančeva i Galerija
means are para-institutional governing ingly have organized themselves in a sys- part of the opening of a show of recent servativism in the sense that neither gen- republike-srbije-od-2017--do-2027-/-na- savremene umetnosti, Pančevo, Serbia
or artistic action, comrades are aligned tem of new commercial galleries in Bel- acquisitions, albeit beyond the confines tlemen nor comrades are able to emanci- crt-strategije-razivoja-kulture-republike- 2018.
in the sense that they tend to use action grade. Many new galleries, art consul- of the institution on the sidewalk of 53rd pate themselves. srbije-od-2017--do-2027-.pdf 19. Ibidem.
to promote social justice. tancies and foundations, including U10, Street.20 It took more than 45 years for the At a time when the Serbian govern- 8. Warren E. Walker, Poul Harremoës, 20. David Huber, ‘The Story of the 1960s
The exhibition ‘We Have Built Cities Drina, November, and the Balkan Project, kiosk to get inside the museum itself. Giv- ment has made the digitalisation of Ser- Jan Rotmans, Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, Mass-Produced Modular Design That Ac-
Marjolein BA van Asselt, Peter Janssen, tually Went into Production’, ArchDaily.
for You: An Exhibition on the Contradic- have emerged in recent years and each en how long it took for a kiosk from the bian society one of its main goals, it is
and Martin P. Krayer von Krauss. ‘Defin- com. March 1, 2017, https://www.arch-
tions of Yugoslav Socialism’, curated by represents the new understated alliance relatively powerful state of Yugoslavia to crucial to learn from historical examples ing uncertainty: a conceptual basis for daily.com/806346/the-story-of-the-1960s-
Vida Knežević and Marko Miletić and between governmental structures and gain recognition, it must be asked how such as Nazism. Technological advance- uncertainty management in model-based mass-produced-modular-design-that-ac-
held at the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion in private interests.18 long it will take for all the numerous and ment without active critical thinking decision support’. Integrated assessment tually-went-into-production
Belgrade in 2018, is based on 12 months As has been pointed out by Danilo fragmented kiosks of contemporary Bal- can produce barbaric acts. Those who 4, no. 1 (2003): 5-17. 21. Explaining the deferred action of cre-
of research into the legacy of socialism. Prnjat, an important additional effect of kan art to gain recognition within West- are capable of emancipatory practice 9. Maura Reilly, ‘A Call to Arms: Strat- ation and delayed effect, Bojana Cvejić
According to Nebojša Milikić, an activist the new gallery system has occurred: ern structures and under what condi- by means of state-of-the art technology egies for Change’, in Maura Reilly and refers to ‘a completely different horizon
Lucy R. Lippard (eds) Curatorial Activism, of the temporality of production in East-
and cultural worker who has produced the logic of production has shifted from tions such recognition might occur. What will be able to move things forward. It is
Towards an Ethics of Curating, London, ern Europe [...] being outside of the […]
a theoretically embedded critique of non-instrumentalised free artists to emancipation will happen? While the ki- more likely that comrades, who are famil- Thames & Hudson, 2018: pp. 214-225. Western Art Markets for decades,’ in ‘A
this exhibition, the exhibition is a sign workers producing objects according to osk is not an activist work, it stands as a iar with transformative potential and art 10. Danilo Prnjat discusses new develop- Parallel Slalom from BADco: In Search of
that comrades today are diversified and a specific capitalist matrix, which is a re- symbol of socialist ideas, beliefs and val- based on critical thinking, will use digital ments in the visual arts in Serbia exten- a Poetics of Problems’ in: Art and Theory
narrowed down to a kiosk economy on sult of the direct intervention in the field ues and their consequent fragmentation. technology with more meaning and pur- sively, criticizing the fact that private cap- of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe,
a small scale. Milikić argues that com- of work by the new gallery system.19 In One cannot help but notice that Western pose than gentlemen who are not used ital has merged with governmental struc- A Critical Anthology, eds. A Janevski, R.
rades function as if they were serving that sense, gentlemen as gallery-own- institutions devoted to exhibiting activist to thinking in terms of transformation.□ tures promoting private interests. Danilo Marcoci, K. Nouril, MoMA, New York,
Prnjat, ‘Labour is Working’, Prostorni 2018, pp. 261-272.
from their own kiosk. In what Milikić met- ers, contrary to their apparent intentions, art from the Balkans do so with delayed
agens - 18. Bijenale umetnosti, Kulturni
aphorically describes as ‘the kiosk econ- prevent the freedom once celebrated by devotion. It seems that mainstream insti- References centar Pančeva i Galerija savremene
omy’, each kiosk selfishly cares only for free(lance) artists who were supported tutions only recognize activist potential 1. Both terms, ‘comrades’ and ‘gentle- umetnosti, Pančevo, Serbia 2018.

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

its own goods and customers, forgetting by the state. This will not only produce once it has been rendered impotent. men’, are used ironically. 11. Suzana Milevska, ‘What Comes After
that other kiosks even exist. This com- future art workers whose critical thinking On another level, both gentlemen and 2. Danilo Prnjat, Labour is Working, Pros- Racism?’ Psihogeografsko istraživanje
ment is an indicator of the divisions be- is discouraged but might also lead to pre- comrades share one thing in common: tornini agens - 18. Bijenale umetnosti, Kul- [Psychogeographical Research], Mu-
turni centar Pančeva i Galerija savremene seum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina
tween comrades and the characteristics carious conditions for art workers. they do not participate in new mean-
umetnosti, Pančevo, Serbia 2018. (MSUV), Novi Sad, 2009: 29-35.
of the ‘kiosk’ type of distribution of social- This gallery system also spreads its ings. Nor are they building new kinds of 12. Mike Pepi, ‘Heavy Machinery’, Jan-
3. Ibidem.
ist ideas in the present.16 Huge research influence through the old institutional communities. They distance themselves 4. Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Introduction uary 22, 2018, https://openspace.sfmo-
efforts were finally presented in an exhi- infrastructures. In 2018, the renowned from new actualities - a stance akin to to Maintaining the Social in Postsocial- ma.org/2018/01/heavy-machinery/?f-
bition that appeared as a narrowed down biennale of the Pančevo Cultural Centar what Bojana Cvejić rightly refers to as ism: Activist Practices and Forms of Col- bclid=IwAR2RT1LPgmAIcJcNu5po6y-
illustration of research without establish- served as a showroom for private gal- a ‘deferred action’ in relation to the dif- lectivity. In Art and Theory of Post-1989 i _ 4 U T- t S J J N u J G 6 t H p o - w z D K l N -

46 Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) Maja Ćirić: ‘Comrades’ & ‘Gentlemen’ - Contemporary Forms of Activism in the Balkans (The case of Belgrade) 47
 Bojan Ivanov (relatively) stable historical situation to contemporary history at a standstill. I one part?) unconditionally contest and (community) seeks to discern, expose
another. remember the first occurrences of the reject the legitimacy of any kind of in- and interpret the symptoms and indica-

On the Current
Therefore I do not see a real inter- word in certain shorthand abbreviations: stitutional intermediary structures (art tions of an epochal geocultural trauma
est, except perhaps in passing, in asking missile crisis, political crisis, oil crisis, academies, museums, galleries, critics, (society). In this respect, current thema-
questions about how (socially) commit- debt crisis... At first these were only in- corporate and state funding). They are tizations of the crisis in art, in creativity
ted art is being turned into artistic activ- cidents, occasional local disasters or de- usually recruited and migrate from the and in the cultural domain need to be ap-

Thematizations
ism. Rather, I am conditioned to seek the viations from the postwar developmental immeasurable, inert and depressing proached, in my view, within the complex
answer to this kind of question within a paradigm to which there was a most ap- mass of graduates trained in the appli- problematics of the relationship between
certain (consistent?!) knowledge about propriate solution that - subsequently - is cation of useless and unusable formative modernity and modernization.
when the crisis takes place, when the art rightfully to be demanded and (of course!) techniques and procedures. This vast However, the relationship I would like

of Crisis in
is made, when the resistance occurs, or developed. From the mid-1970s onwards, throng of art outcasts struggle for bare to outline here is already a commonplace
when the culture emerges. Hence, ac- however political philosophy and social subsistence, locked in the precarious in itself, or more precisely, is already the-
cess to knowledge on spatial relations in theory were already entertaining with embrace of film, television, print and dig- matized as a crisis of the modern project.
social time - of the time confined by his- confidence the notion of a crisis of the ital network media, fulfilling the new pro- In order to circumvent the essentialism
tory as a discipline and literary form - will historical system (endless accumulation) duction tasks of visual culture (market- of thematizing thematizations, I will offer

the Social
be opened through few brief reconsider- - that is to say a crisis of its economic ing, animation, graphic design... editing). a structural analogy which, without ex-
ations of the meanings of the words used rationality (the exploitation of labour and In such an environment artists without planation, will hint at possible mediations
in the title of my immediate topic. nature). In response, as the decade was art are born, grow and come of age. between modernity as hegemony and
nearing its end, social activism turned in Recounted in this way, the crisis modernization as domination.

Superstructure
3. On the usage of language a completely contrary direction: by divid- in the social superstructure as seen So when is modernity a hegemony?
ing and reshaping the cultural, political, through the prism of contemporary art In a certain historical space (1848-
At the beginning stands what is cur- educational and, in general, creative su- may appear to be a worryingly well-or- 1968) the modern project is a placeholder
rent, or in other words that which - from perstructure, the system’s inertia denied dered place - a sort of clearly exposed, inside the ideological framework of the
the vague impression of simultaneity - is the necessity of and rejected the need harmonized pyramid of creative en- universal class, i,e, the real historical
rising to consciousness as a clear and for a new re-examination of its own eco- gagement: at its top is the anti-market subject (of social change). The desti-
1. The spectre of crisis a crisis in the social superstructure - or explicable correlation of successive nomic base. Today’s current and ongoing (career); one stair below is the market nation of modernity is a liberal Utopia
more precisely that all instances and in- events constituting the long moment of understanding of the situation continues (profession); while the nether region is - a place reached with concessions,
The determination to translate the stitutions of social life are in deep crisis: reality. In my view, and I believe in the ob- to seek solutions to the crisis, either by relegated to material life (calling, that reforms and gradual advancement of
usual sensory stimuli of our cultural en- culture, politics, education, science and servations particular to my generation as resisting or bypassing the social dynam- is to say, mission). And yet that mental the social superstructure and its institu-
vironment into some kind of collective technology, law, as well as all their re- a whole, there are really no doubts: the ics that are pushing and leading the his- image of the situation in contemporary tions. Excluded from this project are the
experience of the common assumes spective organizational forms - here and current - the very grasp of what is now torical system towards its own end. fine arts, with its newfangled (developed, revolutionary and reactionary - so-called
involvement with situations rendered everywhere. - occupies the space that is preserved in adopted, imposed?!) identity and status dangerous - classes. The contradictions
in that which is customary - or, more to memories of and absorbed in the experi- 4. Self-portrait in three colours of artists, is but a tell-tale sign of a deep of this geoculture are manifested and in-
the point, assumes involvement with the 2. The dialectic of the critical mind ence of the past fifty odd years. current crisis of representation. It has no tensified as its disputed (and contested)
narrative of the foundational common- On the other hand, the partial the- Contemporary fine arts, as well as bearing on the interpretation of the cur- expansion is played out. It is a process
places of contemporaneity and its inter- Before I present my own consider- matization of the endless life-world rep- current culture as a whole, are both the rent mistrust of the indecisive historical that monitors, creates and encourages
pretations. The basic conceptual, meth- ations on the nature of current thematiza- resents the culmination of a long-stand- object and expression of a half-century finality of the world of cultural, political or the dynamics of its own economic base,
odological and relational framework of tions regarding the crisis in the social su- ing tradition of affirmative thinking that long transition of the social superstruc- legal institutions - of uncertain (artistic!) that is, of violent modernization as the
these commonplaces is imposed by the perstructure, it is necessary to elucidate transforms words into objects and rela- ture into an extension of the impaired language as the only intermediary be- driving force of the expansion of the his-
procedure of thematization - a procedure the origins of my own preferences, hab- tionships of a new material world. In oth- and neglected economic rationality. In tween reality and autonomous, rational torical system (endless accumulation).
which, over these past fifty-odd years, its and expectations. Here I am referring er words, thematization is an evidential this upturned reality, a (ridiculously!) individuality. Then, when is modernization domi-
has been the way of making sense of above all to cultural criticism as a deci- procedure - an empirical record of the small number of artists, authors and cul- Above I have outlined the principal nation?
essentials such as contemporaneity sive, formative heritage in my approach to autonomy of a topic which (in some ?!) tural activists trade with the legitimation commonplaces in the current thematiza- The lack of authority of the geocul-
without modernity, the life-world without professional - and many other - challeng- decisive way, either mediates the truth of state quasi-monopolies, either directly tion of the crisis in the social superstruc- ture and distrust in its mechanisms for
history, nowness without future. es in life. Thematizations of the crisis in the about the situations or, in a recursive (through participation in competitions) or ture: the crisis of legitimacy, the crisis of securing legitimacy, legitimation and me-
Naturally, the very sequence of met- social superstructure, therefore, are for process, adapts and draws reality clos- indirectly (through acquisitions, residen- legitimation, and the crisis of the subject diation suggest that the historical subject
aphors and proverbial forms that stand me just part of the problematics of a his-

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THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

er to the image created in the reified cies, programmes and projects). Next, in collective linguistic practice. of (social) change is either no longer in
for the incitations, experiences and sit- torical process to which I myself can bear thoughts. Actually, the representation there is a significantly larger group of its place or that does not exist at all. The
uations that mediate the reception and witness-primarily in the domain of artistic of the current is concurrently the origin artists acting beyond the myth of the free 5. Modernity and modernization empty space and vague role of the social
perception of the contemporary moment creation and criticism. I shall clarify once and product of the thematizations of that market - artists who are mainly engaged superstructure is consequently replaced
is already indicative of the space oc- more: it is to do with a historical process which is real but not true. in the construction of parallel, alternative Interest in public consensus is the by modernization, which by itself has no
cupied by the principal (one and only) of a certain (sufficiently wide) time span And here, at last, enters crisis in the networks of institutions (informal groups, motive and starting point of cultural social goals.
subject of these current thematizations. wherein events and characters of the past form of the problematics delineated by civic associations and co-operatives, criticism. This means that the critical Finally, when is (will there be) art?
Namely, it is to do with a certain uni- are becoming irrelevant and unrecogniz- the operations of thematic restructur- small private and personal initiatives). approach taken to the commonplaces I have already attempted to answer
versally shared sentiment that there is able in a whirlwind of transitions from one ing and interpreting of the essences of This group also includes artists who (in of this or that particular cultural entity this question. Therefore, I will not restate

48 Bojan Ivanov: On the Current Thematizations of Crisis in the Social Superstructure Bojan Ivanov: On the Current Thematizations of Crisis in the Social Superstructure 49
 my position in its entirety. Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić the visual materials created for the exhi-
Being an art critic lacking knowl- bition in a solidarity action held in a park

Fragile
edge, my preference is for artists devoid in Belgrade where most of the migrants
of art. Who are those artists I am refer- were camped at that time.
ring to and what are they doing? For the 2016 October Salon exhibition
Well, in brief, these artists are my in Belgrade we made a large wall paint-

Presence, Time
people - the only people I am interested in ing with cardboard sculptures and take-
knowing better. Their interest, on the oth- away newspapers scattered across the
er hand, is either in attending to the pro- space. This work, which we called ‘Frag-
duction of a contemporary political space ile Presence’, is a visual interpretation

for Movement
or in bringing about cultural strategies for of the March of Hope that took place in
the production of social goals - or both. late summer 2015 when migrants set off
Come to think of it - political space, social on foot from a train station in Budapest
goals - may well be the only redeeming to the German border. That long journey
features of modernity at this time. More- was taken to escape the threat of being
over, those art-less artist may just now be detained in camps, and so ‘Fragile Pres-
Today, with the neoliberal trimming were formed to provide clothes, food and
the only ones holding the answers to the ence’ shows scenes of liberation from
of public institutions of art, artistic work other assistance. Many people helped
questions that lie ahead of us.□ the camps and a central composition with
has become an entrepreneurial activi- with assisting refugees to get shelter
people breaking through the walls of ‘For-
ty within a restrictive framework that is and medical help, or simply spent time
tress Europe’. This breakthrough depicts
References conditioned by the exploding art mar- together organizing joint activities like
1. ‘COLD WALL - A collective answer on the moment when a new collectivity is
ket, creative industries and the political cooking, sports, concerts, films and visits
fences and men’ was a collective exhibi- brought about that succeeds in overcom-
agendas of governments prescribing a to exhibitions, as well as making friends
tion by Ferenc Gróf, Vladan Jeremić, Rena ing obstacles in spite of its own fragility
certain canon of art. with people on the move. A network de-
Rädle and Volodymyr Kuznetsov, curated - the moment when the dynamic of human
by Róna Kopeczky at the Studio of Young The question of how to organize the veloped among local people, migrants
bodies breaks down the border regime of
Artists’ Gallery in Budapest in November (re)production, distribution and reception and activists from all over Europe along
the European Union. This movement of
2015. of art beyond the frameworks of the mar- the Balkan route.
2. ‘This is not a fence’, an artistic com- refugees creates its own time that tran-
ket and reactionary art institutions is cru- In autumn 2015, together with other
mentary by Vladan Jeremić and Rena scends local temporalities. Their struggle
cial to art practices that support eman- artist friends and a curator, we organized
Rädle, was displayed in the entrance hall becomes part of other struggles that like-
cipatory directions of change. From the an exhibition called ‘COLD WALL’ at the
of the Museum of Contemporary Art Me- wise seek to occupy, open up and trans-
telkova in Ljubljana from June 18-August viewpoint of artistic practice as a means Studio of Young Artists’ Gallery in Buda-
form space against the linear chronolo-
21 2016. of social transformation, this can only be pest.1 This exhibition focused on Hunga-
gies of restriction and oppression.
3. ‘COLD WALL / HLADNI ZID - A collec- done in coalition and cooperation with ry’s recent closure of its border to refu-
The reception of the people migrating
tive answer on fences and men’ was a others - with groups, organizations and gees travelling from Serbia. A second
collectively organized exhibition by Fer- on the March of Hope was made possi-
entities that want to bring forward eman- exhibition followed in Ljubljana at the
enc Gróf, Rena Rädle, Vladan Jeremić, ble by an extensive network of solidarity
cipatory change in society. Such artistic Museum of Contemporary Art Metelko-
Volodymyr Kuznetsov, Babi Badalov, the along the route and among the host com-
practice is not hermetic but in interaction va2 when Slovenia fenced off its border
škart collective and Róna Kopeczkyat at munities. In the years since that journey
the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vo- with the surroundings in which it is cre- in the same way as Hungary had done.
was taken, state-organized structures
jvodina, Novi Sad, in July 2016, with the ated, and its value is measurable insofar At the Museum of Contemporary Art in
have taken control of managing migration
participation of activists from the refugee as the work is recognized by others as a Novi Sad, artists and solidarity groups
and the issue is now brutally instrumen-
solidarity movement. relevant contribution to a certain cause, organized a third COLD WALL exhibition
4. Forum di Arte e Cultura Kontempora- talised in election campaigns by right-
i.e. as an articulation of a demand within in 2016.3 This was both extended and
nea (F.A.C.K.) is a mobile platform exper- wing politicians. Today, parties of the
the society. transformed by the participants of ‘NEW
imenting with self-organized programmes New Right have established themselves
In this essay we will describe our mUSEum F.A.C.K.’ as part of an experi-
at institutions of art and culture. http:// in parliaments throughout Europe, gain-
www.msuv.org/program/2016-08-01-fack- artistic practice in the context of the ment at the Novi Sad museum in how to
ing votes through xenophobic propagan-
msuv-eng.php refugee solidarity movement, including make use of a cultural institution.4 Within
da and the spread of fascist conspiracy
5. ‘Fragile Presence - Action Space’ was self-organized collective exhibitions, the frame of this event, the group called

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

part of the Guerrilla of Enlightenment ex- theories. In their countries of refuge, mi-
works commissioned by art institutions, for a ‘F.A.C.K. borders meeting’ to be held
hibition held in two phases in June-Au- grants are physically attacked by fascist
and protest actions. We will show how in support of migrants and against the
gust 2018 and in September-November vigilante groups. New Right governments
art can contribute to the visual language policy of closed borders. The group dis-
2018), commissioned by the <rotor> Cen- actively seek to criminalize organizations
ter for Contemporary Art in Graz, Austria, of a new collectivity and how art can cussed how to use the museum in ways
or individuals helping refugees through
and curated by Anton Lederer and Mar- become a means of empowerment and that might be useful for their struggle and
juridical means.
garethe Makovec. solidarity by creating time and space for activities, including networking, work
This is why, when we were invited in
collaboration and collective action. meetings, discussions, workshops, per-
June 2018 to develop a space for meet-
When large numbers of refugees ar- formances, projections, presentations
ings and workshops at the <rotor> Center
rived in Serbia in 2015, solidarity groups and assemblies. Later on, activists used

50 Bojan Ivanov: On the Current Thematizations of Crisis in the Social Superstructure Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić: Fragile Presence, Time for Movement 51
 Protest. Credits: Christian Punzen Gruber

Protest Action Graz. Credits: Rena Raedle

Oslobodjenje. credits: Thomas Raggam.
 for Contemporary Art5 in Graz, Austria, we shouting slogans like “Saving lives is not solidarity movement.
decided to create sculptures related to a crime!” and “Stop the causes of war!”. 4. Forum di Arte e Cultura Kontempora-
the struggle for solidarity as monuments Although we were relatively few in num- nea (F.A.C.K.) is a mobile platform exper-
imenting with self-organized programmes
of resistance and liberation. The space, ber, our artistic protest action made a
at institutions of art and culture. http://
called ‘Fragile Presence - Action Space’, clear and powerful statement. We hope www.msuv.org/program/2016-08-01-fack-
was designed as a space of solidarity we encouraged people in Graz to keep on msuv-eng.php
and empowerment in which people could protesting and publicly condemning in- 5. ‘Fragile Presence - Action Space’ was
gather to discuss and organize against human policies towards refugees, espe- part of the Guerrilla of Enlightenment ex-
the ongoing anti-humanist, anti-egalitari- cially at a time when right-wing ideology hibition held in two phases in June-Au-
gust 2018 and in September-November
an, anti-feminist and anti-democratic turn is becoming normalized in public opinion
2018), commissioned by the <rotor> Cen-
in our societies. The space can be trans- in Austria. ter for Contemporary Art in Graz, Austria,
formed by its users, as the sculptures can To conclude, we see our practice as and curated by Anton Lederer and Mar-
be disassembled to serve as chairs and having contributed to various interlinked garethe Makovec.
tables during meetings and other activi- fields of struggle. One of these is the
ties. field of artistic representation, where our
Several months later, as part of an work developed an iconography of refu-
exhibition in the framework of steirischer gee solidarity - a visual language that is
herbst at <rotor>, we created a series part of and meaningful to this movement.
of banners and posters with slogans in This leads to the field of the distribution of
the space in preparation for a protest art work and the participation of others in
action in the city. Banners and flags its creation and reception. Here we seek
have long been attributes of societal to make our art accessible and reproduc-
institutions and organizations, whether ible in non-white cube situations by us-
political, religious, social or economic. ing flags, banners, newspapers, printed
They symbolize the ideological and po- reproductions and usable objects, etc.
litical power of a group in a moment of Institutions do also have an import-
struggle. The images we created for the ant role to play in the distribution of art.
banners were our contribution to the Their function first needs to be reshaped,
iconography of a social movement that however, since institutions have largely
is forming a new collectivity. They rep- become disconnected from social and
resent stories, collective experiences, political life. In the meantime, producing
performances and knowledge that are politically clearly articulated works with-
meaningful for migrants and the refugee in art institutions can help open them up
solidarity movement. We say a ‘new col- for the causes of social movements.□
lectivity’ because this collective is not
being formed through identitarian con- References
cepts such as nation, culture, ethnicity, 1. ‘COLD WALL - A collective answer on
gender, and claims on individual rights. fences and men’ was a collective exhibi- above: Postavka. credits: Thomas Raggam.
Instead it overcomes the individualiza- tion by Ferenc Gróf, Vladan Jeremić, Rena below: Discussion action space. credits: Rotor.
tion and fragmentation of life and work- Rädle and Volodymyr Kuznetsov, curated
ing relations imposed by today’s methods by Róna Kopeczky at the Studio of Young
Artists’ Gallery in Budapest in November
of production and shows how new trans-
2015.
national alliances are formed through the 2. ‘This is not a fence’, an artistic com-
unjust distribution of work and wealth in mentary by Vladan Jeremić and Rena
the world. Rädle, was displayed in the entrance hall
On 24 September 2018 we organised of the Museum of Contemporary Art Me-
telkova in Ljubljana from June 18-August

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an hour-long action in front of the main

station in Graz together with <rotor> 21 2016.
3. ‘COLD WALL / HLADNI ZID - A collec-
and local artists and activists, protesting
tive answer on fences and men’ was a
against the criminalization of solidarity collectively organized exhibition by Fer-
with refugees. For this protest we tied enc Gróf, Rena Rädle, Vladan Jeremić,
together the banners and posters we’d Volodymyr Kuznetsov, Babi Badalov, the
prepared at the workshop and spread škart collective and Róna Kopeczkyat at
them across the whole square. A speech the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vo-
jvodina, Novi Sad, in July 2016, with the
was given and everybody joined in,
participation of activists from the refugee

54 Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić: Fragile Presence, Time for Movement Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić: Fragile Presence, Time for Movement 55
 MTL COLLECTIVE The past decade has witnessed an not the end point for contemporary de-
intensive politicization of the art system, colonization.

From
one that goes beyond the ubiquity of po- Today, in fact, there is no blueprint
litical themes in the work of high-profile for what decolonization looks like. It is a
artists, critics, and exhibitions. Rath- process that is necessarily context - and
er, this politicization has involved a place-specific. It requires a constant

Institutional
far-reaching crisis of legitimacy for ma- questioning of one’s own location in
jor cultural institutions among the pub- what Mignolo calls the “colonial matrix
lics they claim to serve, as well as the of power” - a matrix that is inherently
cultural workers upon whose labor they linked to heteropatriarchal rule, as Ma-

Critique to
depend. Museums, galleries, biennials, ria Lugones has insisted - whether that
nonprofits, universities, and public agen- be in places in the Gobal South that have
cies have been targeted with protests, undergone the uneven processes of for-
demands, and grievances concerning mal decolonization, post-imperial Euro-
the ways they are governed, the agents pean powers, or settler-colonial states

Institutional
who govern them, and the ends to which such as Israel, Canada, Australia, South
they are governed. Numerous initiatives Africa, and the United States.7 Thus, for
have subjected art institutions to public Banners unfurled at the Beaux-Arts Court of the Brooklyn Museum during action by Decolonize example, as we write this essay in New
scrutiny, highlighting their complicity in This Place, April 29, 2018. Photographs by Decolonize This Place and collaborators. York City, we acknowledge that we are

Liberation?
perpetuating, concealing, or neglecting living and working on occupied Lenape
in art history as institutional critique: that “epistemic disobedience,” an immanent
unjust and oppressive practices within land that was taken by force in the sev-
art is not autonomous from the economic practice of testing, questioning, and
and beyond the institution in question. enteenth century by the Dutch, a process
systems, ideological apparatuses, and learning, grounded in the work of move-
Frequently making creative use of the coinciding with the introduction of chat-

A Decolonial
institutional spaces within which it is ment-building.4
architectural spaces and brand identities tel slavery to Manhattan Island.8 Indeed,
produced, presented, and circulated. First, it is important to define “decol-
of such institutions, these activities have much of the politically engaged art that
Here we present a decolonial ap- onization” and its corollaries “decolo-
involved a variety of tactics, including pe- has risen to prominence in recent years
proach to these recent developments. nial,” “decolonize,” and “decoloniality.”
titions, pickets, strikes, boycotts, disrup- takes place on this same occupied ter-
As Eve Tuck and K. Wanye Yang have

Perspective on
This approach starts from a different
tions, occupations, shutdowns, callouts, ritory, even though the relation of such
place than the art-historical discourse noted, in recent years this terminology
hacks, and infiltrations. These initiatives practice to this ongoing history is typi-
of institutional critique, even while it may has taken on an inflated status in the
have used the visibility of institutional cally erased or taken for granted. Aman
sometimes resemble or intersect with it. arts and humanities, providing a radical
platforms to hold institutional actors ac- Sium, Chandni Desai, and Eric Ritskes
It resonates, for instance, with strands shell to familiar ideas and practices of

the Crises of
countable to their own stated commit- frame the stakes of decolonization in this
of that discourse that have highlighted multiculturalism that operate well with-
ments, and have often involved demands way: “The mental, spiritual and emotional
cultural institutions as “spaces of sub- in the comfort zone of established insti-
for new commitments altogether. toll that colonization still exacts is neither
jection” involved in the reproduction of tutions.5 However, the term brings with
Art institutions have thus been sub- fictive nor less important than the mate-
white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and it a set of histories and principles that

Contemporary
jected to a double movement. On the one rial; but without grounding land, water,
settler-colonialism, as embodied in the themselves resist being reduced to an
hand, their authority as gatekeepers and and air as central, decolonization is a
work of artists such as Renée Green, academic buzzword or intellectual trend.
sanctifiers of cultural value has been shell game. We cannot decolonize with-
James Luna, and Fred Wilson.2 It also Decolonization is not an appeal to liber-
significantly bypassed by cultural work- out recognizing the primacy of land and
finds affinities with direct-action groups al tolerance or feel-good diversity; it is
ers acting on their own accord without Indigenous sovereignty over that land.”9

Art*
from the late 1960s, such as the Black rather a combative process that has as
requiring institutional permission. On Indigenous land struggles are thus
Emergency Cultural Coalition and Black its horizon another way of being in this
the other hand, the prestige of the insti- essential to a decolonial sense of history,
Women Artists and Students for Black world, one more amenable to our collec-
tutions in question has proven valuable and the precondition for the difficult work
Liberation, that called for the radical tive existence. While combative, decolo-
for leveraging visibility, publicity, and of constructing decolonial solidarity. As
overhauling of white-dominated institu- nization is also creative. Working in the
pressure relative to political aims and Tuck and Yang write, “Settler colonialism
tions through measures of democrati- midst of the Algerian revolution, Frantz
movements that straddle the artistic and and its decolonization implicates and un-
zation, reparations, and redistribution.3 Fanon wrote, “Decolonization truly is

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

extra-artistic realms.1 Even as their au- settles everyone.”10 They continue:

However, as an analytic and a practice, the creation of new people... The ‘thing’
thority as guardians of artistic legitimacy The United States, as a settler colo-
decolonization is a distinct approach colonized becomes a person through the
decreases, such institutions find them- nial nation-state, also operates as an
to the crises of contemporary art, and very process of self-liberation.”6 While
selves subjected to increasing demands empire - utilizing external forms and
*This paper stems from several years of collective thinking, writing, art-making, and it extends far beyond the art field and thinkers such as Fanon remain a crucial
for accountability in light of - and often internal forms of colonization simulta-
organizing with many groups and individuals. We offer our thanks to the members of its associated institutions and forms of point of reference, the “classical” defi-
exceeding - their declared values and neous to the settler colonial project.
MTL+, Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Direct Action Front for Palestine, all the collaborat- knowledge. In the most general sense, nition of decolonization handed down
missions. This “infrastructural turn” by This means, and this is perplexing to
ing groups of Decolonize This Place, everyone at Artists Space, T. J. Demos, Jennifer decolonization guides our efforts to be- from twentieth-century national-liberation
artists and activists is informed, in part, some, that dispossessed people are
Gonzalez, and the editors of October, especially Hal Foster. come free through struggle - not as a movements, which centered on a “na-
by a classic principle of what is known brought onto seized Indigenous land
ready-made program, but as a form of tion-people” taking control of the state, is

56 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 57
 critique are part of an entirely different tion seeks to reorient the questions and
paradigm of being, acting, and knowing terms of our conversations about politics,
in the world.”14 knowledge, and art. If, as Mignolo sug-
Over the past decade, movements gests, modernity can be seen as deriving
that have shared these decolonial char- from coloniality, how does that change
acteristics, on varying scales and dura- our relation to and interaction with the
tions, include Idle No More in Canada exemplary modern institutions of the
(2012), Black Lives Matter and Movement museum and the academy?16 And how
for Black Lives (2014-), Rhodes Must Fall does that affect, inform, and challenge
and Tuitions Must Fall in South Africa at a structural level the entire complex of
(2015), No Dakota Access Pipeline at culture in which contemporary art is pro-
Standing Rock Reservation (2016), and duced, displayed, and experienced? In
the ongoing struggle in occupied Pales- turn, how does this transform our sense
tine against the Israeli settler-colonial of what is at stake in the proliferation
project. Decolonization as an analytic of activism targeting art institutions in
enables us to highlight intersections be- recent years, and indeed the entire tra-
tween such struggles without collapsing jectory of what is known as institutional
them. We see this when Angela Davis critique?
Julian Brave Noisecat speaks at a NYC Stands with Standing Rock rally at Washington Square suggests the need to see the black up-
Park, September 9, 2016. Photograph by Erik McGregor. risings in Ferguson against police terror Activism Targeting Art Institutions
alongside the intifadas of Palestinian
through other colonial projects. Oth- of state repression, the Zapatistas have
youth, when Steven Salaita notes the his- In general, the resurgence of activ-
er colonial projects include enslave- defended and sustained an autonomous
torical connections between settler-co- ism around artistic institutions in recent
ment... but also military recruitment, Indigenous territory that has become an
lonialism in the United States and Israel, years has aimed to alter their conduct
low-wage and high-wage labor re- inspiration and physical meeting place
when black and brown communities take in light of their own stated commitments
cruitment (such as agricultural work- for radical movements around the world.
up the language of decolonization while to civic engagement, cultural education,
ers and overseas-trained engineers), Decolonization is grounded in the
defending neighborhoods under siege and aesthetic enrichment beyond the
and displacement/migration (such as practice of living, encompassing both
by real-estate capital and its state fa- dictates of the market. However, these
the coerced immigration from na- daily acts of resistance, refusal, and
cilitators from the South Bronx to Boyle practices go well beyond Holland Cotter’s
tions torn by U.S. wars or devastated sabotage, on the one hand, and econ-
Heights in Los Angeles, or when move- call to “make museums moral again,”
by U.S. economic policy). In this set omies of love, care, and mutual aid on
ments against the criminalization, deten- that is, to restore a foundational set of
of settler colonial relations, colonial the other. In other words, the ethos of
tion, and deportation of Latinx, Muslim, liberal values, which have supposedly
subjects who are displaced by exter- decolonization is inseparable from pro-
and other immigrants proclaim: “No ban been distorted or lost, through improved
nal colonialism, as well as racialized cess and practice rather than an ultimate
on stolen land.”15 governance of institutions as they exist.17
and minoritized by internal colonial- outcome posited in advance. Mignolo
Several guiding principles have Unlike the professionalized paradigm of
ism, still occupy and settle stolen suggests that decolonial practices in-
emerged thus far in characterizing de- “social practice art” increasingly ad-
Indigenous land. Settlers are diverse, volve a “delinking” from the normative
colonization, which is always grounded opted as official policy by museums, city
not just of white European descent, political categories of modernity, reori- above: Global Ultra Luxury Faction and the Illuminator. Projection on the Guggenheim Museum,
in the specificity of place and process. agencies, and non-profit organizations,
and include people of color, even enting struggle away from the state as an April 15, 2016. Photograph by G.U.L.F.
First, it articulates a sense of the histor- these campaigns have been unafraid below: Liberate Tate. Hidden Figures. Performance, Tate Modern, September 7, 2014. Photo-
from other colonial contexts. This ultimate horizon (which is not to say that
ical present distinct from the unfinished to forcefully antagonize the institutions graph by Martin LeSanto Smith/Liberate Tate.
tightly wound set of conditions and they could or should ignore the force of
project of decolonization in the twenti- with which they are engaged, often de-
racialized, globalized relations expo- state power).12 The “decolonial option” should be beyond its current form. At its of its new branch on Abu Dhabi’s “Hap-
eth century focused on the nation-state. liberately creating publicity crises and
nentially complicates what is meant that emerges with this delinking from the best, it reimagines the nature of artistic piness Island.”20 The group has involved
Second, it is anchored in the centrality of decision dilemmas for institutional gov-
by decolonization, and by solidarity, state creates space for the sharing of production, spectatorship, and institu- networking through the social ecolo-
land, and Indigenous claims to that land, ernance.18
against settler-colonial forces.11 “colonial wounds” across borders and tionality itself, giving rise to some of the gies of the art system, researching the
unsettling the space and time of set- Such work is not limited to acts of
Tuck and Yang’s framing of US set- movements.13 As Nelson Maldonado-Tor- most striking analysis, imagery, and per- conditions of Abu Dhabi, and performing
tler-colonial societies while seeing the negation or censure. Rather, it involves
tler-colonial conditions is crucial for the res writes, “Decolonial movements tend formance in contemporary art over the through creative actions directly target-

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THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

process of colonization, in the Americas what Kuba Szreder calls “productive

approach to art institutions developed to approach ideas and change in a way past decade. ing the museum.21 The last has been the
at least, as intimately connected to the withdrawals” from business-as-usual in
by the group Decolonize This Place that does not isolate knowledge from Consider the Gulf Labor Campaign province of the Global Ultra Luxury Fac-
institution of slavery. Third, it generates the art system by actors who supply the
(discussed below). Another important action... For them, colonization and dehu- (GLC). Founded by artists including Walid tion (G.U.L.F.), an autonomous offshoot of
knowledge and creativity in the course labor and ideas that keep that system
point of reference is the Zapatista re- manization demand a holistic movement Raad, Hans Haacke, Rene Gabri, and GLC known in part for its iconic projec-
of practice, opening space for a “deco- running.19 While taking aim at specific
bellion since 1994 in Chiapas, Mexico, that involves reaching out to others, Ayreen Anastas, it has aimed to pres- tions on the facade of the flagship Frank
lonial option.” Fourth, it is intersectional, policies and practices of institutions,
widly recognized as the first revolution- communicating, and organizing. A new sure the Guggenheim to redress the op- Lloyd Wright structure, placing unau-
highlighting affinities and building ties such work often results in the tempo-
ary movement of the post-Cold War era kind of knowledge and critique are pro- pressive labor conditions of South Asian thorized propaganda on the walls of the
between apparently different struggles. rary re-functioning of the institution,
beyond the frame of the nation-state. duced as part of that process. That is, migrant workers at the construction site museum, and ultimately shutting it down
Consequently, the process of decoloniza- prefiguring what the institution could or
For nearly twenty-five years, in the face decolonial knowledge production and

58 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 59
 on May Day 2015 with a sit-in that drew impenetrable centers of self-validating
its visual language from the On Kawara authority.”33
exhibition on display at the time.22 Recent initiatives have also brought
Another example is Liberate Tate, attention to the use of culture as a tool
which after a five-year campaign suc- of “artwashing” by predatory real-estate
ceeded in pressuring the Tate museum developers and urban policymakers in
to end its sponsorship agreement with oil facilitating the gentrification of US cities.
giant British Petroleum.23 Over the course The most visible case is Boyle Heights
of the campaign, the group developed an in Los Angeles, where local groups from
extensive performative repertoire, often the Latinx neighborhood have adopted a
making art-historical citations. These combative stance toward art-world ac-
included reanimating Malevich’s Black tors, calling for a moratorium on new gal-
Square during a blockbuster exhibition leries and even for the community take-
of the artist’s work, transforming it into a over of already existing ones.34 In New
participatory mass icon held aloft in the York, the Chinatown Arts Brigade (CAB)
famous Turbine Hall as a cipher of both has taken similar aim at the conjunction
ecological apocalypse and revolution- of art and displacement; this came to a
ary potential. Allied with Liberate Tate head with a series of actions targeting an
in its call for a movement of “fossil-free exhibition by Omer Fast at James Cohan
culture” are groups such as the Natural gallery that involved the artist redesign-
History Museum (whose deadpan name, Chinatown Art Brigade protest outside the Omer Fast exhibition at the James Cohan gallery, ing the space in the guise of a dilapidated
logo, and pedagogical displays détourn October 27, 2017. Photograph by Elena Goukassian. local Chinese business - a smugly ironic
those of the official institution). Inspired commentary on the demographic shifts
at the presence of Trump advisor Larry months after the J20 speak-out, the
in part by the work of Haacke and Mark of the neighborhood that CAB and its al-
Fink on the board of MoMA, while Nan Whitney Biennial itself became a locus
Dion, the Natural History Museum tar- lies labeled “racist poverty porn.” At the
Goldin recently launched a campaign of conflict with the campaign launched
gets the worlds of science and museum same time, the use of art as a “weapon of
targeting the Sackler family, which made by Parker Bright and Black calling for
professionals, and has forced US cultur- mass displacement,” to use Shellyne Ro-
its fortune through expanding the deadly the destruction of Dana Schutz’s Open
al institutions to remove climate-denying driguez’s term, has come under fire in the
opioid industry across the US and whose Casket (2016) - a forceful invitation to the
donors like the Koch brothers and, most South Bronx, where developers and ce-
name appears on dozens of cultural in- artist and the institution alike to set an
recently, the Mercer family from their lebrities have attempted to draw on the
stitutions.29 example of how to redress enactments
boards.24 “gritty” history of hip-hop culture in their
Finally, dovetailing with the energies of white violence on the part of even
Other groups, such as W.A.G.E., Arts marketing of the area as a newly rezoned
of the post-inaugural Women’s March well-intentioned actors in the art world.32
and Labor, and the People’s Cultural Plan, ultra-luxury enclave.35
of 2017, the #metoo movement targeting Soon after the controversy at the Whit-
have over the past decade taken on the The diagnosis of artwashing has been
sexual assault and gendered inequality in ney, Indigenous communities in Minne-
precarious working conditions at the taken up by artists and activists working
the culture industries has ramified into the apolis successfully called for the decon-
heart of the art economy itself. They have to advance the Palestinian Boycott, Di-
art system as well. Far from a single-is- struction of Sam Durant’s Scaffold (2012)
scored important wins, such as the adop- above: Pamela Sneed addresses the J20 Anti-Fascist Speak-Out at the Whitney Museum, Janu- vestment, Sanction (BDS) movement into
sue campaign, #metoo has been a sys- at the Walker Art Center, a work original-
tion of W.A.G.E. compensation standards ary 20th, 2017. Photograph by Occupy Museums. the international art system as well. In
below: Nan Goldin leads the “Pain Sackler” action at the Metropolitan Museum, March 11, tem-wide indictment. It has utilized pop- ly intended to highlight traumatic settler
by an increasing number of institutions this context, artwashing means the use
2018. Photograph by Sandi Bachom. ular anti-sexist outrage against high-vis- violence that, from the vantage point of
and the unionization of art handlers at of art and culture by the state of Israel
ibility predators from Trump to Harvey protesters, ended up recommitting such
the Frieze Art Fair.25 Meanwhile, art stu- sulted in a wide range of responses, from social movements leading the way in the to bolster its international reputation as
Weinstein to Knight Landesman in order violence. Durant and museum director
dents have mobilized around their own the shuttering of galleries to the waiving fight against Trumpism.”27 a cosmopolitan and enlightened society
to amplify deep-rooted feminist calls to Olga Viso entered into a productive pro-
conditions of precarity. This includes the of admissions fees at museums to spe- Since the election of Trump, cam- even as it perpetuates violent policies
combat the patriarchal violence that per- cess of collaboration with those making
resignation of USC students in response cial programming addressing the crisis, paigns targeting the nexus of what An- of ethnic cleansing against the native
meates institutions and relationships of the demand that ultimately resulted in the
to the elimination of graduate teaching including the “Anti-Fascist speak out” drea Fraser calls “philanthropy and plu- Palestinian population dating back to
every kind, while at the same time facing burial of the work. Rather than an abhor-
stipends, as well as the Free Cooper organized by Occupy Museums in collab- tocracy” have developed, with the intent the foundation of the state in 1948. In
challenges to the default whiteness that rent act of censorship, the process of dis-

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Union campaign, which blasted the hith- oration with the education department of to “challenge the trusteeship of patrons Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency,
has long characterized mainstream femi- mantling and burying the work became a
erto unspoken politics of student debt in the Whitney Museum.26 As the organiz- who support art institutions financially and Cultural Production, Kareem Estefan,
nist culture in the United States.30 critical and creative process in its own
the art world into media visibility. ers of the strike put it in an anonymous while also supporting politicians who Laura Raicovich, and Carin Kuoni note
Immediately after the election, artists right, and would later lead Viso to pen an
Of course, the election of Donald statement, “Despite its contradictions, undermine the values on which those that boycott, in inviting participants to
such as Chitra Ganesh and Hannah Black influential New York Times article calling
Trump precipitated a wave of action in the art world has significant amounts of institutions depend.”28 This line of work withdraw from interacting with oppres-
pointed to the ways in which liberal shock for the “decolonization of art museums,”
and around the art system, beginning with capital - material, social, and cultural - at resulted in an early win with the res- sive regimes, is a matter not of negative
in the face of Trump’s white nationalism arguing, “If museums want to continue
the J20 Art Strike, a call for “collective its disposal. The time has come to imag- ignation of Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s restriction but of affirmative solidarity
often served to efface deep, foundation- to have a place, they must stop seeing
noncompliance” addressed to art insti- ine and to implement ways of redirecting treasury secretary, from the board of and creative opportunity.36 Of all the are-
al structures of white supremacy in the activists as antagonists. They must posi-
tutions for Inauguration Day. The call re- these resources in solidarity with broader LA MoCA. Other actions have taken aim nas of arts activism in recent years, BDS
art system and in the US at large.31 Two tion themselves as learning centers, not

60 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 61
 has proven to be among the most agonis- “institutional liberation.”38 what they see as two other positions. imenting, training and learning over time, le Laderman Ukeles’s feminist staging in terms of governance; accessibility; in-
tic given the power of the pro-Israeli lob- What could “institutional liberation” First, they call the building of new insti- as much as it is the pursuit of an imme- of the otherwise invisible maintenance equities of race, class, and gender; and
by in the US, and Raicovich’s explicit and mean? Would it mean liberating the insti- tutions “naive,” and they resist “overbur- diate and finite goal. This is especially labor sustaining the space of the gallery). the redistribution of art-world resources.
implicit gestures of solidarity with the tutions in which many of us work - and dening ourselves with the overwhelming the case in an arena as contradictory as By and large, this practice offered its Emerging from this ferment were smaller
movement likely played a role in her oust- if so, how, by whom, from what, and to task of inventing entirely new political that of contemporary art, situated as it is critique from within the institution under groups such as the Ad Hoc Women’s Art
er as director of the Queens Museum.37 what end? Would such a liberation itself and social forms.”41 Second, they posit along the fault line of the elite ultra-lux- scrutiny and was authorized by it. Committee and Black Women Students
These campaigns are diverse in their be somehow institutional or institutional- institutional liberation as a definitive sur- ury economy on the one hand and the At the same time, a cluster of self-or- and Artists for Black Art Liberation. Such
tactics, aesthetics, and political horizons, ized, or is it a liberation from institutions passing of institutional critique, a plural radical aspirations of artists, critics, and ganized groups beginning with the Art- groups, while making specific demands
but in each case we find a simultaneous as they exist in favor of a new practice and contested art-historical tradition that curators invested in the liberatory possi- Workers Coalition (AWC) and the Black on the institutions in question, also
decentering of institutional authority and of anti- or counter-institutionality? As they reduce to a circular ethos of “cri- bilities of art on the other. The depth of Emergency Cultural Coalition in 1969 be- overlapped with the broader political
intensification of accountability. What Samuel Weber once noted, “institu- tique for its own sake.”42 these contradictions was put in harrow- gan to frame the institution itself as the imaginaries of the time like those of the
are cultural institutions for? Whom do tion” shares an etymological root with It is true that the imaginative charge ing terms by Helen Molesworth in an arti- target of demands for democratization antiwar movement, black liberation, and
they serve? How are they funded? How “state,” “statue,” and “establishment.”39 of “institutional liberation” comes from cle published just weeks before her own
they are governed? What is to be done It implies the setting up, arranging, and its alteration of the familiar term “insti- firing from LA MoCA:
with them in the face of intensifying polit- consolidating of people and power in a tutional critique.” It intimates a transition The museum, the Western insti-
ical emergencies? Such questions have fixed place with an enduring temporali- from a familiar operation to a newly dy- tution I have dedicated my life to,
been especially resonant for those work- ty. Although it may begin with an active namic one, and certainly the principle of with its familiar humanist offerings
ing inside the targeted institutions. These event of positing, an institution typically liberation is an urgent one to reactivate of knowledge and patrimony in the
actors sometimes have the opportunity tends toward the reproduction of a rei- in the present moment.43 However, any name of empathy and education, is
to transform institutions in response to fied status quo through symbolic rites of such reactivation must grapple with the one of the greatest holdouts of the
or in collaboration with outside agitators. authority, divisions of labor, distributions legacies that the term brings with it, in- colonialist enterprise. Its fantasies of
They may partake in such campaigns of resources, and normative forms of cluding those of national liberation, black possession and edification grow more
with varying degrees of discretion and conduct.40 Liberation, on the other hand, liberation, and women’s liberation in the and more wearisome as the years go
visibility, protection and risk, tacit sup- implies the de-establishing of fixed ar- 1960s and beyond. These overlap with by... I confess that more days than not
port and overt engagement. In general, rangements of power. It suggests the the resurgent discourse of decoloniza- I find myself wondering whether the
the line between “outsiders” and “insid- unleashing of people and places from tion, especially in the case of Black Lives whole damn project of collecting, dis-
ers” in the art ecosystem is often blurred enduring structures and fixed boundaries Matter, which has insisted, according to playing, and interpreting culture might
or ambiguous; indeed, this line is a site that are unjust or oppressive. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, that black lib- just be unredeemable.45
of political organizing in its own right. Of It is precisely this tension between eration is the precondition of liberation
course, inequalities among those work- institution and liberation that makes “in- for everyone.44 Without such a perspec- What Was Institutional Critique?
ing in institutions are always potential stitutional liberation” worth interrogating tive, appeals to “liberation” are liable to
areas of antagonism as well, especially beyond the brisk manifesto published last result in the reproduction of settler futu- As an art-historical category, insti-
as the structures of patriarchy and white year by the group Not an Alternative call- rity, entrenching rather than unsettling tutional critique has often been broken
supremacy that continue to define the la- ing for “liberating institutions from cap- institutions that have been targeted for down into a sequence of generational
bor that sustains these institutions come italism.” The group writes, “The various action in recent years. “waves,” largely focused on institutions
under increasing scrutiny. projects we see combining into an emer- In what follows, we retrace a history in Europe and the United States after
All these projects amount to a his- gent movement for institutional liberation of institutional critique and consider the the events of 1968 (with important coun-
torical phenomenon larger than the sum do not value critique qua critique. They ways in which the overlapping trajec- terexamples including Latin American
of its parts. However, they have yet to turn the institution against itself, side tories of decolonization and liberation avant-gardes like Tucumán Arde).46 First,
receive a sustained art-historical treat- with its better nature, and force others can inform the stakes of this art-histori- artists such as Michael Asher and Hans
ment, even as they often display a great to take a side.” This “movement,” as Not cal concept and practice in the present. Haacke began to move from a strictly
deal of art-historical self-consciousness an Alternative calls it, sees “institutions More pointedly, we push at the limits of phenomenological concern with the em-
in their own right. What would constitute as forms to be seized and connected what has emerged over the past few bodied dynamics of perception, space,
an adequate critical language for these into a counterpower infrastructure. They years as a growing mainstream consen- and architecture within the art institution
phenomena in theoretical (rather than activate the power that is already there. sus that institutions must be variously toward a concern with the ideological
simply anecdotal) terms? Yates McK- More than a critique of institutions, insti- democratized, diversified, and improved structures and frames of the institution it-

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ee has described a general impulse to tutional liberation affirms the productive in light of their stated ideals. The current self. Such work developed techniques of
“strike art” over the past decade, one and creative dimension of collective crises of institutional authority can be laconic spatial alteration (Asher’s literal
that involves tactically moving between struggle. Our actions are not simply tumultuous and even traumatic, but they removal of the boundary between display
the world of social movements and the against. They are for: for emancipation, also provide opportunities for ongoing and commerce, Daniel Buren’s generic
infrastructures of the art system; Kuba equality, collectivity, and the commons.” radicalization when it comes to rethink- system of stripes), sociological mapping
Szreder, as we have already noted, em- Not an Alternative understands institu- ing what institutions are or could be, es- (Haacke’s data displays and visitor polls),
ploys the figure of “productive withdraw- tional liberation as the “commandeering” pecially as they might intersect with the ironic fiction (Marcel Broodthaers’s
al.” Another recent concept that aims to of institutions, and in the process they work of movement-building. The latter Département des aigles), and performa- Michele Wallace (center) and Faith Ringgold (right) at the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition
define the kinds of work outlined above is polemically define themselves against is always a matter of testing and exper- tive or process-based intervention (Mier- (BECC) protest at the Whitney Museum, New York, January 31, 1971. © Jan Van Raay.

62 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 63
 women’s liberation, and often involved The late 1980s also saw the emer- change of sex for money between the of institutional critique by critics Ger- were squatted or expropriated buildings atives of anti-capitalist movement-build-
the activation of antagonisms within the gence of the Guerrilla Girls, whose works artist and an anonymous collector under ald Raunig and Gene Ray in the late repurposed as communal kitchens, me- ing. And yet, within weeks of the initial
activist landscape as well in order to targeted the gendered and racial inequi- the post-Conceptual rubrics art-as-con- 2000s.58 Fueled in part by the energies dia labs, fabrication workshops, and or- occupation, certain strands within Occu-
challenge dynamics of patriarchy and ties of the art system. Revivifying avant- tract and performance-for-the-camera). of the alter-globalization protests of the ganizing hubs. Some spaces were under py, such as Occupy Museums and Arts
white supremacy therein.47 garde legacies of anonymous agitprop This strand of work was not uncritical, early 2000s, this era of critique involved continual siege by police, while others and Labor, had begun to turn their sights
The decade following the legitima- and confrontational collective perfor- but it was akin to the “cynical reason” a politically motivated exodus from the received legal recognition and even pub- back on the art world, now understood as
tion crisis of art institutions in the late mance, they enacted a politics of repre- that compounds, rather than dialectical- mainstream institutions of art to the field lic funding through progressive policies.61 an exemplary site of both 1% oligarchy
1960s saw the emergence of the alter- sentation that addressed the psychic and ly redeems, defeated models of critique of social movements. Raunig and Ray ar- Some linked into broader artistic ecosys- and precarious labor. Writing in response
native-spaces movement, with its own visual structures of patriarchy - including and resistance.56 However insightful gued that such a movement constituted tems, while others separated from them. to Occupy in late 2011, Fraser underwent
spectrum of structures, funding, and pro- in the discipline of art history itself.52 such work has been about the logics of a “transversal” engagement between ar- All in all, however, these spaces were a subtle shift in orientation in tandem
gramming.48 Influenced in many cases Embedded in ACT-UP as a direct-action affective labor and neoliberal entrepre- tistic and activist fields, as opposed to a instituent in the sense that they were with the analysis put forth by Occupy
by feminist critiques of the exclusionary movement, Gran Fury developed highly neurialism, collective political struggle in simplistic anti-art gesture. This involved founded and governed by their own par- Museums and other groups. She main-
nature of mainstream art institutions, as effective forms of agitprop during this the sense once associated with AWC or what Raunig called “instituent practic- ticipants over time with the explicit aim tained her skepticism toward extra-ar-
well as by AWC’s earlier call for artists to same period as well. Interwoven with the ACT-UP was off the agenda. es,” by which he intended a rethinking of building and sustaining radical social tistic claims being made by artists, but
be central to the governance of institu- development of postmodern art and the In a kind of coda to the hyper-reflex- of institutional critique in its entirety movements. Art has often been central to rather than a static deadlock, the imma-
tions, groundbreaking alternative spaces emergence of queer theory, the work of ivity of 2003’s Untitled, Fraser wrote a through the lens of Foucault’s late theses them, but the form of institutionality they nence of artists to the art system seemed
at this time included now-familiar organi- Gran Fury involved skillful collaboration major essay titled “From the Critique of on governmentality.59 For Foucault, the enact - their governance, divisions of la- to offer a political opportunity of the kind
zations such as Artists Space, White with sympathetic artistic institutions and Institutions to the Institution of Critique” critical questioning of the “arts of gov- bor, programming, audience, and overall she had obliquely noted in her 2005 text.
Columns, the Kitchen, and El Museo del platforms such as Dia, the Kitchen, and in 2005. “With each attempt to evade ernment” developed by the modern cap- raison d’être - is utterly different from “Any claim that we represent a progres-
Barrio. These new institutions afforded the New Museum for the purposes of the limits of institutional determination, italist state began with asserting a will that of a museum, a gallery, a university, sive social force while our activities are
unprecedented support for experimental, movement-building.53 to embrace an outside, to redefine art “not to be governed, in that way, for that, or even an alternative space of the kind directly subsidized by the engines of in-
ephemeral, and non-commodified prac- By the mid-1990s, ACT-UP had largely or reintegrate it into everyday life, to by them.”60 This attitude did not entail developed in the US in the 1970s. equality can only contribute to the justifi-
tices, including performance, video, and folded into the work of professional advo- reach ‘everyday’ people and work in the merely a reformist adjustment to the ex- Examples of such spaces have been cation of that inequality - the (not so) new
pedagogical projects informed by radical cacy, and there was a lull in social move- ‘real’ world,” she writes, “we expand our isting order or a complete exit from pow- less common in the United States than in legitimation function of art museums,”
political currents of all kinds.49 The alter- ments in the face of Clintonite neoliber- frame and bring more of the world into it. er into some kind of unmediated freedom. Europe. An exception is 16 Beaver, situat- Fraser now wrote. “The only ‘alternative’
native-space ecosystem overlapped in alism. At this point, institutional critique But we never escape it.”57 Fraser seemed For Foucault, critique is an activity that ed in one of the few surviving light-indus- today is to recognize our participation in
some cases with more overtly activist confronted two possible deadlocks. The to justify a practice that was concerned is bound up with new forms of conduct trial buildings in the Wall Street district that economy and confront it in a direct
social centers combining art, communi- first, identified by Miwon Kwon, was the only with the art system itself: “But just and exercises of power on the part of the of lower Manhattan. Though not a squat and immediate way in all of our institu-
ty organizing, and urban subcultures of potential domestication of critical ges- as art cannot exist outside the field of art, governed. These activities can involve - it was sustained through a rent-sharing tions.”63 Fraser’s call to recognize and
punk and hip-hop such as El Bohio and tures, such that the artist became less an we cannot exist outside the field of art, at the rearranging of power relations within agreement with several other organiza- confront set forth a challenge to artists,
ABC No Rio on the Lower East Side.50 unsettling provocateur than a traveling least not as artists, critics, curators, etc. an institution in such a way as to radical- tions - it was run as a movement com- critics, and curators who had long used
The next wave of institutional crtique professional service-provider, formula- And what we do outside the field, to the ly alter its mode of governing, but they mons, hosting a stream of artists, intel- “the market” as a foil for critique.64
was a subset of critical postmodernism ically enacting critique-for-hire at one extent that it remains outside, can have can also include the founding of new lectuals, and activists from around the Informed by the Occupy lexicon of the
in the 1980s, and involved a heightened place after another.54 The second risk no effect within it. So if there is no out- institutional forms altogether. Raunig is city and indeed the world over the course “1%,” Fraser’s call to combine an imma-
attention to the violent colonial and racial involved a turn away from matters of pro- side for us... it is because the institution interested in the tension between the of its life span from 2000 to 2015. Though nent critique of the art system with con-
histories underlying cultural institutions. active political concern toward a reflex- is inside of us, and we can’t get outside institution as the dynamic event of pos- many of its participants maintained con- frontational action echoed the then-devel-
This period witnessed James Luna’s Ar- ive tarrying with the ironic double-binds, of ourselves.” Yet her argument actual- iting new arrangements of forces and as nections to the institutional worlds of art oping Gulf Labor coalition. The group was
tifact Piece (wherein the artist “played entrepreneurial games, and insouciant ly pointed in two directions. Although it an established entity that consolidates and academia - often channeling these formed in 2010 in response to the Guggen-
dead” by lying prone in a display case at subcultures of the art system itself (of could be read as a cynical apologia for and reproduces those arrangements resource flows into the ever-precarious heim Abu Dhabi being built on Saadiyat
the San Diego Museum of Man), Coco the kind described in Lane Relyea’s Your the insular concern with art-world dy- over time. For Raunig, the “fourth wave” subsistence of the space itself - 16 Bea- (“Happiness”) Island off the coast of Abu
Fusco and Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s The Everyday Artworld).55 These included Art namics that her own work seemed to of institutional critique works within this ver was entirely autonomous from such Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Couple in the Cage (a mimetic exacerba- Club 2000’s performative mimicking of exemplify at the time, it also suggested, tension between dynamic action and the worlds. In the summer of 2011, 16 Beaver The Saadiyat cultural district includes a
tion of ethnographic display conventions “subversive” corporate branding culture, however obliquely, that any political en- setting up of enduring structures. Rau- became one incubator of the Occupy branch of the Louvre (which opened in
during the 500th anniversary of Colum- Christian-Phillip Muller’s embedding with gagement in the name of art or on the nig suggests that “instituent power” can Wall Street movement that launched just November 2017) as well as a Guggenheim
bus’s “discovery” of the Americas), and the Ringier advertising company in or- part of artists would need to grapple with keep in check the tendency of congealed outside its doorstep, forging a historic Abu Dhabi by Frank Gehry, the Sheikh
works by Fred Wilson, such as A Guard- der to supposedly “détourn” the design the historical and institutional entangle- structures to ossify or become oppres- intersection between the energies of the Zayed National Museum by Foster + Part-

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ed View and Mining the Museum, con- of its annual shareholders report, Carey ments of the art system. The latter insinu- sive, while at the same time helping to 2011 uprisings around the world and the ners, and a performing-arts center by
cerning the epidermal economies of race Young’s training herself in market-popu- ation would prove to be prescient for the accumulate and bind temporary energies networks of artists, activists, and intel- Zaha Hadid. South Asian workers building
in US museums.51 Coinciding with the rise list self-presentation techniques, Laura evolution of arts activism in the coming that would otherwise burn out. lectuals that 16 Beaver had cultivated in Saadiyat Island leave family, friends, and
of postcolonial theory in the humanities Cottingham’s Anita Pallenberg Story (a decade. Raunig’s analysis is more theoretical New York for more than a decade.62 loved ones for the promise of the “Gulf
and social sciences, these developments send-up of the “rock star” aura sur- However, it was the first of these than empirical, but his primary example Occupy was the most extreme ex- dream” in Abu Dhabi. They incur substan-
prompted curators, educators, and audi- rounding certain bad-boy artists in the readings - that institutional critique had is that of artists embedding themselves ample of an exodus from the art system tial debt in order to leave their home coun-
ences alike to rethink the very idea of the era of the dot-com bubble), and Andrea degenerated into a form of “discursive in the work of self-governed “social cen- in recent memory, giving rise to a set of try and obtain construction work that pays
museum itself, and they have continued Fraser’s Untitled (wherein her dealer self-limitation” - that provided the foil ters” in cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, instituent practices entirely indifferent to very little. While in the UAE, workers are
to ramify in the present. facilitated a twenty-thousand-dollar ex- for the theorization of a “fourth wave” and Athens during the 2000s. Often these the art world and motivated by the imper- generally housed in remote, segregated,

64 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 65
 and surveilled worker camps. They have fusal to address these labor conditions. the museum in order to force officials with the popular cartoon figure “Handa-
no rights to worker representation or any GLC tactics came to include periodic into dialogue. la,” a symbol of Palestinian resistance.
form of collective bargaining, and when email updates, publications, education- GLC and G.U.L.F. were transversal It also occupied the Israeli pavilion and
they organize strikes and slowdowns in al public programs, exhibitions (such as in a way unanticipated by Raunig in his held a conversation about the Boy-
response to poor living conditions or lack participation in the 56th Venice Biennale), account of the fourth wave of institution- cott, Divestment, Sanctions movement
of payment, the punishment leveled by research trips to the UAE and countries al critique. Raunig had conceived this against Israel. It was a connection that
employers is often harsh, including indis- where some of the workers originate, version primarily in terms of experimen- GLC was incapable of making because it
criminate imprisonment and/or deporta- and the tactic of 52 Weeks, which lever- tal, small-scale cultural spaces large- saw itself as a campaign specific to the
tion.65 aged art and creativity in the service of ly indifferent to the official art system. working conditions in Abu Dhabi; the lim-
The idea of the Gulf Labor Campaign the campaign. In this project, every week Though emerging out of the ferment of ited analytical framework of GLC did not
(GLC) emerged during a 2010 conference for fifty-two weeks, a different artist sub- 16 Beaver and Occupy, GLC and G.U.L.F. permit it to stand in explicit solidarity with
(Home Works Forum 5) hosted by Ashkal mitted work that spoke to labor issues were now activating the resources of Palestine.
Alwan, the Lebanese Association for in the building of the Guggenheim Abu the art system (the cultural capital and The tension surrounding G.U.L.F.’s
Plastic Arts, when, after direct dialogue Dhabi and more broadly to the relation media visibility of artists) to directly tar- insistence on BDS made clear that the
with the Guggenheim led nowhere, a of arts and labor; this was a way to exert get a major institution within that system. work of pressuring elite institutions was
boycott of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi was pressure on the Guggenheim and to build While pressuring the institution with not an end in itself for the group but a
launched at the Sharjah Biennale that solidarity beyond the boycott. The visibil- specific demands for accountability, GLC process of “collective liberation”: “We
same year. At the time, GLC demanded ity and impact of GLC ebbed and flowed also proposed a model of what political target the Guggenheim in New York be- Global Ultra Luxury Faction applies a stencil of “Handala” to the Gulf Labor Coalition installa-
tion at the Venice Biennale, 2015. Photograph by Hrag Vartanian.
that the Guggenheim ensure that mi- during its first four years, but in 2014 the organizing within the art system could cause it is a gateway into a larger strug-
grant-worker rights be protected during campaign entered a new phase of global look like. However, from the perspective gle... From acting we are learning a new gets of gentrification - demonstrating a out of the Real Estate Summit in 2015.”70
the construction of museums on Saadi- media coverage with a series of confron- of the direct-action group G.U.L.F., GLC way of thinking. Let each action be an major divide between the museum’s sup- In a seemingly unrelated develop-
yat Island. What began as an artist-orga- tational direct actions at the Guggenheim risked falling into the logic of a narrowly opportunity to test, to train in the prac- posed commitment to serving the people ment, a new exhibition titled This Place
nized and - led boycott, in which artists in New York by a new entity called Global single-issue campaign, given its lack of tice of freedom. Let us reimagine what of Brooklyn and its actual complicity with opened adjacent to Agitprop! It was de-
pledged to withhold their artwork from Ultra-Luxury Faction (G.U.L.F.). These in- success in connecting with other boy- art can be as a force of liberation and processes of racialized displacement. voted to the work of blue-chip art pho-
acquisition by the museum, evolved over cluded aggressively disrupting the brand cotts and struggles in the art world and solidarity across borders.”67 Learning News of the summit was met with pro- tographers such as Stephen Shore and
time in the face of the Guggenheim’s re- image and the day-to-day operation of beyond. G.U.L.F.’s set of concerns extend from the shortcomings of GLC, members tests by local groups from the Brooklyn Thomas Struth, who had been funded
far beyond conditions on Saadiyat Island. of G.U.L.F. met to evaluate the landscape Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN) in to photo- graph Israel and the occupied
In a manifesto titled “On Direct Action: of the art world shortly after Venice. In coalition with several artists in the Ag- West Bank.71 According to the curator,
An Address to Cultural Workers,” G.U.L.F. the fall of 2015, the group decided that itprop! exhibition, who issued demands the aim of the exhibition was to “chal-
states that the struggle around art-world decoloniality would be made an explicit that the summit be canceled and that the lenge viewers to go beyond polarizing
institutions such as the Guggenheim framework for articulating a shared pol- museum commit itself instead to holding narratives found in mainstream media”
should be understood in terms of a itics of liberation while maintaining the a People’s Summit on Gentrification in in favor of “a deeply humanistic and
broader complex of the “global ultra lux- specificities of each struggle. Brooklyn. Ignoring the first demand, the nuanced examination that reminds us
ury economy, underpinned by empire and museum proceeded with the Real Estate of the place of art, not as an illustration
white supremacy.” This expanded frame Decolonize This Place Summit; the second demand was chan- of conflict, but as a platform for raising
of analysis also means a shift in political neled into closed-door negotiations with questions.” Though not technically in vi-
horizons. Without overlooking the specif- Decolonize This Place became artists involved in Agitprop! that dragged olation of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanc-
ics of the labor campaign, G.U.L.F. argued known in the art world during its three- on into 2016 and bore little fruit. In the tions criteria, This Place was neverthe-
that struggles like Black Lives Matter and month residency at Artists Space in the meantime, a People’s Monument to An- less part and parcel of the artwashing of
that of Palestine required rethinking art fall of 2016.68 The group had its origins, ti-Displacement Organizing - produced the occupation, which is to say the pro-
and activism in newly radicalized terms: however, in an action targeting the by a collective of artists from within and motion of “Brand Israel” through artistic
“We do not imagine the workers as vic- Brooklyn Museum in the spring of that beyond the show itself including Occupy and cultural institutions.
tims to be saved, but rather as fellow year. Late in 2015, the museum was set to Museums, Chinatown Art Brigade, and In May 2016, a newly formed coa-
human beings whose freedom is bound open an exhibition titled Agitprop! that- Artists of Color Bloc - was installed in lition called Decolonial Cultural Front
up with our own. We have connected featured artists from the Russian Con- Agitprop! in collaboration with Crown emerged to draw a link between the two
with their struggle because our own structivists to Gran Fury, the Yes Men, Heights anti-displacement activist Alicia exhibitions: “How can the museum in

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dignity depends on it. Our liberation is and Occupy Museums - an indication of Boyd of Movement to Protect the People, one gallery claim to be presenting the
either collective or it is nonexistent.”66 the extent to which radical practices had highlighting the ongoing summit contro- vanguard of political art,” DCF wrote,
As a follow-up to this statement, G.U.L.F. come to be recognized by art institutions versy within the very space of the exhibi- “and in the very next gallery lend itself
used the platform of the Venice Biennale in the years following 2011.69 Before it tion itself. As Betty Yu and Noah Fischer to a spectacle of artwashing a people
to connect the struggle of migrant work- opened, it was discovered that the mu- wrote, “It is important to note that this out of existence?”72 The group staged a
ers in Abu Dhabi to that of Palestinians in seum would also be hosting the annual work is not the result of an invitation by two-pronged action targeting both This
occupied Palestine. In an unsanctioned Brooklyn Real Estate Summit, an event the Brooklyn Museum but rather came Place and the stalled negotiations sur-
action, G.U.L.F. altered the GLC banner unabashedly devoted to highlighting “un- out of a demand and negotiation between rounding Agitprop! More than a hundred
Global Ultra-Luxury Faction May Day action at the Guggenheim Museum, May 1, 2015. Photo-
graph by G.U.L.F. hanging in the Arsenale by marking it dercapitalized” neighborhoods as tar- the artists and the museum after the fall- people gathered in the This Place gallery,

66 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 67
 and an assembly was inaugurated by timacies into indelible, unretractable so- a celebration but as a retrospective re- the space. With the close collaboration
a collective acknowledgment that the cial marks so that the sequence of sites framing of that earlier movement in terms of the staff, Artists Space became a thor-
action was taking place on occupied that we inhabit in our life’s traversal does of both its promises and limitations, es- oughly different kind of place in terms of
Lenape land. Then a team of guides led not become genericized into an undif- pecially when seen against the horizon of its day-to-day operations, public profile,
an unauthorized counter-tour of the ex- ferentiated serialization, one place after decolonization (indeed, the first banner to mode of organization, and audience. Be-
hibition that culminated in the relabeling another.”77 Kwon’s imperatives of both be hung in the space read DE-OCCU- yond its vital tradition of subterranean
of Shore’s landscape photographs with “relational specificity” and “long-term PY). Over the course of its three-month support for activist groups, Artists Space
native Palestinian placenames in Ara- commitments” resonate deeply with the existence, the space mimicked that of was now transformed into a highly visi-
bic (the artist had originally used default sensibility of Decolonize This Place. Zuccotti Park, but now with political pa- ble round-the-clock movement hub. This
Israeli Hebrew names for the occupied What, then, did it mean to transpose rameters, an architectural container, and work comprised an intensive layering of
land featured in the images). Détourning “Decolonize this place” from the Brook- institutional support. The project was ap- meetings, performances, trainings, din-
the title of the exhibition itself with each lyn Museum to a very different institution proached not in terms of a critique of Art- ners, and agitprop parties. It also featured
relabeling, the tour guides mic-checked such as Artists Space, which was less a ists Space per se, but rather as a creative discursive panels that mixed together
to the crowd the phrase “Decolonize target of forceful antagonism than a site testing-out of its potential as a temporary high-profile academics such as Robin
this place... this place... this place.” As of sympathetic collaboration? In early movement-building infrastructure. It was D.G. Kelley, Mabel Wilson, and David Jo-
police arrived and shut down the gallery, 2016, the group received an official invi- mutually agreed that Decolonize This selit with an array of groups involved in
people flooded into the neighboring Ag- tation at the behest of Common Practice Place had full autonomy and that the the day-to-day work of the space such as
itprop! exhibition. There they repeated New York (CPNY).78 The initial invitation space would no longer visibly appear to El Salon, Mahina Movement, Insurgent
the incantation “Decolonize this place!” from Artists Space was to curate an ex- be Artists Space, except when the in- Poets Society, Chinatown Arts Brigade,
and issued two new demands in addition hibition that would last for three months. stitutional profile of Artists Space could Take Back the Bronx, New York Stands
to the call for a “People’s Summit”: that But the group opted instead for what amplify certain events and projects. Here with Standing Rock, and the United Mel-
the museum adhere to the BDS criteria it called a “movement commons.” The Decolonize This Place functioned as a anin Society. Flyers, pamphlets, posters,
and that all real-estate executives be re- principles of the project were derived model of what Fred Moten and Stefano and stickers were produced and dis-
moved from the board. The Agitprop! gal- from months of discussion with various Harney call an “undercommons,” a fugi- seminated by the thousands.80 Rather
lery was also shut down by police, and groups throughout the city to determine tive “liberation” of institutional resources than a discrete set of objects for dis-
demonstrators were forced out of the what kind of space could allow for de- and relationships otherwise locked away play, Decolonize This Place involved an
building, leading to an assembly held in colonial solidarity to emerge, one that in official modes of institutional gover- aesthetically dynamic reconfiguration
front of the museum.73 would actively work to facilitate the dis- nance.79 of the gallery environment, transforming
As a result of the action and ensuing mantling of patriarchy and the decenter- Resources were provided to con- it into an endlessly mutating montage
media pressure, the museum announced ing of whiteness in its internal working struct a kitchen and to offer stipends of large-scale banners pertaining to the
that it would collaborate with local orga- culture as well as its outward-facing and hono- raria for those sustaining the movements using the space. The site of
nizers to convene a People’s Summit on manifestations. The work began with ad- space, and a standing budget was creat- the gallery was thus both a constantly
Gentrification. It was a demonstration dressing the fact that Artists Space itself ed for organizing actions launched from updated archive and a real-time armory,
of how direct-action interventions can was located on both occupied Lenape
force the hand of otherwise negligent or land and a rapidly gentrifying frontier
unresponsive institutions by creating cri- on the edge of Chinatown. These foun-
ses for their brand image and disrupting dational points in turn informed the five
the normal functioning of their opera- strands of artistic and organizing work
tions.74 While the other demands were ig- that anchored the project in terms of its
nored by the museum, their significance activities and collaborating groups: In-
lay less in their being immediately met by digenous struggle, black liberation, free
the institution than in the new intersec- Palestine, de-gentrification, and global
tion of struggles facilitated by the action wage workers. Core collaborators in-
itself. above: Alicia Boyd and collaborators. A People’s Monument to Anti- Displacement Organizing. cluded NYC Stands with Standing Rock,
The call to “decolonize this place” 2016.Installation view of the Brooklyn Museum’s Agitprop! exhibi- tion, 2016. Photograph by Chinatown Arts Brigade, Insurgent Po-
originally uttered inside This Place went Occupy Museums. ets Society, NYC Students for Justice in
below: Decolonial Cultural Front. Relabeling of pho- tograph by Stephen Shore in the This Place

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far beyond a single exhibition about Isra- Palestine, Take Back the Bronx, Mahina
exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, 2016. Photograph by MTL+.
el. The deictic shifter “this place” func- Movement, and Justice for Akai Gurley.
tioned as a mobile, iterative structure Kwon cautioned against the figure of an critics to undertake the task of “demar- With the core principles, strands, and
across and between sites: Decolonize itinerant artist who indifferently moves cating the relational specificity that can collaborators established, the movement
this place, and this place, and this place.75 from “place to place” executing inter- hold in tension the distant poles of spatial space grew organically through further
The phrase thus enabled a form of map- ventions that ultimately have more to experiences. Only those cultural prac- connections and relationships after
ping, weaving together specific “sites of do with the brand of the artist than the tices that have this relational sensibility opening on September 17, 2016, the fifth
injustice” across the city.76 In her canon- places in question. Instead, drawing on can turn local encounters into long-term anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. The
ical analysis of site-specific art, Miwon Homi Bhabha, she challenged artists and commitments and transform passing in- choice of this date was intended not as Decolonize This Protest action at Artis, December 10, 2016. Photograph by Hrag Vartanian.

68 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 69
 with the banners often being pulled from at Artists Space, Decolonize This Place the authority, and the governance of the hand, and a cutting-edge, cosmopolitan
the walls for use in actions throughout has sustained itself as a movement for- art institution itself.”88 hub for multicultural Brooklyn on the
the city before being returned. Photo- mation, activating at particular political The call for the museum to partic- other. Indeed, as the coalition noted in
graphic and video documentation of junctures. One such action occurred in ipate in a decolonization commission its letter, the Brooklyn Museum seemed
such actions was recirculated not only the spring of 2018, when the Brooklyn echoed that issued to the American Mu- especially ripe for a deep transformation,
through social-media platforms with the Museum became the target of popular seum of Natural History. This move was given the evident presence of radical
hashtag #decolonizethisplace but also anger on account of its having hired a significant. Politically, it called the bluff tendencies already within the institution
into the space itself in the form of video white woman as a consulting curator of those who, in responding to the hiring as exemplified by the We Wanted a Rev-
loops and large-scale photographic mu- for the museum’s extensive African-art crisis, deferred to the idea that the art olution: Radica Black Women, 1965-1985
rals alongside earlier actions by groups collection.84 Much commentary on the field itself needs to be structurally exam- show held in summer 2017 and Radical
such as G.U.L.F. The centrality of banners controversy focused on issues of diver- ined and transformed rather than focus- Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 in
to the visual environment of the gallery sity, hiring, and academic expertise, with ing unfairly on individuals. Symbolically, spring 2018. Beyond diversity in terms of
underscored the importance of this form prominent figures in the study of African it short-circuited the apparent distance staff and programming, a decolonial per-
as an underappreciated artistic medium art history coming to the defense of the between two very different kinds of in- spective enables one to exacerbate the
with its own histories, one typically re- curator and the museum (and pointedly stitutions: an antiquated monument to a contradictions between such visionary
garded as instrumental agitprop when questioning why the museum’s hire of a white-nationalist president, on the one exhibitions and the actual governance of
considered at all.81 white man as a photography curator had
Several of the actions launched from not generated the same outrage).85
Artists Space indicate how an “institu- From the vantage of Decolonize This
ent” practice intersects with the four- Place, however, the stakes of the contro-
part trajectory of institutional critique versy went far deeper than any single
outlined above, and so offer one possible hire, opening onto a set of long-standing
model for what “institutional liberation” grievances concerning the role of the
could mean at present - including using museum in facilitating gentrification and
the resources of one institution to mobi- the colonial history of the non-Western
lize against another. The first of these ac- objects in the museum’s collection. In an
tions was the Anti-Columbus Day Tour of open letter to the museum, Decolonize
2016, which was repeated one year later. This Place and a coalition of nineteen
As outlined elsewhere in this issue,82 this other groups and organizations (ranging
ongoing campaign has presented the from the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification
American Museum of Natural History Network, Black Youth Project 100, and
with three demands: that the museum American Indian Community House to
publicly support the renaming of Colum- Occupy Museums and W.A.G.E.) argued
bus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day; that that the popular anger had “brought to
it agree to the removal of the monument light a major disconnect between the
to Theodore Roosevelt in front of the mu- governance of the museum and the
seum; and that it participate in the cre- communities of Brooklyn who the mu-
ation of a decolonization commission in seum is obliged to serve,” and called for
order to radically overhaul its curatorial the museum to participate in the forma-
and governance structures as other mu- tion of a decolonization commission to
seums have done. address deeply rooted structural injus-
above: : Artists Space, August 2016.
A second action launched by Decol- tices.86 When the museum finally issued
below: Artists Space, October 2016.
onize This Place targeted Artis, a non- a statement regarding the controversy,
Photograph by MTL+.
profit organization devoted to bringing it ignored the call for the decolonization
high-profile art-world figures on tours of tactic of the boycott. Trailed by dozens of tive. The action aimed to provoke a con- commission, circumscribing the discus-
the contemporary Israeli art world. First, police officers, the marchers held an as- flict within the art system between one sion to focus on the infallible credentials

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a letter was hand-delivered to Artis call- sembly in front of the Artis building, using avant-garde formation, launched with of the curator in question, though also
ing for it to adhere to BDS, given that the the Occupy-era Illuminator van to project the support of Artists Space, and another acknowledging the need for “diversi-
organization has eschewed any direct the slogan STOP ARTWASHING THE OC- organization, Artis, framed as standing ty in leadership.”87 The coalition in turn
government funding from Israel. When CUPATION onto the facade of the build- on the wrong side of history.83 replied that “the crisis currently envel-
no response was forthcoming, hundreds ing. While the prospect of Artis adopting Decolonize This Place has been en- oping the museum cannot be resolved
of people marched from Artists Space to BDS was unlikely, the action served to meshed with ongoing social movements, by a deliberation between arts experts,
Artis with their faces covered in the icon- highlight and legitimize the campaign in to which it is accountable, helping to fa- regardless of their background. The con-
Lorena Ambrosio of Decolonize This Place displays a poster by Kyle Goen/MTL+ during the
ic Palestinian keffiyeh, an unsettling sign the art system, now with the brand name cilitate their connections in an enduring troversy around the hire has now given Anti–Columbus Day Tour at the American Museum of Natural History, October 10, 2016. Courte-
of militancy coupled with the nonviolent of Artists Space figuring into the narra- manner. Indeed, following its residency way to public scrutiny of the foundations, sy of MTL+.

70 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 71
 the institution. As Alicia Grullón - whose “Efforts to ‘decolonize’ institutions are the Foundations of a Movement (New 23. For accounts of the campaign, see Mel
own work was part of the programming embodied in ritual acts of acknowledging York: Haymarket Books, 2016); Steven Evans, Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts (Lon-
around Radical Women - put it during Indigenous presence and claims to ter- Salaita, Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing don: Pluto Press, 2016); and Liberate Tate,
ritory. Within what is currently called the Native America and Palestine (Minne- “Confronting the Institution in Perfor-
an unauthorized Decolonize This Place
United States, these acknowledgements apolis: University of Minnesota Press, mance: Liberate Tate’s Hidden Figures,”
assembly inside the museum following are increasingly- if only recently - under- 2016); John D. Marquez and Junaid Rana, Performance Research 20, no. 4 (2015),
a month of silence from the institution, stood as a prerequisite for demonstrat- “Black Radical Possibility and the Deco- pp. 78-84.
“[The women in this show] saw the con- ing engagement with Indigenous com- lonial International,” South Atlantic Quar- 24. On the analysis and tactics of the Nat-
tradiction of museums as rational pub- munities. However, without continuous terly (2017) 116 (3), pp. 505-28. for institu- ural History Museum (an iteration of the
lic spaces when the world outside was commitment to serve as accomplices to tional governance.18 group Not an Alternative), see thenatural-
Indigenous people, institutional gestures 16. Walter D. Mignolo, The Darker Side historymuseum.org; Beka Economopou-
anything but. They understood we are all
of acknowledgement risk reconciling of Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial los and Steve Lyons, “Museums Must
still colonized in our minds and imagina- ‘settler guilt and complicity’ and rescuing Options (Durham: Duke University Press, Take a Stand and Cut Ties to Fossil Fuels,”
tions... We are still undergoing the pro- ‘settler futurity.’” The New Red Order has 2011). The Guardian, May 7, 2015, https://www.
cess of becoming human.”89 taken up this question in engagements 17. Holland Cotter, “Make Museums Mor- theguardian.com/environment/2015/
Whatever the ultimate fate of calls with the Whitney Museum, which in June al Again,” New York Times, March 17, may/07/museums-must-take-a-stand-
for decolonization commissions at major 2018 posted a land acknowledgment on 2016. and-cut-ties-to-fossil-fuels; and T. J.
museums, we are at a moment when the its website. See Hrag Vartanian, “Ritu- 18. For analyses of “social practice art” Demos’s discus- sion of this work within
als of Liberation Intended to Unsettle at as a professionalized field of work sanc- a broader field of political ecology prac-
principles of institutional critique are be-
the Whitney Museum,” Hyperallergic, tioned and funded by policy-makers, tices in Against the Anthropocene (Berlin:
ing pushed to a breaking point and open- June 18, 2018, https://hyperallergic. museums, and nonprofits, see Johanna Sternberg, 2017).
ing onto something radically new and com/447207/the-new-red-order-the-sav- Burton, Shannon Jackson, and Dominic 25. See Mostafa Heddaya, “The Story
radically old at the same time. As Decol- age-philosophy-of-endless-acknowl- Willsdon, eds., Public Servants: Art and Behind Frieze New York’s Decision to
onize This Place put it in a pamphlet dis- edgement/. the Crisis of the Common Good (Cam- Hire Union Labor,” Hyperallergic, May 7,
tributed at the museum, “An innovative 9. Aman Sium, Chandi Desai, and Eric bridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016), especially 2014, https://hyperallergic.com/124066/
show here, a progressive event there... Ritskes, “Towards the ‘Tangible Un- the conversation between Shannon Jack- the-story-behind-frieze-new-yorks-deci-
known’: Decolonization and the Indige- son and New York City cultural commis- sion-to-hire-union-labor/.
are not enough. The institution must be
nous Future,” Decolonization: Indigeneity, sioner Tom Finkelpearl; and Carin Kuoni 26. Leading up to and after J20, Hyperal-
questioned in its very foundations, start- Education, and Society 1, no. 1 (2012), p. 5. and Chelsea Haines, eds., Entry Points: lergic published a range of critical reflec-
ing with the fact that it sits on occupied It is important to note that the resurgent The Vera List Center Guide to Art and So- tions on the implications of the Art Strike
Lenape land and contains thousands of discourse of decolonization has been led cial Justice (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, call, including those by John Bowles,
objects collected through imperial plun- by Indigenous scholars and activists. See 2016). A “decision dilemma” is a scenario Coco Fusco, Andrew Weiner, Occupy
der. Why not make these starting points Lina Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Meth- in which activists push their target into a Museums, and many more. For retro-
odologies: Research and Indigenous situation where the latter is forced to ei- spectives on J20 in light of the variously
for a discussion, rather than the question
Peoples (London: Zed Books, 2012); Audra ther accede to the demand and thus aid traumatic and absurd unfolding of the
of who curates what department? What Simpson, Mohawk Interruptus: Political the forward movement of the campaign or Trump administration as seen through the
would it mean to liberate this institution Life Across the Borders of Settler States reject it in such a way that amplifies and prism of arts activism, see Nick Mirzoeff,
from the structures of oppression that (Durham: Duke University Press, 2014); magnifies its status as a bad actor, “The Power of Protest One Year After the
are built into it from the beginning?”90□ Glen Sean Coulthard, Red Skin, White thus provoking further disapprobation #J20 Art Strike,” January 19, 2018, https://
Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of and agitation. See the entry on “Decision hyperallergic.com/422416/the-power-of-
First published: OCTOBER 165, Sum- Recognition (Minneapolis: University of Dilemma” in Andrew Boyd, ed., Beautiful protest-one-year-after-the-j20-art-strike/;
mer 2018, pp. 192-227. © 2018 Octo- above: Jackson Polys leads an assembly in the Northwestern Peoples Hall of the American Minnesota Press, 2014). Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution (New and Noah Fischer, “The Ebbs and Flows
ber Magazine, Ltd. and Massachu- Museum of Natural History during the second annual Anti-Columbus Day Tour, October 9, 2017. 10. Tuck and Yang, “Decolonization Is York: O/R books, 2012). of Resistance in the Art World,” Hyperal-
setts Institute of Technology. Photograph by Elena Goukassian. Not a Metaphor,” p. 10. 19. Kuba Szreder, “Productive Withdraw- lergic, January 29, 2018, https://hyperal-
below: Kyle Goen/MTL+. Front and back covers of Decolonize This Place pamphlet, distrib- 11. Ibid. als: Art Strikes, Art Worlds, and Art as a lergic.com/ 423834/art-world-resistance/.
uted at the Brooklyn Museum, April 29, 2018. 12. Walter D. Mignolo, “Delinking: The Practice of Freedom,” e-flux journal 87 27. “J20 Art Strike,” October 159 (Winter
References
Rhetoric of Modernity, the Logic of Colo- (December 2017), http://www.e-flux.com/ 2017), p. 144.
1. See Kareem Estefan, Carin Kuoni, and 3. Rujeko Hockley and Catherine Mor- ety 1, no. 1 (2012). niality, and the Grammar of De-Coloniali- journal/87/168899/productive-withdraw- 28. Andrea Fraser and Eric Golo Stone,
Laura Raicovich, eds., Assuming Boycott: ris, eds., We Wanted a Revolution: Black 6. Frantz Fanon, “On Violence,” in The ty,” Cultural Studies 21, nos. 2-3 (2007), pp. als-art-strikes-art-worlds-and-art-as-a- “The Case of Steve Mnuchin,” October
Resistance, Agency, and Cultural Pro- Radical Women, 1965-1985 (Durham: Duke Wretched of the Earth, trans. Richard 449-514. practice-of-freedom/. 162 (Fall 2017), p. 37.
duction (New York: O/R Books, 2017), and University Press, 2017); and Aruna D’Sou- Philcox (New York: Grove Press, 2004), p. 13. Rolando Vasquez and Walter Mignolo, 20. See Andrew Ross, ed., High Culture / 29. See Nan Goldin’s statement in “Uses
Yates McKee, Strike Art: Contemporary za, Whitewalling: Art, Race, and Protest 2; translation modified. “Decolonial AestheSis: Colonial Wounds / Hard Labor (New York: O/R Books, 2016), of Power,” Artforum (January 2018), and
Art and the Post-Occupy Condition (New and 3 Acts (New York: Badlands Unlimit- 7. Mignolo, “Epistemic Disobedience, Decolonial Healings,” Social Text Online, in particular, Paula Chakravartty and Ni- Benjamin Sutton, “Protesters at Metro-
York: Verso, 2016). OCTOBER 165, Summer

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

ed, 2018). Independent Thought, and De-Colonial
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

July 15, 2013, https://socialtextjournal. tasha Dhillon, “Gulf Dreams for Justice: politan Museum Chant ‘Shame of Sack-
2018, pp. 192-227. © 2018 October Maga- 4. Walter D. Mignolo, “Epistemic Disobe- Freedom,” and Maria Lugones, “The Co- org/periscope_article/decolonial-aesthe- Migrant Workers and New Political Fu- ler,’ Targeting Donors Who Profited From
zine, Ltd. and Massachusetts Institute of dience, Independent Thought and De-Co- loniality of Gender,” in Walter Mignolo sis-colonial-woundsdecolonial-healings/. tures,” pp. 36-64. Opioid Crisis,” Hyperallergic, March 12,
Technology. lonial Freedom,” Theory, Culture, and and Arturo Escobar, eds., Globalization 14. Nelson Maldonado-Torres, “Outline of 21. See David Joselit, “The Art Effect,” 2018,https://hyperallergic.com/431941/
2. See Jennifer González, Subject to Dis- Society 26, nos. 7-8 (2009), pp. 1-23; Lina and the Decolonial Option (London: Fran- Ten Theses on Coloniality and Decolonial- Cairo Review of Global Affairs (Summer protest-metropolitan-museum-sack-
play: Reframing Race in Contemporary In- Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodolo- cis and Taylor, 2013), pp. 369-90. ity,” October 26, 2016, http://frantzfanon- 2014), https://www.thecairoreview.com/ ler-wing-opioid-crisis-nan-goldin/.
stallation Art (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, gies: Research and Indigenous Peoples 8. In making this land-acknowledgment foundation-fondationfrantzfanon.com/ essays/the-art-effect/. 30. See especially the campaign by We
2008); and Huey Copeland, Bound to Ap- (London: Zed Books, 2012). in the present essay, we are mindful article2360.html. 22. For a detailed description of these Are Not Surprised (WANS) - an allusion
pear: Art, Slavery, and the Site of Black- 5. Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, “Decol- of the critique that such gestures can 15. See Angela Davis, Freedom Is a Con- actions, see McKee, Strike Art, pp. 1-6, to Jenny Holzer’s truism “Abuse of power
ness in Multicultural America (Chicago: onization Is Not a Metaphor,” in Decolo- themselves become neutralizing rather stant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and 172-180. comes as no surprise” - targeting Artfo-
University of Chicago Press, 2013). nization: Indigeneity, Education, and Soci- than unsettling: As Tuck and Yang write,

72 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 73
 rum, at not-surprised.org. Also see Aruna “How to Draw a (Picket) Line: Activists as the Return of Institutional Critique. A Art New York; and Lauren Rosati and 59. Gerald Raunig, “Instituent Practices: Chooses Sides,” Hyperallergic, May 13,
D’Souza, “Worst-Case Scenarios: Con- Protest Event at Boyle Heights Gallery,” Reply to Boris Groys,” Field Journal is- Mary Anne Staniszewski, eds., Alter- Fleeing, Transforming, Instituting,” in Art 2016, https://hyperallergic.com/298529/a-
temporary Art’s #Metoo Handwringing,” Hyperallergic, February 14, 2017, https:// sue #4 (Spring 2016), http://field-journal. native Histories: New York Art Spaces, and Critical Practice, pp. 3-11. photo-exhibition-about-israel-and-the-
Momus, March 21, 2018, http://momus. hyperallergic.com/358652/how-to-draw- com/issue-4/merciless-aesthetic- activ- 1960-2010 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 60. See Michel Foucault, “What Is Cri- west-bank-that-chooses-sides/.
ca/worst-case-scenarios-contempo- a-picket-line-activists-protest-event-at- ist-art-as-the-return-of-institutional-cri- 2012). Interestingly, both of these volumes tique?,” in The Politics of Truth (Cam- 72. Decolonial Cultural Front pamphlet
rary-arts-metoo-handwringing/. boyle-heightsgallery/, and “Why I Am tique-a-response-to-boris-groys. were produced to accompany historical bridge, MA: Semiotexte, 1992), pp. 23-82. distributed at Brooklyn Museum, May 7,
31. Chitra Ganesh, “Unpresidented Times,” Resigning from X-TRA Contemporary Art 43. See Kate Khatib, ed., We Are Many: exhibitions held at historical alternative On governmentality and the modern mu- 2016.
Artforum, January 11, 2017, https://www. Quarterly and the Problems with 356 Mis- Reflections on Movement Strategy from spaces in their own right: Drawing Center seum, see Tony Bennet, The Birth of the 73. Michelle Chen, “Gentrification and
artforum.com/slant/id=65829; and Han- sion’s Politics,” Hyperallergic, April 27, Occupation to Liberation (Oakland: AK and Exit Art. Museum: History, Theory, Politics (New Occupation at the Brooklyn Museum,”
nah Black, “New World Disorder,” 2018, https://hyperallergic.com/440234/x- Press, 2012); and Chris Crass, Towards 49. It is important of course not to idealize York: Routledge, 1995). Rosalyn Deutsche The Nation, May 9, 2016; Rebecca Mc-
Artforum, February 27, 2017, https://www. tra-contemporary-art-quarterly-356-mis- Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Or- these (largely white-dominated) institu- has also drawn upon Foucault’s idea of Carthy, “Faced with Brooklyn Museum’s
artforum.com/slant/section=slant#en- sion-boyle-heights/. ganizing, Feminist Praxis, and Move- tions as unproblematically radical, or to the “politics of the governed” in “The Art Inaction, Protesters Target Two Exhi-
try66897. See also Andrew Stefan Weiner, 35. See Shellyne Rodriguez, “The Bronx ment-Building Strategy (Oakland: PM gloss over the very different histories of of Not Being Governed Quite So Much,” in bitions,” Hyperallergic, May 9, 2016,
“Emergency, Resistance, Futurity: Aes- Is Burning: Neoliberalism, State Power, Press, 2013). a space like that of El Museo del Barrio Hans Haacke, ed. Rachel Churner (Cam- https://hyperallergic.com/297401/faced-
thetic Responses to Trumpism,” X-TRA and Social Practice Art in the Birthplace 44. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, From versus that of Artists Space, the latter bridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015). with-brooklyn-muse- um-inaction-pro-
20, no. 2 (Winter 2018), http://x-traonline. of Hiphop,” unpublished manuscript, April #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation of which was famously targeted by the 61. On this trans-European history, see testers-target-two-exhibitions/.
org/article/emergency-resistance-futuri- 2018. (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2016). Here Black Emergency Cultural Coalition for Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeff, and 74. Ben Davis, “Activism Pays Off, as
ty-aesthetic-responses-to-trumpism/. 36. See Kareem Estefan, “Introduction: Taylor echoes the Combahee River Col- the “Nigger Drawings” exhibition. See Leendert Van Hoogenhuijze, eds., The Brooklyn Museum Embraces Anti-Gen-
32. See Aruna D’Souza, “Can White Artists Boycotts as Openings,” in Estefan, Kuoni, lective Statement of 1977: “Here we might D’Souza, Whitewalling. City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous trification Forum,” Artnet, July 7, 2016,
Paint Black Pain?,” Cnn.com, March 24, Raicovich, Assuming Boycott, pp. 11-17. use our position at the bottom, however, 50. See Alan W. Moore, Art Gangs: Pro- Movements from the 1970s to the Pres- https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brook-
2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/24/ 37. Robin Pogrebin, “Politically Outspoken to make a clear leap into revolutionary ac- test and Counterculture in New York City ent (Oakland: PM Press, 2014); and Alan lyn-museum-gentrification-forum-543926.
opinions/white-artist-controversial-em- Director Queens Museum Steps Down,” tion. If Black women were free, it would (Brooklyn: Autonomia, 2011). W. Moore and Alan Smart, eds., Making 75. On the deictic shifter, see Rosalind
mett-till-painting- dsouza/index.html. See New York Times, January 26, 2018; and mean that everyone else would have to be 51. See González, “Fred Wilson: Material Room: Cultural Production in Occupied Krauss, “Notes on the Index,” in The
also Julia Halperin, “How the Dana Benjamin Sutton, “Departure of Queens free since our freedom would necessitate Museology,” in Subject to Display, pp. 64- Spaces (Berlin: Other Forms Press, 2016). Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other
Schutz Controversy - and a Year of Reck- Museum Director Prompts Calls for More the destruction of all the systems of op- 119. 62. See McKee, Strike Art, pp. 89-93. Modernist Myths (Cambridge, MA: MIT
oning - Have Changed Museums Forever,” Politically Engaged Art Institutions,” pression.” Emphasizing the need to strug- 52. See Guerrilla Girls, Confessions of the 63. Andrea Fraser, “L’1%, C’est Moi,” Tex- Press, 1985), pp. 196-209.
artnet.com, March 6, 2018, https://news. Hyperallergic, January 31, 2018, https:// gle against the “interlocking systems” Guerrilla Girls (New York: Penguin, 1995); te Zur Kunst 83 (September 2011), p. 126. 76. On “mapping sites of injustice with our
artnet.com/art-world/dana-schutz-con- hyperallergic.com/424364/ curators-let- of white supremacy, patriarchy, class and The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Compan- 64. See Artforum’s special issue on “The bodies,” see Judith Butler, “So What Are
troversy-recent-protests-changed-muse- ter-support-laura-raicovich-queens-mu- power, heterosexism, and imperialism ion to the History of Western Art (New Market” (April 2008). the Demands?,” in Tidal: Occupy Theory,
ums-forever-1236020. seum/. simultaneously, this text is foundational York: Penguin, 1998). 65. See Chakravartty and Dhillon, “Gulf Occupy Strategy 2 (March 2012), pp. 8-11.
33. Olga Viso, “Decolonizing the Art Mu- 38. Not an Alternative, “Institutional Lib- for later theories of intersectionality, and 53. See Douglas Crimp, ed., AIDS: Cultural Dreams for Justice; Migrant Workers and 77. Kwon, “One Place After Another,” p.
seum: The Next Wave,” New York Times, eration,” e-flux journal #77 (November has been an essential touch- tone for Analysis / Cultural Activism (Cambridge, New Political Futures,” pp. 36-64. 110.
May 1, 2018. See Devon Van Houten Mal- 2016). For an important elaboration on this the Black Lives Matter movement. See MA: MIT Press, 1988). 66. G.U.L.F., “On Direct Action: An Address 78. CPNY is a coalition of old and new al-
donado, “Sam Durant Speaks About the phrase by one of its inventors that uses as Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, ed., How We 54. Miwon Kwon, “One Place After An- to Cultural Workers,” in Ross, The Gulf: ternative spaces grappling with their pub-
Aftermath of His Controversial Minneap- a case study Catherine Flood and Gavin Get Free: Black Feminism and the Comba- other: Notes on Site-Specificity,” October High Culture / Hard Labor, p. 135. lic purpose and economic viability in the
olis Sculpture,” Hyperallergic, July 14, Grindon’s Disobedient Objects exhibition hee River Collective (Chicago: Haymarket 80 (Spring 1997), pp. 85-110. Kwon’s ar- 67. G.U.L.F., “On Direct Action,” p. 135. face of both accelerating gentrification
2017, https://hyperallergic.com/390552/ at the Victoria and Albert Museum in Books, 2017). The text is also reproduced gument builds on Hal Foster’s critique of 68. For overviews of the project, see An- and the official neglect of such putatively
sam-durant-speaks-about-the-after- 2014–2015, see Steve Lyons, “Disobedient in Hockley and Morris, We Wanted a Rev- what he calls “the artist as ethnographer” gela Brown, “‘Decolonization Is Not a “elite” institutions by the New York De-
math-of-his-controversial-minneap- Objects: Towards a Museum Insurgency,” olution. in Return of the Real (Cambridge, MA: MIT Metaphor’: Artists Space Steps Out of partment of Cultural Affairs in its devising
olis-sculpture/; and the remarks by Journal of Curatorial Studies, Volume 7.1 45. Helen Molesworth, “Art Is Medicine,” Press, 1996). Analysis and Into Action,” Artnews, No- of an NYC Cultural Plan. For a theorization
Aruna D’Souza, Hrag Vartanian, and Chris (April 2018), pp. 2-31. Artforum (March 2018), pp. 171-72. 55. For a textured look at the social milieu vember 15, 2016, http://www.artnews. of the questions facing these small, flexi-
Kraus, among others, in Alica Leter, “‘Let 39. On the aporetic structure of institu- 46. On the historiography of institutional of second-wave institutional critique sur- com/ 2016/11/15/decolonization-is-not- ble, “proposition-based” institutions, see
It Burn’: U.S. Art Critics Respond to the tion as both positing event and enduring critique, see the introductions by Alex- rounding institutions including American a-metaphor-artists-space-steps-out- David Joselit, “In Praise of Small” (2015),
Walker’s Takedown of Scaffold,” Minne- arrangement, status, and state, see Sam- ander Alberro and Blake Stimson to their Fine Arts and the Whitney ISP, see Lane of-analysis-and-into-action/; Ilana commonpracticenyc.org.
apolis Star Tribune, June 1, 2017, http:// uel Weber, Institution and Interpretation edited volume Institutional Critique: An Relya, Your Everyday Artworld (Cam- Novick, “Learning from Decolonize This 79. Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, The
www.star- tribune.com/art-critics-from- (Stanford: Stanford University Press, Anthology of Artists Writings (Cambridge, bridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013). Place,” Hyperallergic, January 9, 2017, Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and
around-u-s-respond-to-walker-s-take- 1981). MA: MIT Press, 2009); and Benjamin Bu- 56. Indeed, it is perhaps in part for this rea- https://hyperallergic.com/350186/learn- Black Study (New York: Minor Composi-
down-of-scaffold/425745913/. 40. Pierre Bourdieu, “Rites of Institution,” chloh’s foundational critical text “Con- son that an artist like Thomas Hirschhorn, ing-from-decolonize-this-place/; and tions, 2013).
34. See defendboyleheights.org, and Matt in Language and Symbolic Power, trans. ceptual Art, 1962-1969: From the Aesthetic with his joyfully unironic declarations of Terence Trouillout, “Decolonize This 80. Decolonize This Place stickers, with
Stromberg, “Anti-Gentrification Coalition Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson of Administration to the Critique of Institu- love for radical figures like Heartfield and Place,” Brooklyn Rail (December 6, their site-specific indexicality, were an
Calls for Galleries to Leave LA’s Boyle (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 117-21. tions,” October 55 (Winter 1990), pp. 105- Bataille, would prove to be so appealing 2016), https://brooklynrail.org/ 2016/12/ especially popular item, showing up on
Heights,” Hyperallergic, July 28, 2016, 41. Even though Not an Alternative was an 43. Our account here is also informed by to critics like Foster. Compare Hal Foster’s art- seen/decolonize-this-place. surfaces throughout the city from cop
https://hyperallergic.com/314086/an- important participant in Occupy, it forms Sholette, “Merciless Aesthetic: Activist “The Art of Cynical Reason” in Return of 69. Holland Cotter, “The Art of Politics, cars to courthouses to luxury condos, as

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

ti-gentrification-coalition-calls-for-galler- the implicit “bad object” for their text, as Art as the Return of Institutional Critique.” the Real with his “Towards a Grammar of in ‘Agitprop!’ at the Brooklyn Museum,” well as art sites like Maurizio Cattelan’s
ies-to-leave-las-boyle-heights/. Among when they distinguish institutional liber- 47. See Julia Bryan-Wilson, Art Work- Emergency,” New Left Review 68 (March- New York Times, December 17, 2015. smug golden toilet at the Guggenheim.
the targets of Defend Boyle Heights had ation from a caricature of anarchism as ers: Radical Practice in the Vietnam Era April 2011), pp. 105-18. 70. Noah Fischer and Betty Yu, “A Peo- 81. As we read in a Decolonize This Place
been Laura Owens’s 365 Project, a non- “DIY off-the-grid living.” (Berkeley: University of California Press, 57. Andrea Fraser, “From the Critique of ple’s Monument to Anti-Displacement pamphlet distributed at the space, “Ban-
profit arts space that shuttered in spring 42. In an important article that appeared 2011); Hockley and Morris, We Wanted Institutions to the Institution of Critique,” Organizing,” April 18, 2016, http://artf- ners do much more than communicate
2018 after several years of missteps in around the same time as that of Not an a Revolution; and D’Souza, Whitewalling. Artforum (September 2005), p. 104. city.com/2016/04/18/a-peoples-monu- a message. They are a choreography
engaging with local activists. See the Alternative, Gregory Sholette argues that 48. See Julie Ault, “A Chronology of Se- 58. Gerald Raunig and Gene Ray, eds., Art ment-to-anti-displacement-organizing/. of direct action and media circulation.
thoughtful essays by Nizan Shaked on we are witnessing not the surpassing but lected Alternative Structures, Spaces, and Contemporary Critical Practice: Re- 71. For a detailed review of the show it- They can be used to create and hold
what it has meant for nonresident art rather the “return” of institutional cri- Artists Groups, and Organizations in New inventing Institutional Critique (London: self, see Nina Felshin, “A Photo Exhibition space: physically, visually, and in the
workers to stand with local activists, tique: “Merciless Aesthetic: Activist Art York City, 1965-1985,” in Ault, Alternative Mayfly Books, 2009). About Israel and the West Bank That public imagination. Whether heading up a

74 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 75
 march, blockading an intersection, fram-
ing the entrance to a park, or affixed to an
offi- cial structure of power, banners can
mark sites of injustice and resistance, and

Steve Lambert
map linkages between such sites. But it
is not really about banners. Banners are
nothing without the bodies that activate
them, and the breath that animates those
bodies in turn.” made international news after the 2008 US
82. See MTL+, “Response to Question- election with The New York Times “Special
naire on Monuments,” pp. 119-33. Edition,”a replica of the “paper of record”
83. Hrag Vartanian, “Over 120 Protestors announcing the end of the wars in Iraq and Af-
Ask Artis Nonprofit to Clarify ‘Organiza- ghanistan and other good news. In the Summer
tion’s Position by Signing onto BDS,’” Hy-
of 2011 he began a tour of Capitalism Works For
perallergic, December 11, 2016, https://
hyperallergic.com/344358/over-120-pro-
Me! True/False - a 9 x 20ft sign allowing people
testers-ask-artis-nonprofit-to-clarify-or- to vote on whether capitalism worked for them.
ganizations-position-by-signing-on- He has collaborated with groups from the Yes
to-bds/. Men to the Graffiti Research Lab and Green-
84. Teju Adisa-Farrar, “Why Are White peace. He is also the founder of the Center for
Curators Still Running Collections of Afri- Artistic Activism, the Anti-Advertising Agency,
can Art?,” The Guardian, April 3, 2018,
Add-Art (a Firefox add-on that replaces online
https://www.theguardian.com/com-
mentisfree/2018/apr/03/brooklyn-muse- advertising with art) and SelfControl (which
um-white-curators-african-art-open-let- blocks grownups from distracting websites so
ter. they can get work done).
85. See especially the remarks by Steven Steve’s projects and art works have won awards
Nelson in Ryan Sit, “Museum Appoints from Prix Ars Electronica, Rhizome/The New Mu-
White Woman As African Art Curator, seum, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters Media
Sparks Outrage,” Newsweek (March 29,
Foundation, the California Arts Council, and oth-
2018), which would be cited repeatedly by
other articles in subsequent weeks. ers. Lambert’s work has been shown everywhere
86. Quoted in Hrag Vartanian, “Coalition from museums to protest marches nationally and
of Anti-Gentrification Groups Pressures internationally, featured in over fourteen books,
Brooklyn Museum to ‘Decolonize,’” four documentary films, and is in the collections
Hyperallergic, April 5, 2018, https://hy- of The Sheldon Museum, the Progressive Insur-
perallergic.com/436293/coalition-of-an-
ance Company, and The Library of Congress.
ti-gentrification-groups-pressures-brook-
lyn-museum-to-decolonize/.
Lambert has discussed his work live on NPR, the
87. Maya Salam, “Brooklyn Museum De- BBC, and CNN, and been reported on interna-
fends Its Hiring of a White Curator of Af- tionally in outlets including Associated Press, the
rican Art,” New York Times, April 6, 2018. New York Times, the Guardian, Harper’s Maga-
88. Quoted in Hrag Vartanian, “Growing zine, The Believer, Good, Dwell, ARTnews, Punk
Coalition Calls Brooklyn Museum ‘Out Planet, and Newsweek.
of Touch,’ and Demands Decolonization
He was a Senior Fellow at New York’s Eyebeam
Commission,” Hyperallergic, April 12,
2018, https://hyperallergic.com/437542/ Center for Art and Technology from 2006-2010,
growing-coalition-calls-brooklyn-muse- developed and led workshops for Creative Capi-
um-out-of-touch-and-demands-decoloni- tal Foundation, co-directs the Center for Artistic
zation-commission/. Activism, and is an Assistant Professor at SUNY
89. Quoted in Hrag Vartanian, “Protes- Purchase. In 2013 he was invited to speak at the
tors Occupy Brooklyn Museum Atrium, United Nations about his research on adver-
Demanding Decolonization Commission,”
tising’s impact on culture. Steve is a perpetual
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Hyperallergic, April 30, 2018, https://hy-

perallergic.com/440426/protesters-oc- autodidact with (if it matters) advanced degrees
cupy-brooklyn-museum-atrium-demand- from an reputable art school and respected state
ing-decolonization-commission/. university. He dropped out of high school in 1993.
90. Decolonize This Museum pamphlet
distributed at the Brooklyn Museum, April
29, 2018.

76 MTL COLLECTIVE: From Institutional Critique to Institutional Liberation? A Decolonial Perspective on the Crises of Contemporary Art 77
ABOUT THE PROJECT
If you ever want to clear a public space in the United States, approach everyone and try to talk to
them about capitalism.
In the United States, Capitalism is woven into nearly every aspect of our lives, yet it’s rarely subject
to substantive conversation. The reporting about capitalism is shrouded in euphamisms - the job
market, the real estate section, the economic outlook, the business climate, the economy - but
capitalism is the economic system that dare not speak its name. If we’re to move forward as a so-
ciety, capitalism needs to be up for serious discussion, honest evaluation and, ultimately, systemic
change.
However, having a conversation about Capitalism with strangers in public is not easy, as I’ve dis-
covered. Capitalism is often discussed - even dismantled - in academia, but not in terms that make
sense to non-specialists. Meanwhile it is rarely examined in popular culture with the depth and
complexity it requires, so any prompt to consider capitalism doesn’t lead to a profound intellectual
conversation. Capitalism isn’t considered thoughtfully, it’s reacted to thoughtlessly.
The purpose of Capitalism Works for Me! is to create a situation where strangers will be guided
through a cognitive struggle around how encomics impacts their life. However, the method is down-
to-earth, familiar, and humorous so they choose to engage and even welcome the experience.
The sign itself works as bait - a flashing, red, white, and blue backdrop that provides comforting and
nostagic form for an unfamiliar subject. Participants start by staring at the scene and trying to make
sense of it. Someone from our team approaches, volunteering the most basic information on *how it
works*; you press a button on the podium and the numbers change. This leaves space for the par-
ticipants questions which have included:
What is capitalism?
What do you mean by “works”?
What do you mean by “for me”?
Answers to these questions are the entry point for more questions for the visitor in return.
“What is Capitalism? It’s a system of private property and profit, so do you work for someone else or
are you self employed? Do you feel like you are paid fairly?”
It goes deep and personal quickly.
However, people often fall back on the comfort of abstractions and repeating popular myths. For
example, the true/false dilemma is much easier to resolve when the only alternatives to capitalism
are presumed to be failed communist dictatorships. It’s also much easier to pretend that the only
“true” definition of capitalism is the kind of free-market extreme idolized by thinkers like Ayn Rand
and Friedrich Hayek but never seen in the real world.
Our teams are trained to steer people away from these abstractions and toward an intense, person-
al reflection. It can require improvisational skills, a gentle touch, jokes, or relaying stories from past
participants.
The intention isn’t to get someone to vote or believe any one way. The first objective is to get people
to understand the complex nature of the problem and realize, while capitalism may work for you,
it doesn’t work for most people. The reasons why so many say it doesn’t work can’t easily be dis-
missed. The remarkable thing is how often this happens.
Once people understand that capitalism has shortcomings, the second objective is to get them to
imagine other ways. What changes could we make? Can we imagine a world beyond capitalism?
Admittedly, no one has an answer to that, despite a majority acknowledging the current system is
flawed. Some are more comfortable moving into the uncharted territory than others but uncharted
territory is certainly where we’re headed.
Capitalism Works For Me! True/False debuted the summer before Occupy Wall Street and has
continued to be relevant in locations across and outside the United States. It has been shown at
15 venues in the United States including Times Square, as well as at festivals multiple festivals in
Europe, the UK, and Australia. In it’s debut as SPACES in Cleveland, Ohio, over the course of eight
weeks, the project was able to directly interact with over 17,000 people - a record for SPACES. As
their director, Christopher Lynn, clarified “these [17,000] are people who voted and/or spoke to a
SPACES representative about the project, not casual passers-by.” The recordings of participants in
Times Square were used as the subject matter for a book by Professor Christian Chun called, _The
Discourses of Capitalism: Everyday Economists and the Production of Common Sense_.

80
 Dimitry Vielnsky cipation. This idea, we used to say, was repent do not bring genuine reconcili- debates involved a clash between, on reinterpreting and carefully “saving” the
capable of seizing the consciousness of ation, since it is impossible to establish the one hand, the claim that proletarian past, thereby creating a new language of

We Have a
the masses. We thus see how the pas- degrees of sincerity and measures to le- culture demanded the total destruction description of the world, an experience we
sive condition of victimhood can acquire gally formalize and monetize repentance of the past - the position articulated by would do well to analyze carefully.
a new quality. have failed to ease tension and suffering. Proletkult (nothing was worth saving,
Today’s position of victimhood is in- Suspicions remain, and even intensi- nor was there any need to save any- Paradoxes of hegemony

Situation Here…
stead constructed on the model of the fy - repentance can be a cover for new, thing), and, on the other, the consistent
Jew - oppressed for centuries, survivor darker crimes, intentions and thoughts. vindication of universalism in its Marxist Few things are as deeply compro-
of catastrophe, and asserting others’ “ir- It seems to me that we are now faced form - the position of reappropriation, the mised in the world of progressive ideas
redeemable” guilt. This irreedemability for the first time with the thoroughgoing actualization of emancipatory potential, and activism today as the idea of hege-
is the radical political innovation of the impossibility of redemption. In Christian- capable of being crystallized, in many mony. Hegemony is understood as an
Holocaust; the victim always possesses ity, Original Sin was beyond redemption works of the human spirit from past ages, historical construct belonging to the old
Living under suspicion The list could be prolonged endlessly; school, associated with violence, power,
unblemished righteousness, and the only until the redemption by Jesus Christ, however constrained by the ideological
identities are multiplying, and they all the suppression of diversity and all the
No text is possible today without possible stance from which it can be ques- through which act all are within reach fetters of their period.
claim to be backed by the “iron logic of nightmares of a consciousness freed from
acknowledgement of the writer’s tioned is that of the fascist / rapist / coloniz- of salvation. In Marxism, the sin or guilt The contemporary decolonizing ap-
history” - the logic of struggle against the methodology of antagonism and the
identity. er. Furthermore, no comparison is conceiv- of the bourgeoisie is redeemed through proach is based on the uncovering and
“the one / the universal” and for multi- ideological framework of class struggle.
able; the position of victimhood is unique, renunciation of property and a conscious showcasing of perspectives from the
I am writing this text as a Soviet plicity, diversity, identity.
and comparison amounts to sacrilege. Any change of allegiance to the side of the past which developed outside the Eu- The confrontational “us against
Jew, born in Leningrad, having ex- This struggle is conditioned by cen-
universalizing approach is paralyzed. proletariat. To be a proletarian is not an ropean colonial worldview - mainly the them” model of politics is held no longer
perienced both everyday and official turies of oppression, non-recognition,
essentialist position based on birth or on voices of women, slaves, and indige- to describe the actual struggle, since it
anti-Semitism, and whose country, colonization, exclusion, and genocide; it Guilt and the society of suspicion a fixed position in relations of the produc- nous peoples. They are presented, quite is impossible to define “us” and “them”;
the Soviet Union, ceased to exist as is, obviously, legitimate, just, necessary,
tion; it is a conscious choice, the possi- justifiably, as the source of a different all are found to be cunningly intercon-
a result of being colonized by cap- and an emancipatory practice, very im- The culture of suspicion was always bility of forming your own consciousness knowledge, and this is a coherent ex- nected in complicated actor-network
italism, while my city changed its portant for society’s development and a repressive culture of oppressors. The as a proletarian consciousness. From pansion of previous acts of addressing processes. In fact there is no struggle
name to become Saint Petersburg. self-awareness. Yet recently certain ten- oppressive society teaches you to blame being a passive category, guilt becomes the repressed past, primarily of class left, and the world has entered a new
At the same time, I write as an artist dencies in these processes have raised yourself for any misfortune - a woman, an active one; each person can choose consciousness. The inclusion of these phase of post-politics, in which all sides
who has lived for 54 years in this city warning flags and an effort should be a Tajik migrant can be accused of being their side, and that person’s past will not parallel histories is extremely important in a conflict can (and must) jointly devel-
and has no desire to go anywhere made to grasp why this crucial ethical insufficiently suspicious, insufficiently hinder their radical transformation, their for fully understanding the world and its op solutions in a social sphere based on
else, because it is my territory and turn is happening in the midst of increas- careful, insufficiently collaborative and metanoia. Today the possibility of such a history. Decolonization inevitably stum- dialogue and consensus.
is still worth fighting for. Other in- ing rifts among and defeats of emancipa- thus responsible for their treatment at transformation is in question and we thus bles into internal limitations, and the very This progressive reconceptualiza-
formation about me as an artist and tory movements in politics and art. the hands of men/the police/the state. find ourselves in a toxic environment same problem confronted the Bolsheviks tion of politics, until recently triumphant
my work and writings is available
But asserting your victimhood helps you with no salvation in sight. after 1917. The creation of new languag- (definitely hegemonic), is rapidly reced-
on-line. The position of victimhood turn the suspicion outward and analyze es and historical narratives is acutely ing into the past under pressure from the
Тriggers: universalism, dialectics, society.1 Decolonizing Cultural Heritage necessary, but the process can lead into ideas of the alt-right. The growing con-
An increasing number of activist
hegemony, class And out of these situations of victim- a dead end if it neglects the opportunity temporary split in the public sphere may
groups and artistic and cultural mani-
hood arises a radical politics of accusa- The whole history of culture can be to find a line of solidarity in the “dirty” be described as a process in which many
The text is based on broad general- festations speak from a position of vic-
tion. Germans are guilty of the Holocaust, regarded as a series of catastrophes. past, when the revolutionary might turn marginal voices, including some that
izations and does not undertake an timhood. This position is not a figment
Western Christian civilization is guilty of Benjamin told us as much, but that insight out to have been a male chauvinist and are unfamiliar and others that were for-
analysis of the many different cases of someone’s imagination but a material
colonialism, men are guilty of patriar- was long inscribed in the tradition of Eu- anti-Semite, when a woman may have merly prominent, are expelled from that
which may fall outside the parame- fact of the history of oppression and
chy, the bourgeoisie of capitalism, and ropean melancholy. There is no cultural retransmitted patriarchal ideology, when sphere. The aggressively dominant “right
ters of its general schematization. the currently existing reality. Without
so on. They are guilty. We are guilty. Re- achievement that is not simultaneously a reactionary slaveholder author may consensus,” united with the manipulative
devaluating the historical and material
pentance is possible; people can accept a document of barbarism. No culture is have manifested unique insight into hu- technologies of “big data,” attacks on all
In recent times we have observed a preconditions of such a positioning, we
responsibility and become accountable; innocent - all culture is permeated by the man nature, and an abolitionist may have fronts, and the ideology of protecting
general condition of heightened “sensi- should analyze its genealogy. The stance
yet a psychological trap takes shape in poisons of colonialism, patriarchy, rac- been a homophobe. the rights of minorities, now placed in
tivity.” Sensitivity about language that of victimhood must be compared with the
which the more you accept accountabil- ism, anti-Semitism, and oppression. What The destruction of monuments is an a defensive position, is attached, with
may be considered insulting or a devi- historical position occupied by the work-
ity, the greater your guilt becomes, and it today seems politically correct to us will important moment in the formation of increasing straightforwardness, to pur-
ation from certain ethical norms. Jews ing class in society. The efforts of Marx-

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

remains irredeemable. have ceased to be so by tomorrow. revolutionary consciousness, yet their suing the interests of neoliberal capital,
and people of color are sensitive, trans ist theoretical work were largely directed
Everyone is revealed to be a potential How can we live with this legacy? destruction at a moment of polarization and is losing battle after battle in Russia
people are sensitive, fascists and Rus- toward transforming the worker subject
suspect, and all bear responsibility not To pose the question in this form brings of hegemonic relations is more likely to and around the world.
sian Orthodox believers are sensitive, from being a passive victim to taking a
only for themselves but for a set of cir- us back to the heated debates after the activate «old demons» which can be dif- Within these processes, in a strange
Christians are sensitive, and Muslims are position as the active subject of history,
cumstances in whose creation they per- October Revolution, when none harbored ficult to neutralize in a developing politi- joke at history’s expense, the main ideas
very sensitive too; white racists and oth- the proletariat, capable of abolishing all
sonally cannot have taken part. A con- any illusions regarding the substance of cal situation, as we see in the process of and hegemonic relations are operation-
er nationalists are also sensitive, as are class distinctions. In other words, Marx-
cept of collective historical guilt emerg- bourgeois, feudal, slave-holding culture, Ukraine’s “de-communization.”2 alized, whether consciously or uncon-
feminists in relation to other feminists ism stood for the possibility of a passage
es whose key features developed in the or idealized the cultures of what were The Bolsheviks understood this danger sciously, from the right rather than the
and trans women; identitarians, vegans from the private experience of class op-
interpretation of the Holocaust. Calls to then called primitive societies. Those in time and began their unique operation of left. It seems that nominal leftists have
and meat-eaters are sensitive as well. pression to a universal project of eman-

82 Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… 83
 fallen into the trap and fail to see the ob- position between the universal and the it organizations who provide first aid to and we must admit that in terms of diver- wardly: It was a generous world, in the sense
vious alignment of forces; to paraphrase particular and the political practices for various victims. And these activities may sity, the situation doesn’t look so bad; but We need to learn, or re-learn, how to that we completely believed we were
a well-known saying, if you don’t take resolving that opposition. at any moment be discontinued by the we need to understand why the situation build comradeship and solidarity in- living among comrades with whom we
care of hegemony, then hegemony will The new left’s post-1968 rejection political decisions of others. of socialist art looks so bad. stead of doing capital’s work for it by shared simple, all-encompassing human-
take care of you. While we have been of the position of universality occurs at condemning and abusing each other. ist ideals. That, of course, presents a na-
imagining a world without violence or any the moment when the domination of the What is happening with Art. Essentialism and the constructed. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we ive, simplistic picture of how it was, and
forms of domination, the “tough guys” global market and the colonization of life must always agree - on the contrary, you could easily show the extent to which
have sharpened their ability to domi- by capital, with the aid of new technolo- In some ways art represents the most Today we see an intriguing, paradox- we must create conditions where dis- it contrasted with the reality. The ideal of
nate, oppress, establish new canons of gies for the control and manipulation of consistent practical implementation of ical alignment of postmodernist concepts agreement can take place without fear comradeship represents the overcom-
historical interpretations to be taught in consciousness, has become utter and egalitarian politics. For art, this means that affirm the socially and historically of exclusion and excommunication. ing of class, gender, race and national
our schools, and formulate a language total. Market relations have succeeded in recognizing the equality of all marginal- constructed nature of all forms of identity Strange as it may seem, such asser- allegiances - it is even possible to be a
of violence and enmity, and do so with quashing and extirpating, in the most bru- ized and repressed forms of expression with the vindication of certain authentic tions are now read as aggressive perora- comrade to things, animals and nature as
increasing confidence. They have reap- tal manner possible, any practical attempt and aesthetics.4 rights, such as the right to be a woman tions, written from a position of privilege, a whole. To be a comrade means to form
propriated what Gramsci called the “po- to execute a universal project of emanci- The universality of art inheres in such (and not a trans woman)5, to be Indige- oppression and ignorance of the multi- a shared living space beyond the reach
litical initiative.” It took different forms pation in the form of class struggle under recognition, in its ability to overcome all nous (rather than choosing to become plicity of differences. We often hear, as of suspicion.
in different countries, but in general the the leadership of a revolutionary party possible differences. Any “event of art”5 with Indigenous)6, to be black (as a pre- an argument intended to close any dis- I now see many people around,
process has been synchronized in Rus- and an exceptionally true theory. always represents a unique, particular requisite for understanding or represent- cussion, that the right to universalism is in various parts of this big and varied
sia and the West: a broad coalition of Many have already argued the point experience or utterance. But this partic- ing blacks)7, to be a true Orthodox Chris- the privilege of the master, the right of world10, from various generations, who,
rightists was able partly to invent, partly that the politics of the particular, of iden- ularity of the particular event is capable tian to represent the Christian values in a the colonizer, i.e., the right to speak from like me, are drawn more to the search
to demonize, partly to correctly analyze tity, can easily be integrated in the mar- of becoming transformed into represen- proper way8, and so on. the position of historical power. Whereas for what we have in common than to the
the current global hegemony of left-lib- ket’s total domination. The market is the tative universality, overcoming the limits These emerging forms of “authentic” politics arises from the oppressed shun- search for divisions. To whom the ques-
eral ideas (human rights, minority rights, one remaining uncontested, universal idea of its particularity while, at the same time, belonging have begun to defend their ning relations of hierarchy and authority tion “what do we have in common?” is
decolonization, gender equality, “cultural and practice in which the particular and not losing its unique exceptionality. This exceptionality in the face of attempts while continuing to analyze and unmask more exciting than asking where our dif-
Marxism,” the interests of transnational the universal continually merge (goods are relationship, by means of which a given to undermine their exclusive claim on new power structures. ferences lie. I would like to believe that
capital, and so on), and then consistent- particular but the situation of exchange is particularity gains the representation of the right to belong to that identity. Any We may accept the hard-hitting righ- the exhausting but very important and
ly proclaim its task to be abolishing that universal), and is prepared to assertively universality, is what we call “hegemonic attempts at a dialogue are blocked by teousness of that position, but it does necessary work of fragmentation will
hegemonic order and advancing its own forestall any competing projects. Decolo- relations” and is precisely the composi- the argument that they show disrespect not change the simple empirical obser- lead to a new balance in one world con-
ideas in the interests of the forgotten and nization seriously and legitimately disrupts tional principle of the common system of and incur emotional damage, while any vation that such a criticism, according taining many worlds of resistance, as the
duped citizen, the hardworking adherent the Western model of universalism, but art practices. disagreement shows the impossibility of to its own inner logic, is fated to recre- Zapatistas have suggested. It looks like
of traditional values. has not really been able to challenge the Yet the very universality of the system dialogue and the aggressive rejection ate multiplying lines of schism, given we now have a unique chance to reach
In other words, the right today is re- narrative of economic globalization, and of art can be described as an unstable of contrary opinions. The fashionable, that making sense of the cartography of a different synthesis of the universal and
capturing lost ground by means of a tren- at the same time has shown an incapac- system - it exists in this constant tension widely popular metaphor of the trigger oppression grows more complex, while a new deep understanding of the particu-
chant and considered policy of develop- ity to construct alternative projects that between universality and particularity whose deployment elicits a painful psy- time is running out and vulnerabilities are lar. And we see this search in the intona-
ing a new historical bloc and conscious would be capable of uniting the contra- and composition of hegemony is not se- chic reaction, explains, to a great extent, increasing. Moreover, in the final analy- tions of many discussions and works of
political work on hegemonic relations. dictory narratives of the decolonized ter- cured once and for all but, on the con- how this mechanism for avoiding con- sis we may as well proceed to the final art, as well as in new struggles based on
All of these considerations speak to ritories and their histories. trary, is constantly being reevaluated. frontation with the other works. Triggers logical step that each of us is oppressor empathy and solidarity.
the fact that the ideas of hegemony still But universality can arise once again Until recently, the history of art could are pervasive throughout society, as it to herself, and work purely on what is to If we fail to make this happen in the
accurately describe lines of struggle in where there is the solidarity of a shared be accurately described using this com- splits into continually multiplying identi- be done with this knowledge. near term, the consequences will render
contemporary society and in cultural concern, when scattered particular position of hegemonic relations. But is ties and subcultures. Is there another way out of this oppo- all of our vital searches for a new world,
production, which are differently but no struggles become united in a collective that still true today? sition? It seems to me that there is a still embracing all emancipated identities,
less ideologized than in the 1930s. And it understanding that no micro-victory of It seems that now, after the destruc- In lieu of a conclusion more subtle dialectic when we declare meaningless.□
is important to insist that hegemony is not recognition can radically change the tion of modernist conventions, these the right to universalism a right shared
an archaic concept but a concrete ma- collective situation and only the union relations are suspended; full equality of I unexpectedly came across Mark by all - the only right capable of disman- References
terialist theory which allows us to grasp of various forms of struggle can form a everything with everything else has been Fisher’s “Exiting the Vampire Castle”9 tling the oppositions of oppression. To 1. Thanks to Kate Lyn Seidel for careful
a true image of the world in its emerging horizon of emancipation. Real politics is proclaimed, but as a result only what con- when I had more or less finished the first become more than oneself. To celebrate and insightful comments on this text in
contradictions. Most importantly, unlike possible as “the result of a specific dia- forms with the hegemony of the market draft of this article. Obviously, this was the external agency inside and outside general, and in particular for this import-

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

no accident, and it became one more ant observation.
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

other fashionable social theories, this is lectic between what we call the logic of can survive. The representation of univer- ourselves.
a militant one, one that creates precondi- difference and the logic of equivalence.”3 sality is fully defined by the price of work proof that those who share certain ideas I had the good fortune (or misfor- 2. The war in Ukraine and annexation of
Crimea by Russia had started shortly after
tions for transforming the situation. This can be denied or overlooked, but and the dictatorship of the small circle of should not surrender and must continue tune) to grow up and live half my life in
the series of attack on Soviet monuments
then we ought not be surprised when top private investors. All the rest persists to insist on dialogue. the Soviet Union; this means a great deal, in 2013.
The universal and the particular our political space is revealed to be fully as a screen of “archaism,” a cover story; In fact it would be difficult to add any- and may now have no meaning. As time 3. Here my speculations are based on the
captured by conservative ideas and the that is why so many politically and social- thing to Fisher’s text, since our diagnoses has gone on, it seems increasingly clear ideas of Hegemony and Socialist Strate-
All of these situations and many oth- market, while what remains for left-lib- ly-oriented works often feel hypocritical. largely coincide and the intervening that if anything can work miracles, the gy, written by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal
er symptoms of the changing state of the erals is the space containing the ruins Diversity in art is completely possible and years have seen many similar situations absence of private property can. It can Mouffe https://libcom.org/files/ernes-
world can be distilled into the eternal op- of culture and the activities of nonprof- welcomed without socialist hegemony, develop. Mark wrote very straightfor- create a completely different mindset. to-laclau-hegemony-and-socialist-strat-
egy-towards-a-radical-democratic-poli-

84 Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… 85
 tics.compressed.pdf
4. See Boris Groys “Art Power” The MIT
Elena Veljanovska ies of Godard and Fassbinder. Among
the most notable aspects of Chto Delat’s

“Mastering
Press Cambridge, Massachusetts Lon- work is their use of flexible methodol-
don, England, 2008
ogies based on horizontal learning and
5. I consider here the “event of art” as
any expanded presence in the society the knowledge exchange, creating condi-
works of artists, art exhibitions, museums tions for radical education and constant

the Art of
and archives, any art institutions with their exploration of emancipatory practices.
programs, self-organized artistic commu- As such their work combines theoret-
nities etc. ical background with sensorial, bodi-
6. See the discussions around TERFs”
ly expression and the development of
(short for trans-exclusionary radical fem-

Conviviality”
inist).
collective convivial tools for education
7. See the Jimmie Durham case: and learning. Additionally, their work is
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ characterized by a cross-generational
cherokee-curators-artists-jim- approach and active engagement with
mie-durham-cherokee-1007336 political and social issues.
8. See Hannah Black’s open letter:
http://www.artnews.com/2017/03/21/the-
The work methodology of the art collective Over the years since its formation the
group have expanded their educational
painting-must-go-hannah-black-pens-
open-letter-to-the-whitney-about-contro-
Chto delat? (‘What is to be done?’)1 projects so that today this work is one of
versial-biennial-work/ their main activities. In 2013 they initiated
9. See the action of God’s Will led by Chris- “We entered politics, the struggle, phers and writers from the cities of St. Pe- an educational platform in St. Petersburg
tian activist Enteo (Dmitry Tsorionov) and resistance, not through the news or ac- tersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. called ‘The School of Engaged Art’. This
the distruction of the work by Vadim Sidur: school was an educational platform for
tivism, but through literature, essays, Their first project together was when
https://www.interfax.ru/culture/460456 addressing gaps in current teaching about
10. See the article and follow-up discus- films, in general through art. And as we they published an international newspa-
know, it is this combination of indigenous per with the title Chto Delat? - meaning engaged art practices and critical artistic
sions here: https://www.opendemocracy.
net/ourkingdom/mark-fisher/exiting-vam- people, science and art, that gave us the ‘What is to be Done?’, which became the approaches. In this way Chto Delat have
pire-castle phenomenon of Chiapas… Ah fuck! The name of the collective, alluding to the positioned themselves as a prolific politi-
11. It is very important to see how simi- mosquitos are biting!” title of a 19th century novel by Nikolay cal actor in the art world and in society at
lar issues are discussed in the politics Summer School of slow introduction large. In the past few years the collective
Chernyshevsky about the first socialist
and theory of black anti-racist activists has produced a great amount of valuable
such as Asad Haider - as Judith Butler
to Zapatism, (Excerpt from a video con- workers’ self-organization movement in
versation) “The point where the mosqui- Russia - a question also used by Lenin as work through this educational model,
writes, “… Haider writes in an open and
persuasive prose to show how identity is tos start biting”, (3 channel video instal- the title for his famous pamphlet of 1902. which also shapes their methodology of
always partial and ambivalent, deflecting lation, from 2:00 min.) From the outset, Chto Delat has been work. Below I have sought to provide an
from the larger racial ideologies while re- focused on translating issues from local accessible overview of their work by re-
producing its terms”. https://www.verso- The work of the Chto Delat collective cultural politics into a global context: viewing three of their recent projects.
books.com/books/2716-mistaken-identity
has an atmosphere of light-heartedness “Chto Delat sees itself as an artistic cell
chattiness and playfulness - the result of and also as a community organizer for a Performance: Becoming with the
bringing together different generations variety of cultural activities intent on po- Museum
and pursuing a range of conversations, liticizing ‘knowledge production’.”2 With
practices and movements. And yet with- this approach the collective has placed its This performance in the Museum of
in this atmosphere there is also taking work on a firm ideological path in which Contemporary Art in Skopje was the re-
place the heavy work of unravelling op- the role of intellectuals in society is to sult of five days of preparation as part of
pressive power structures and experi- serve as educators promoting social jus- the 2017 Festival for Critical Culture (CRIC)
menting with various forms of learning. tice and equality. The group’s artistic lan- held annually (since 2016) by the Kontra-
Multiple practices and pedagogies come guage has been consistently developed punkt Association of Citizens from Sko-
together in this work, but the overarching to reinforce this idea. pje. The theme of the 2017 Festival was
element is always that of critically exam- The collective’s artistic activities are ‘Constant transition - trapped in broken

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

ining and challenging power structures, realized in various formats and in various mirrors’ and dealt with the never-ending
including those structures that currently media, including plays, performances, process of transition and transformation
dominate the art world. videos, murals, art projects and sum- to democracy in Eastern Europe.
Chto Delat first came together as a mer schools. Their ideological work is in The Museum of Contemporary Art in
group in St. Petersburg in May 2003 when tune with the theoretical tenets of radi- Skopje was built after the massive earth-
they organized an action called ‘The Re- cal thinkers such as Jacques Rancière quake in Skopje 1963 as a donation of
foundation of St. Petersburg’. The core and Ivan Illich, while their practices are the Polish government. Its collection of
membership of the collective includes strongly influenced by Bertolt Brecht’s mainly 20th century modern art was do-
artists, critics, philosophers, choreogra- concept of ‘learning-play’ and the mov- nated by renowned contemporary artists,

86 Dimitry Vielnsky: We Have a Situation Here… Elena Veljanovska: “Mastering the Art of Conviviality” 87
 including Calder, Picasso and Vasarely. the ideas of the International Zapatista
The story of the Museum’s origins is it- movement and their working methods
self a great story of art and solidarity, and principles as “new possibilities for
deeply appreciated and embedded in the ‘rootedness’ that could be used to over-
memory of local citizens and especially come the conservative logic”.
among artists and art professionals. This The overarching methodological prin-
is why the performance took the Muse- ciple of the school was to explore ways
um of Contemporary Art as its subject of living and breathing conviviality. It
matter. It was based on the narrative of was an attempt to embody theory into an
Solidarity through art and of valuing each art practice in which the students were
encounter with artworks as an active equally engaged by theory and practice.
process that transforms the viewer. The The range of bodily practices focussed
performance focused on the quiet reflec- on three pillars: creating a collective
tion of experiencing an artwork by each body, creating collective memory, and
participant, and through their stories creating a collective experience. These
tried to create a symbiosis between the three pillars together managed to estab-
participant’s memory, the artwork and lish the connecting notion of conviviality,
the space, thus creating a situation of a by self-arranging methods of convivial
symbolic becoming ‘with’ the museum. In living that appeared within the group over Becoming with the Museum_17.12.2018_MoCA Skopje
this way, the group used the potential of the course of ten days sharing the space
transforming a story into a bodily action, and thoughts. One of the most interesting
Go and Stop Progress_07-17.08.2018_Vierte Welt Berlin
connecting the space and the collective aspects was reflective memory reading,
body that walks and talks as one without ated a temporary living commune for two the legendary words of Kazimir Malevich where each participant had to connect
suppressing individuality. weeks. This long and slow process was - “Go and stop progress!” - as its theme an event from the present that was influ-
based on another important principle and aimed at exploring different ideas enced by one from the past. This exercise
The Summer School of Orientation in of Zapatism: the principle of adopting a and practices questioning the notion of generated shared memories that were
Zapatism (2017) different type of temporality in education, ‘progress’. Topics included performance then used in shaping the content of the fi-
i.e. “slow learning”. The school included theory, the limits of cultural theory, the nal event - the open lesson. Furthermore,
Chto Delat’s ‘Summer School of Ori- a reading group, communal practices and burning issue of anthropogenic influenc- they served as a collective fund from
entation in Zapatism’ aimed at introduc- bodily movements and exercises. The final es on the climate, and the links between which each group could ‘borrow’ a sto-
ing and embodying the ideas of Zapatism result was a three-channel video instal- the natural sciences and art. The project ry when necessary, resulting in a pool of
in Russia. The project was based on the lation in which the students reflected on further critically examined the so-called mixed biographies, places and memories.
idea of opening a Zapatista embassy to learned ideas to gain deeper insights into ‘Capitalocene era’ by discussing cryp- Another aspect of the project was the use
spread the collective’s ideas and meth- Zapatism. The film is at the same time an to-currencies and economic progress in of the Brechtian ‘Learning Play’ of formu-
odology across the world. One of the open lesson in Zapatism and an attempt relation to the use of natural resources. lating and taking up positions in front of
leading principles of Zapatism is encuen- to go deeper into the European pastoral This rich content was framed by engaged audiences.
tro (encounter), which opens up possibil- tradition, as well as an anticipation of the “two different approaches to the potenti- What unites all the projects and
ities for developing horizontal relation- future embassy in Russia and a reflection ality of liberation”. The first of these was connects the work of the Chto Delat col-
ships and space for discussion and for of the process of being together. the Marxist link between emancipation lective in general is a true feeling for the
listening and learning with and from each The goal of the school was to specif- and linear technical progress, or rather importance of the collective, for solidar-
member of the community. Other notable ically connect the younger participants the ‘left accelerationists’ position which ity against power, and for empathy and
principles related to education employed with reflection, and how to relate and in- believes capital will ‘dig its own grave’. determined hope in building a better so-
by the movement include educar produc- tegrate the learned theory and practical The second approach is based on the ciety through resistance.□
iendo, meaning to educate by producing, aspects of the Zapatistas methodology idea of knowledge produced by the indig-
and educar apreniendo - to educate by in order to challenge Russian/ European enous/vernacular cosmogony, in which
learning. The general approach is one References
ways of living. Another aspect was the “progress is considered as barbaric ex- 1. The core group includes: Tsaplya Olga
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

of learning how to learn anew, learning attempt to integrate lessons from local ploitation and destruction of resources Egorova (artist), Artiom Magun (philoso-
how to re-establish relationships with lo- indigenous experiences of living in har- and human lives, and it is based on geno- pher), Nikolay Oleynikov (artist), Natalia
cal and indigenous peoples and commu- mony with surrounding nature into every- cide and ecocide”. These ideas were Pershina / Glucklya (artist), Alexey Penzin
nities in order to use indigenous knowl- day socio-political and cultural life. confronted and discussed over ten days (philosopher), Alexander Skidan (poet and
edge to empower the global struggle in order to assess the current state of in- critic), Oxana Timofeeva (philosopher),

THE LARGE GLASS

against neoliberalism. Mastering the Art of Conviviality creasing economically progressivist and
Dmitry Vilensky (artist) and Nina Gasteva
The Summer School took place in (choreographer).
politically conservative forces that are 2. The statement by Chto delat, assessed
Russia in 2017, where a group of 17 young The Summer School organised by the endangering emancipatory ideas. In this on 1 November 2018 on the following link:
people shared a country house and cre- Chto Delat collective in Berlin in 2018 took spirit the school additionally discussed https://chtodelat.org/

88 Elena Veljanovska: “Mastering the Art of Conviviality” Elena Veljanovska: “Mastering the Art of Conviviality” 89
 Forensic Eyal Weizman
from Forensic Architecture:

Aesthetics
Violence at the Threshold of
Detectability (New York: Zone
Books, 2017) pp. 94-96

Collaboration between artists and the human rights movement is not a new phenom- References
enon. Photographers, filmmakers, and artists have worked with human rights organiza- 1. See, for one example, Alain Badiou,
tions since the birth of the human rights move ment in the mid-1970s. Human rights groups Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding
of Evil, trans. Peter Hallward (London:
made good use of the affective power of the arts in helping stir public compassion. And
Verso, 2001).
the emergence and development of a human rights sensibility and its attention to victims 2. Michael Sfrad, a human rights lawyer
opened a new pathway for artists to engage with political issues. The compassionate and a frequent collaborator, explained
sensibility that developed was different from the revolutionary aesthetics of the modern that “architects were now those able to
political art of the early twentieth century. It sometimes bypassed the desire for overarch- show lawyers things that lawyers can’t
ing historical and political narratives in favor of accounts of personal tragedies.1 Register- see.” Michael Sfrad, in conversation at
his office, January 2013. He repeated
ing this entangled development and the emergent sensibility that ensued, the reception
a similar point in a conversation with
rooms of human rights organizations were often dedicated to art and photography exhi- Susan Schuppli at The Architecture of
bitions of this kind. However, with several important exceptions, artists’ work was kept Public Truth conference at the Haus
external to, and merely illustrative of, the actual investigative work. der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, organized
Forensic architecture seeks to shift away from this use of the arts and to employ aes- alongside the opening of the Forensis
thetic sensibilities as investigation resources. Forensics is, anyway, itself an aesthetic exhibition, March 2014, http://www.hkw.
practice because it depends on both the modes and the means by which incidents are de/en/programm/projekte/veranstal-

Engaged Visual
tung/p_100468.php.
sensed, recorded, and presented. Investigative aesthetics seeks to slow down time and
3. Keenan and Weizman, Mengele’s
intensifies sensibility to space, matter, and image. It also seeks to devise new modes of Skull, p. 24.
narration in the articulation of truth claims.2
“Forensic aesthetics” is a term that Thomas Keenan and I proposed in our book Menge-

Methodologies,
le’s Skull.3 We used it to describe the way in which forensic presentations involve aes-
thetic techniques that are often in excess of the strict requirement of science. Aesthetics
is differently employed in each of the three sites of forensic operation: the field, the lab/
studio, and the forum. The first and basic level of forensic aesthetics is that of “material

Unearthing Data
aesthetics”: the modes and means by which material objects - bones, ruins, or land-
scapes - function as sensors and register changes in their environment. Matter can be
regarded as an aesthetic sensorium inasmuch as its formal transformations register the

and Memories

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Images produced using photo-
graphs of Mengele and images of
his skull in Richard Helmer’s face-
skull super imposition demonstra-
tion, Medico-Legal Institute labs,
Sгo Paulo, Brazil, June 1985. cour-
tesy of Maja Helmer

Eyal Weizman: Forensic Aesthetics 91

 different forces around it. Material aesthetics is both prior and primary to human per- 4. Bruno Latour, “The Anthropocene trial of Franзois Bazaramba, a Rwandan Forensis. For more recent changes to the
ception, apprehension, and judgment. The meaning of aesthetics in this context is close and the Destruction of the Image of the national, in a district court of Porvoo, British court system, see BBC, “TV Cam-
to the one it had in ancient Greece, in which to sense is to be aestheticized, just as, Globe,” Latour’s fourth Gifford Lecture, Finland. The court was set up in a local eras Allowed into Court of Appeal,” Octo-
delivered February 25, 2013, http://www. basketball court. Because the trial ne- ber 31, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
inversely, to be unaestheticized is to make oneself numb to perception. For Bruno Latour,
ed.ac.uk/humanities-soc-sci/news- cessitated the remote interrogation of uk-24744684. The new building of the ICC,
aesthetics designates the ability to perceive and to be concerned, “to render oneself events/lectures/gifford-lectures/archive/ the accused via teleconference, the legal which opened in early 2016, was designed
sensitive, a capacity that precedes any distinction between the instruments of science, of series-2012- principle of habeas corpus, which usually to closely integrate physical and media
art and of politics.”4 While aesthetics is generally understood as what pertains to human 2013/bruno-latour/lecture-four. demands the physical presence of the ac- architecture.
senses and perception, “material aesthetics” instead captures the way in which matter 5. Whitehead, Process and Reality, pp. cused, was reinterpreted as the threshold
absorbs or prehends (rather than apprehends or comprehends) its environment. Such 3-4 and 249. “Non-sensuous perception” condition of various technologies - band-
for Whitehead is limited to living entities, width, resolution, and automatic light
“non-sensuous perception,” proposed by the early twentieth-century English mathema-
but it is suggestive of the possibility of its detectors - that would allow the remotely
tician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, can help form the link between human extension because perception, for him, is assembled court to see a person blush
sensing and material sensors. Matter prehends by absorbing environmental themes into not limited to the human or even to the liv- or sweat. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sidsel
its material organization. Aesthetics, conceived in this way, is the mode and means by ing, but is a property of all material forms. Meineche Hansen, Lorenzo Pezzani, and
which material things relate to each other.5 See also Melanie Sehgal, “A Situated Oliver Rees (Model Court), “Resolution 978
Such an aesthetics of sentient materiality is familiar to the forensic anthropologist, who Metaphysics: Things, History, and Prag- HD: A Visual Essay,” in Forensis, pp. 310-
sees in the texture of bones a medium in which extended processes of life - habits, labor, matic Speculation in A. N. Whitehead,” 17, http://www.forensic-architecture.org/
in The Allure of Things, eds. Roland Faber file/resolution-978hd. In the 1945 Nurem-
nutrition patterns, as well as abrupt incidents - become texture and form. It is also a
and Andrew Goffey (London: Bloomsbury, berg trials, in which twenty-one major
familiar concept to the building surveyor, who seeks to identify the processes that lead 2014). See also John Durham Peters, The Nazi war criminals faced judgment, films
to a building failure, such as a structural crack. Bones and buildings could be said to be Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy were screened as part of the process, and
“aestheticized” to their environment because their deformations register variations and of Elemental Media (Chicago: University the proceedings were themselves filmed.
differences within their surroundings. Inversely, these formal mutations image (a verb) of Chicago Press, 2015), p. 4. American architect Dan Kiley supervised
the environment. Not everything gets registered in a similar fashion - some things get 6. In the opening pages of Matter and the refurbishment of the old Nuremberg
recorded, and some things fade with time. Memory, Henri Bergson writes: “Matter court. The innovation was that the judg-
is an aggregate of ‘images.’ And by ‘im- es were placed to one side, facing the
While in the nineteenth century, celluloid soaked in gelatin and silver salt particles was
age’ we mean a certain existence which accused, while the central perspective
the means - through photography - to record its relation to the environment around it, is more than that which the idealist calls was occupied by the screen, allowing
today, some digital instruments are sensitive enough to help us read the way different a representation, but less than that which the public a direct view of it. The screen
surfaces that have not been designated as sensors may function as such. A table top, for the realist calls a thing - an existence served as a link between the accused, the
example, senses the room in which it is located, objects, hot or cold placed on it, as well placed halfway between the ‘thing’ and judges, and the public. During his opening
as the heat and radiation of living matter in various degrees of proximity to it. Material the ‘representation.’” Henri Bergson, address Judge Jackson said, “We will
Matter and Memory, trans. Nancy M. show you these concentration camps in
aesthetics is the quality of relations between things - the being of matter in the world, its
Paula and W. Scott Palmer (New York: motion pictures, just as the Allied armies
ability to absorb and the degree to which it might. This understanding of material relations Zone Books, 1988), p. 9. found them when they arrived.” A film,
extends the principles of photography to the rest of the material world, breaking film’s and 7. Susan Schuppli examines the proce- shot at Dachau on May 5, 6, and 7, 1945, by
digital photography’s monopoly over registration and visual representation. The inverse dures by which media artifacts in the the Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) was
must also be true: as objects become images, images should be studied as things, parts archive of the ICTY were turned into ev- screened on November 29, 1945. Chris-
of the material world.6 Still, to be read as sensors, the transformations of material objects idence. As she follows the movement of tian Delage, “The Nuremberg Trials: Con
must be captured by other sensors, such as photographs, analog or digital, remote or videotapes, satellite images, maps, and fronting the Nazis with the Images of Their
recording devices through a juridical Crimes,” in Images of Conviction, pp. 131-
proximate, single or hyperspectral, that translate the sensorial capacity of matter into
matrix that sorts, archives, catalogs, and 49. For more on the use of media in the
data and help make sense of them. presents them, these objects become Nuremberg trials, see Cornelia Vismann,
On the next level, in the forum, the term “forensic aesthetics” refers to the mode by what she calls “material witnesses”: “Tele-Tribunals: Anatomy of a Medium,”
which things are presented. It involves different techniques and technologies of demon- that is, they bear witness not only to the Grey Room 10 (Winter 2003). The 1961
stration, rhetoric, and performance - gestures, narrative and dramatization, image en- alleged criminal events, but to the very Eichmann trial in Jerusalem saw the first
hancement and projection. All this takes place in the media environment. International sorting process they underwent in order use of video cameras in this process. See
criminal courts and tribunals depend on video cameras to conduct their proceedings. to qualify as evidence. Susan Schuppli, Rony Brauman and Eyal Sivan, Adolf Eich-
“Entering Evidence: Cross-Examining the mann: The Nazi Criminal Who Organized
Each participant in the trials of the ICC or ICTY sits in front of a screen. The legal teams
Court Records of the ICTY,” in Forensis, the Destruction of the Jewish People (Tu-
watch these screens for the images, documents, or videos presented to all sides simul- pp. 263-300. See also Susan Schuppli, A rin: Einaudi, 2003). And see their film The
taneously in evidence. Face-to-face interaction has been superseded by face-to-screen Material Witness: Forensic Media and the Specialist: Portrait of a Modern Criminal

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

or screen-to-screen communication, as Susan Schuppli and others have demonstrated.7 Making of Evidence (Cambridge, MA: MIT (1999). In the context of the more recent
This is very different from traditional courts, which are still largely allergic to the pres- Press, forthcoming). process of the tribunals of the ICTR and
ence of media. But it has a precedent: in the Nuremberg trials, a screen was set at the 8. The Model Court collective describes the ICTY, videos are used extensively. On
the ways in which new audio-visual and the media architecture of the ICTY, see
apex of the courtroom’s perspective, otherwise reserved for the judges. Now the spaceof
telecommunication technologies, their Laura Kurgan, “Residues: ICTY Courtroom
international tribunals resembles more a film set or a live-broadcast studio, recording material presence, digital properties, in- No. 1 and the Architecture of Justice,” in
and archiving the processes that unfold in front of multiple cameras and screens. It is for terruptions, and breakdowns outline the Alphabet City 7: Social Insecurity, eds.
this reason, perhaps, that the ICTY could be established in the anonymity of the rented contemporary sphere of universal juris- Cornelius Heesters and Len Guenther (To-
floors of a former insurance building and the ICC could fit comfortably within the former diction. Their film and installation Reso- ronto: House of Anansi, 2000), pp. 112-29;
headquarters of a mobile phone company.8□ lution 978HD (2013) follows the genocide Susan Schuppli, “Entering Evidence,” in

92 Eyal Weizman: Forensic Aesthetics Eyal Weizman: Forensic Aesthetics 93

 This corridor in the prison, known to be linear, was
experienced by a survivor while he was tortured and
A detainee works with Forensic Architec- the space was distorted by the traumatic conditions
ture researchers to recreate elements of at the moment the memory was encoded. Image:
the prison in April 2016. Image: Forensic Forensic Architecture, 2016
Architecture, 2016
 Unearthing State
the victims, a series of investigations internationally into state crimes and human rights
violations, spanning events from war crimes to instances of politically and racially mo-
Forensic tivated violence to the lethal effects of the EU’s policies of non-assistance for migrants
Architecture in the Mediterranean. These investigations have led to the contestation of accounts of

Violence
events given by state authorities, affecting legal and human rights processes, giving
Reports rise to citizen tribunals and truth commissions, military, parliamentary and UN inquiries.
Through these forums, this analysis has provided unique and decisive evidence about
incidents with which other methods could not have engaged.
Through their detailed and critical investigations, Forensic Architecture presents how
public truth is produced - technologically, architecturally, and aesthetically - and how it
Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of Lon- can be used to confront authority and to expose new forms of state-led violence.
don, consisting of architects, artists, filmmakers, journalist, software developers, scien-
tists, lawyers, and an extended network of collaborators from a wide variety of fields and 1.Torture in Saydnaya Prison
disciplines. Founded in 2010 by Prof. Eyal Weizman, FA is committed to the development
and dissemination of new evidentiary techniques and undertakes advanced architectural
and media investigations on behalf of international prosecutors, human rights and civil
society groups, as well as political and environmental justice organisations, including
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’tselem, Bureau of Investigative Journal-
ism, and the UN, among others.
‘Forensic architecture’ is also an emergent academic field that refers to the produc-
tion and presentation of architectural evidence in legal forums, including courts, and for
advocacy purposes. Both ‘forensics’ and ‘architecture’ refer to well-established disci-
plinary frames; brought together, they shift each other’s meaning, giving rise to a different
mode of practice. While architecture turns the attention of forensics to buildings, details,
cities, and landscapes, and adds an essential method of investigation, forensics turns ar-
chitecture into an investigative practice, and demands that architects pay close attention Saydnaya prison, as reconstructed
to the materiality of the built environment and its representation through data and media. by Forensic Architecture using ar-
The necessity for Forensic Architecture as a practice emerges from the fact that con- chitectural and acoustic modelling.
temporary conflicts increasingly take place within urban areas where homes and neigh- Image: Forensic Architecture, 2016
bourhoods become targets and most civilian casualties occur within cities and buildings.
Crucial evidence is now generated on an unprecedented scale by both civilians and par- Working with Amnesty International, Forensic Architecture reconstructed an architec- Credits
ticipants in conflict and shared widely across social and mainstream platforms. tural model of Saydnaya, a secret Syrian detention center, from the memories of several of Commissioned by: Amnesty
its survivors, then living as refugees in Turkey. In recent years, no visits from independent International
While such developments have contributed to the complexity of forms of conflict and Witnesses: Samer, Diab, Jamal,
control, they have also enabled new means of monitoring. As urban battlefields become journalists or monitoring groups have been permitted into the prison. It is estimated that
Salam, Anas
ever denser and more complex data and media environments, FA believes that human since 2011, thousands of prisoners (both civilian detainees and anti-government rebels) Project team: Eyal Weizman
rights analysis must fully engage with the challenges of new media and the participatory, have been killed. Survivors’ memories are the only resource with which to recreate the (Principal Investigator), Christina
citizen-generated, and open-source evidence generated therein. spaces, conditions of incarceration, and incidents that took place inside Saydnaya. But
the Varvia (Project Coordinator),
Hania
Grounded in the use of architecture as a methodological and analytic device, with process of recollection is not straightforward: prisoners were kept in a state of constant Jamal, Ana Naomi de Sousa,
disorienting sensory deprivation. Held in darkness and enforced silence, never allowed to Simone Rowat, Néstor Rubio, Stefan
which to investigate armed conflicts, environmental destruction and other political strug-
see outside their own cell, the survivors’ experiences were at the threshold of both vision Laxness, Pierre-François Gerard,
gles, Forensic Architecture’s new forms of investigations cross-reference multiple evi- Yamen Albadin, George Clipp, Hala
dence sources by employing spatial and material analysis, remote sensing, mapping and and hearing.
Makhlouf, Ghias Aljundi, Samaneh
reconstruction, and extend outwards to overlay elements of witness testimony and the The model-building process interrogated these sensory thresholds. Architectural and Moafi, Hana Rizvanolli, Franc Camps
cumulative forms of visual documentation enabled by contemporary media. acoustic modelling helped the former detainees locate windows, doors and objects such Febrer
Tools and techniques developed by FA for analysing and presenting state and corporate as blankets and torture devices. The witnesses’ memories of sounds were heightened be- Audio investigation: Lawrence Abu
violations of human rights across the globe involve modelling dynamic events as they cause of their visual deprivation and they were able to depict in detail the sound signatures Hamdan
of cells and other areas of the prison, as well as guard’s footsteps and torture techniques. Collaborators: Gochan Yildirim /
unfold in space and time by creating navigable 3D models, filmic animations of environ-
Working with audio investigator Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Forensic Architecture recon- 1635film-istanbul, Nadim Mishlawi /
ments undergoing conflict, and conceiving of interactive cartographies on the urban or

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

DB Studios, Mihai Meirosu / Nvision

architectural scale. The agency also develops open source software that facilitates col- structed the acoustic dimension of the building using techniques such as ‘echo-profiling’.
Audio
lective research together with victim groups and stake holders. The technical process of interviewing through modelling helped survivors recall events Thanks to: Vasif Kortun / SALT
The beneficiaries of FA’s research are the victims of human rights violations, commu- otherwise obscured by trauma and violence. Modelling thus bridged the otherwise sepa- Galata, Fiona Gabbert / Goldsmiths’
nities at risk in conflict zones, their representatives or organizations advocating or pros- rate and distinct functions of testimony and evidence. University Forensic Psychology Unit
ecuting on their behalf. FA presents their evidence in written, video, and/or interactive Using the resulting digital 3D model and accompanying witness testimonies Forensic Ar-
form to convey complex human rights violations in a convincing, precise, and accessible chitecture generated
an interactive online platform that enables users to navigate through
manner, crucial for the pursuit of accountability. the prison, and hear testimonies of the severe levels of torture and ritual violence located
In recent years, Forensic Architecture has undertaken, together with and on behalf of within Saydnaya.
The publication of this report attracted the online fire
of supporters of Syrian president

96 Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence 97
 Bashar al-Assad,
who described Forensic Architecture’s methods as ‘fake news’ and ‘spe-
cial effects’, and finally of al-Assad himself, who called it a fabrication meant to ‘vilify and
smear the Syrian government’. In March 2017, the platform was submitted to the Federal
German Prosecution as
a part of a universal jurisdiction case against the Syrian leadership.
In May 2017, the US State Department released aerial images that purportedly identified the
chimneys of a crematorium built at Saydnaya to dispose of the bodies of those executed
there.
2.Airstrikes in Atimah

By mapping the sky to the inside of

a sphere, we track the motion of a
mounted camera and match the drift-
ing movements of the vessels in the
scene. Image: Forensic Oceanogra-
phy and Forensic Architecture, 2018

institutional bodies in Italy. While this campaign had remained largely on a discursive Project Team Forensic
Using clips found on social media level, over the summer of 2017 it quickly escalated with the Italian government’s attempt Oceanography: Charles Heller,
websites, Forensic Architecture to impose a “code of conduct” on rescue NGOs. An intense standoff ensued as several Lorenzo Pezzani
investigated and located three air- Project Team Forensic Architecture:
NGOs, from larger organisations such as Doctors without Borders to smaller ones such
strikes on 8 March 2015, near the Nathan Su, Christina Varvia, Eyal
town of Atimah in Syria and the dis- as the German Jugend Rettet (‘Youth Rescue’), refused to sign it before the announced
Weizman, Grace Quah
placed persons camp of the same deadline of 31 July 2017, claiming that the code would have threatened their activities at Technical consultants: Rossana
name. No nation has so far claimed sea with requests that a leading legal scholar had described as “nonsensical”, “dishon- Padaletti (GIS) and Richard
responsibility for the attack. Image: est” and “illegal”. Limeburner (Oceanography)
Forensic Architecture, 2015 On 2 August 2017, only days after this deadline had passed, Jugend Rettet’s ship, the Footage and stills by Jugend Rettet
Iuventa, was seized by the Italian judiciary. Its crew was accused of having colluded with e.V. and Reuters
smugglers during three different rescue operations: the first on the 10 September 2016, Realised with the support
On 8 March 2015, three bombs landed near the Turkey-Syria border, between the town Credits of Borderline Europe, the
of Atimah in Syria and an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp where more than thirty Project team: Eyal Weizman the second and third on 18 June 2017. The order of seizure contended that on those occa- WatchTheMed platform and
thousand civilians were sheltered. (Principal Investigator); Christina sions the Iuventa was being used to “aiding and abetting illegal immigration” by arrang- Transmediale
No military force has claimed responsibility for this attack, but Forensic Architecture Varvia (Video Editing, Spatial ing the direct handover of migrants by smugglers and returning empty boats for re-use.
Analysis); and Chris Woods The video presented here offers a counter-investigation of the authorities’ version, and
(FA) determined it was likely to be a US strike on al-Qaeda militants who operated in the
(Voiceover) a refutation of their accusations. While the latter operate by decontextualizing factual
area. Collaborator: Airwars
The analysis sought to confirm the exact location of each strike. People in the camp elements and recombining them into a spurious chain of events, our analysis attempts in-
and in Atimah photographed the bomb clouds shortly after the strike, and uploaded their stead to cross-reference all elements of evidence into a coherent spatio-temporal model.
images and videos to the internet. FA verified two sources to be of the same strike, from This is made possible by the exponential increase in video documentation recorded by
different perspectives - one from the town and the other from the IDP camp. NGOs and other actors at sea. From our reconstruction, it appears that the Iuventa crew
Forensic Architecture reconstructed the cameras’ locations and their cone of vision, did not return empty boats for re-use, nor communicate with anyone potentially connect-
and intersected these perspectives to locate the strike. Comparing the size of the smoke ed with smuggling networks. The materials we have reviewed further show the Iuventa
plumes with those of other known bombs in our archive, FA estimated that these were crew’s professionalism and commitment to saving lives at sea.
one-ton bombs. While no charges have been so far brought against the crew of the Iuventa nor against
Jugend Rettet as an organisation, thus making it extremely difficult for them to respond to
3.The Iuventa these accusations, the boat has remained under custody of the Italian police in the port
Counter-investigation of the events leading to the seizure of an NGO rescue vessel of Trapani, Sicily.
18 June 2017 The attempt to criminalise and limit the rescue activities of the NGOs, most of whom
An investigation by Forensic Oceanography and Forensic Architecture have been forced to suspend their activities since summer 2017, should be understood as
Realised with the support of Borderline Europe, the WatchTheMed platform and Trans- part of a two-pronged strategy by Italian and EU authorities to close off the central Med-

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

mediale iterranean at all cost. This undeclared operation, which we have dubbed “Mare Clau-
As demonstrated in our report Blaming the Rescuers, since the end of 2016, a growing sum”, also includes the provision of technical, political and material support to the Libyan
campaign of de-legitimisation and criminalisation has systematically targeted non-gov- coast guard. The latter has not only increasingly threatened rescue NGOs at sea, but also
ernmental organisations (NGOs) engaged in search and rescue in the Mediterranean. intercepted and returned more and more migrants back to Libya. In this way, European
These organisations had courageously deployed their own rescue missions in a desper- authorities have been physically containing migrants in a country where their lives are
ate attempt to fill the gap left by the EU and its member states’ decision to pull back from endangered, and their human rights are systematically violated. Meanwhile, migrant soli-
rescue at sea at the end of 2014. darity groups have been attacked and criminalised all over Europe and beyond, from Les-
In our report we analysed and countered the arguments used to fuel a “toxic narrative” vos to Calais, from Tangier to Bardonecchia, from the Roja valley in France to Denmark.
against rescue NGOs, which emanated from EU agencies such as Frontex and different

98 Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence 99
At the moment where NGO vessel Iuventa first photographed two migrant boats in distress, we capture the relative positions of the ves-
sels by mapping the surface of the image onto the surface of the sea. Image: Forensic Oceanography and Forensic Architecture, 2018
 4.The Ayotzinapa Case: A Cartography Of Violence It demonstrates, in a clear graphic and cartographic form, the level of collusion and
coordination between state agencies and organised crime, throughout the night.
Comparing, for example, the movement of different security agencies - municipal, state
and federal police forces and the military - in relation to the times and location of the
attacks, investigators can identify how each of these groups acted that night and how -
actively or by omission - they bear responsibility for what transpired.
The platform also clearly identifies contradictions between the testimonies of the po-
lice, surviving students or alleged members of criminal organisations and the findings of
the GIEI.
A ‘play’ function allows users to observe the way events unfolded in time and space,
allowing users to explore the different stages of the events and the movements of people
and vehicles throughout the night.
The project thus reveals a cartography of violence spanning from the street corner level
to the entire state of Guerrero. It describes an act of violence that is no longer a singular
Forensic Architecture used avail- event but a prolonged act, which persists to this day in the continued absence of the 43
able photographic evidence from the students.
scene to inform their 3D models. Im- It also seeks to demonstrate the ways in which collective civil society initiatives, un-
age: Forensic Architecture, 2017 dertaking independent investigations using innovative analytical tools, could help inves-
tigate complex crimes and confront criminal impunity and the failures of Mexican law
On the night of 26-27 September 2014, students from the Rural Normal School of Ayo- Forensic Architecture Team: enforcement.
tzinapa were attacked in the town of Iguala, Guerrero, by local police in collusion with Coordination, research and In particular, it reaffirms our commitment to heal the open wound of the Ayotzinapa
criminal organisations. Numerous other branches of the Mexican security apparatus ei- production: Eyal Weizman (principal case, and to work until the truth of the night is clarified, and the students’ whereabouts
investigator), Stefan Laxness
ther participated in or witnessed the events, including state and federal police and the are known.
(project coordinator), Marina Azahua
military. Six people were murdered - including three students - forty wounded, and 43 (researcher), Irving Huerta (CIJ’s NOTE: While this platform seeks to employ available data objectively and accurately,
students were forcibly disappeared. Gavin MacFadyen Investigative the sheer amount of information related to this case means that some inaccuracies might
The whereabouts of the students remains unknown, and their status as ‘disappeared’ fellow), Nadia Mendez (architectural persist. We have made all our data public to enable users to further explore it and suggest
persists to this day. Instead of attempting to solve this historic crime, the Mexican state researcher), Theo Resnikoff corrections or refinements.□
has failed the victims, and the rest of Mexican society, by constructing a fraudulent and (journalist), Belén Rodriguez
inconsistent narrative of the events of that night. (architectural researcher), Sarah
Nankivell (programme manager),
Forensic Architecture was commissioned by and worked in collaboration with the Equi-
Ariel Caine (film-maker), Nicholas
po Argentino de Antropologia Forense (EAAF) and Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Masterton (film-maker), Simone
Agustín Pro Juárez (Centro Prodh) to conceive of an interactive cartographic platform Rowat (film-maker), Nathan Su
to map out and examine the different narratives of this event. The project aims to recon- (film-maker), Nathalie Tjia (design
struct, for the first time, the entirety of the known events that took place that night in and and production), Bob Trafford
around Iguala, and provide a forensic tool for researchers to further the investigation. (communication production),
The data on which the platform is based is draw from publicly available investigations, Christina Varvia (film-making and
production).
videos, media stories, photographs and phone logs. Design and software development:
The first and most important of our sources are two reports by a group of five experts Franc Camps-Febrer (design and
referred to as the International Group of Independent Experts (GIEI). The GIEI was ap- software development lead), Anso
pointed by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to carry out - with the con- Studio (Petros Kataras y Emmanouil
sent of both the state and the families of the victims - a thorough investigation of the case. Matsis) (design and 3D engineering),
Their year-long work highlighted inconsistencies and irregularities in the official state Nestor Camilo Vargas (interaction
design)
investigations and proposed a series of recommendations regarding the search for the
Thanks to: John Gibler, Rosario
missing students. Güiraldes, Pablo Dominguez, Virginia
Another important source for the work is a book by journalist John Gibler, ‘An Oral Histo- Vieira, Témoris Grecko, Manuel
ry of Infamy’. From October 2014, Gibler undertook interviews with the surviving students Ángel Macía, Rosa Rogina, Other

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Means, Centre for Investigative
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

of the Iguala attacks. These testimonies provide an invaluable oral history of the event
from the point of view of its victims. Journalism (CIJ), Taller cartográfico
Thousands of pages of reports have thereafter been broken down into almost five thou- “Ariles” and the surviving
Ayotzinapa students and the families
sand data-points, each recording a single reported incident, such as an instance of two-
of the 43 disappeared for their
way communication, movements or the mishandling of evidence. These data-points have tireless struggle for truth.
been located, timed and tagged according to the actors involved, and the type of incident
they describe. Each data-point is also assigned a narrative description.
The platform enables user to explore the relationship between thousands of events and
hundreds of actors, by switching different data-tags on and off.

102 Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence Forensic Architecture: Unearthing State Violence 103
 The platform, and the interactive models and
videos within it, demonstrate the level of collu-
sion and coordination between state agencies
and organised crime throughout the night.
Image: Forensic Architecture, 2017

The Ayotzinapa Platform enables

users to explore the relationship
between thousands of events
and hundreds of actors from the
night of 26-27 September 2014.
Image: Forensic Architecture,
2017
 Towards a
Branimir Stojanović: Is our discourse the position of the analyst or the SUC02SRE - 212D - RF1 &
hysteric? We could say we speak from the position of the hysteric and that Site name:
Milica Tomić what we are trying to state is from the position of the analyst. What do we Sućeska
Grave number in the series:
Branimir Stojanović want? We would like to try and come up with a matheme of genocide. Is
Sućeska 02 - second grave on this

Matheme of
that our task? site
Visual essay Damir Arsenijević: Among others. Related to event:
Milica Tomić: Not only of genocide, but with all the elements in that… Srebrenica
Damir Arsenijević: The whole topography. We must determine all the posi- Grave type:
It is assumed to be secondary

Genocide
tions and politics. By determining the positions, we will determine the poli-
tics. We must inscribe ourselves into this. Excavated case number:
212D - body part/ lower body (from
Branimir Stojanović: Where would genocide be then - in which place?
the pelvis to the foot)
Damir Arsenijević: Yes, in the place of ‘jouissance’. But where is ‘jouis- DNA sample:
sance’ here? RF1 - one sample of the right femur
Branimir Stojanović: ‘Jouissance’ is somewhere in the middle. ‘Jouissance’
is here. ZAL03SRE - 011D - RH2 &
Damir Arsenijević: ‘Jouissance’ is here in the position of absolute impossi- Site name:
bility towards all of these? Zalužje
Grave number in the series:
Branimir Stojanović: Absolutely.
Zalužje 03 - the third grave on the site
Damir Arsenijević: Well, yes. That is important. Let us then say that this is Grave type:
genocide. But this is now for the big canvas - yes this is genocide. It is assumed to be tertiary
Milica Tomić: How would absolute ‘jouissance’ function as the moment of Related to event:
breaking all relationships? Srebrenica
Branimir Stojanović: Well, the incursion of ‘jouissance’ breaks all discur- Excavated case number:
sive structures. 011D - body part / crushed skull, torso
with the right hand and palm
Milica Tomić: Always? DNA sample:
Branimir Stojanović: Always. ‘Jouissance’ is, if it appears, the sign of the RF2 - second sample from the right
death drive.This is the place that is untouchable. humerus (right upper arm bone / first
Milica Tomić: And when ‘jouissance’ is realised, then we have… sample did not produce DNA, and an-
Branimir Stojanović: Then we have a total catastrophe. This is the end of other sample had to be taken)
the world. ‘Jouissance’ is the end of the world.
KRI02ZVO - 093D - LR1 &
Milica Tomić: When ‘jouissance’ is realised, where is it placed within the
Site name:
matheme? Križevci
Branimir Stojanović: It is not placed. Grave number in the series:
Milica Tomić: Wait, this is the end of the world in relation to Yugoslavia, so Križevci 02 - the second grave on the
to speak. site
Damir Arsenijević: This is the utter collapse of the symbolic. Grave type:
Matheme Milica Tomić: How then are relationships re-established? It is assumed to be secondary
Towards the Matheme of Genocide, Realated to the event:
Branimir Stojanović: The way in which it was established in relation to ‘jou- Zvornik
black charcoal on white board issance’? It is established through the intervention of science, the discourse Excavated case number:
Belgrade , 2009 of the university intervening in ‘jouissance’ and attempting to normalise it 093D - body / left forearm with the
Photo: Milica Tomić through the process of re-association. hand DNA sample:
Milica Tomić: That would be the science of the ICMP [International Com- LR1 - sample from the left radius ulna
Towards a Matheme of Genocide * is a set of documents of an autodidactic session by * What is a Matheme of Genocide? mission for Missing Persons]…
Grupa Spomenik discussing the possibility of mathematising genocide. A complex figure Matheme is not to be confused with SUC01SRE - 045D - LH1
Damir Arsenijević: … forensic scientists. How is the ICMP positioned here?
of thought, genocide is constructed on no man’s land between contemporary science and the identification case number. It Site:
contains the case number, but is Is the ICMP in the position of the master? Sućeska
international law. By attempting to come up with a matheme of genocide, Grupa Spome- Milica Tomić: It can have both positions - the position of the master and the
more than the case number itself. Grave number in the series:
nik is re-examining the dominant genocide narrative and its key scientific and legal con-

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Matheme talks about the whole university discourse. Is that not so? Sućeska 01 - the first grave on the
cepts: victim, witness, re-association, identification code, skeletal inventory, un-iden- network of inter-subjective relation- Branimir Stojanović: ICMP is S2 in the place of the master. The problem of site
tified remains, chain of custody, missing person, gene scan, blood sample, etc. Grupa ships surrounding the genocide in liberal discourse is that it completely negates S1. It negates the position of Grave type:
Spomenik is attempting to locate genocide within the four discourses of Lacan’s concept Srebrenica. Matheme is something authority. Only liberalism is still managing to sustain the illusion of knowl- It is assumed to be secondary
of matheme. Lacan’s discourses describe the relations of knowledge, truth, subject and that manages to be trans-historical. Related to the event:
edge without authority. There is no short-circuiting like in Stalinism and Fas-
object or the social links of the four subjective positions: of the master, the university, It carries the truth of genocide. Srebrenica
cism. The question is until when will it manage to present rational models Excavated case number:
the hysteric and the analyst. One of the conclusios of this session is that genocide as an of functioning? These same rational models, without the exteriority of the 045D - body / torso to the left humerus
object resists the possibility of mathematisation, for it occupies the place of enjoyment, position of the master, or its performativity, become irrational, for there is no DNA sample:
unrepresentable within Lacan’s four discourses. will behind the stating of ‘I want this’ or an authority claiming ‘I want this’. LH1 - sample from the left humerus
(left upper arm bone)
106 Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide 107
 Milica Tomić: Where is the position of the victim in relation to ‘jouissance’? tionship of a master and…
Branimir Stojanović: This is now a question. Branimir Stojanović: Not master in its classical form. The National Socialist
Milica Tomić: Then the perpetrators… leader is a distortion of the position of the master.
Branimir Stojanović: Well, yes, ‘perpetrator’, ‘victim’ - what are they… Milica Tomić: All right, and how would that be possible here?
Damir Arsenijević: Would it be useful to write down who the protagonists of Branimir Stojanović: Very simply, we have S1…
the game are? Milica Tomić: Wait, you have the Muslim, that came about at one moment, in
Branimir Stojanović: Yes. a community
Damir Arsenijević: Shall we put it in the middle, to know that ‘jouissance’ is Damir Arsenijević: … the Yugoslav Muslim.
genocide? Milica Tomić: … it is him I am talking about. He was created as a political
Milica Tomić: Is that it? project and has the place of equal among all, is that not right? So you can-
Damir Arsenijević: Where are the perpetrators? Where is the international not compare at all…
community? Damir Arsenijević: I think Milica is right, but from a different perspective.
Branimir Stojanović: What would happen if ‘jouissance’ were to pass Why do we insist on a difference between genocide and Holocaust?
through a kind of symbolic sieve? What would be ‘a’ - the surplus enjoyment Branimir Stojanović: That is a good question.
- after this? Milica Tomić: In the Nazi discourse the Jews were not at any point a ‘legit-
Milica Tomić: What would ‘a’ be after this symbolic sieve - which symbolic imate people’ with rights equal to those of others, whilst Yugoslav Muslims
sieve? had equal rights within Yugoslavia. This is a wholly different situation.
Branimir Stojanović: Well, science, for example. Branimir Stojanović: Yes, but how did the Yugoslav Muslim suddenly, from
Milica Tomić: We ought to know what we are talking about. having equal rights, find himself with no rights at all?
Damir Arsenijević: They all revolve, in a way, around this residuum - around Milica Tomić: That is significant and it allows us to define all the positions
this. within this construction. And who demonised the Muslims?
Milica Tomić: What would the surplus ‘jouissance’ be? Perhaps that which Branimir Stojanović: Well, that is a question! Who made Muslims out of them
one may not speak about. first, with the small “m”? Up until the 1974 Constitution of Yugoslavia, Muslim
Branimir Stojanović: That is the victim. Is ‘a’ not the victim? was spelled with the small ‘m’. Afterwards they became Muslim with the
[break in recording] capital ‘M’. From then on, using the small ‘m’ became an act of denigrating
Branimir Stojanović: S1 is the master signifier. This is S2. That is the other Muslims. To me, this seems to be the first symptom.
signifier, or the signifier pair. They do not appear in any other way. They al- Damir Arsenijević: But there is a relation here, some political subjectivation,
Mathem 1, 2, 3
ways appear as a signifier pair. is that right?
Milica Tomić: That within the signifier pair, which is not the master? Branimir Stojanović: Yes, yes.
Damir Arsenijević: Could we call it master-Other? Damir Arsenijević: This is a political deactivation in a certain way - desub-
Branimir Stojanović: No, this is not master-Other. You cannot separate jectivation.
them, for they always appear as two, where one has a function to assume. Milica Tomić: We are now talking only about Muslims. What about all those
This function is to retroactively share out sense to the other. This retroac- people who did declare themselves as Yugoslav Muslims, political people,
tivity is the problem. This is why we cannot determine what S1 and S2 are. but were killed as ethnic Muslims?
They are the signifier pair. S1 can never appear without S2. Branimir Stojanović: Whom do you have in mind?
Milica Tomić: What, signifier… Milica Tomić: I am thinking of those who were half-Serbs, half-Muslims,
Branimir Stojanović: A pair! S1 is impossible without S2, and S2 is impossi- and of those who refused to declare religious or ethnic affiliation.
ble without S1. They always appear as two. There is never an extracted S1 Branimir Stojanović: This is then knowledge in the Real, inaccessible to
without S2 or S2 without S1. identification, I agree that it is…
Damir Arsenijević: That is why a signifier cannot be alone but always in Milica Tomić: I think it was all run according to this principle, since how
relation to another signifier. else would that Serbian copper have asked his former Muslim compatriot
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, it is the difference itself which distinguishes them, “How did you survive?!” He knew exactly who was who. He operated by
both in relation to itself and the other signifier. unfolding this knowledge in the Real.
Milica Tomić: Wait, the first discourse that appeared after genocide is what Branimir Stojanović: No, when he saw this Muslim after the war, he won-
the ICMP was doing, is that right? dered how he had survived, for at the level of his murderous fantasy no
Damir Arsenijević: Well, now, I don’t know how we can… All the four dis- Muslims survived.

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courses appear at the same time, in all the moments. We ought to consider Milica Tomić: Because he keeps a mental archive of who is who, he rec-
who inhabits them at a certain moment and how. ognised him when he saw him. This means that everything unfolds in the
Branimir Stojanović: But this is very tricky. In the Nazi discourse, for exam- Real.
ple, the mystical object of desire of the Nazi is the one he swallowed and Damir Arsenijević: This means that in the phantasm of genocide there are
then destroyed. That means there is a relationship of love between the Nazi no Muslims any longer.
leader and that which fell out. There is a similar affiliation here, a similar Branimir Stojanović: There are none. Within this phantasm, his survival
structure, I think. beggars belief.
Damir Arsenijević: All right, but with the Yugoslav Muslim… Milica Tomić: In the phantasm of genocide, there are no Muslim men, or
Milica Tomić: I would not agree, because I do not think that this is a rela- males, but there are Muslim women, or females. This gender differentiation Mathem 4, 5

108 Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide 109
 is important. Were he to impregnate a Muslim woman, she would give birth slavia would be no more.
to a Serbian child, for that child would bear a Serbian name. Branimir Stojanović: That is correct.
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, that is very important. Now, we are writing this ‘ž’ Damir Arsenijević: But within which politics is this?
[woman] small, ‘man’ small and ‘Muslim’ big, but from the perspective of the Milica Tomić: I think that Yugoslavia’s disappearance was a consequence,
one who kills, that is: ‘ž’ [woman], ‘m’ [man], and small ‘m’ [muslim]. You see, rather than the intention. Whose desire was it for Yugoslavia to be no longer?
here is Yugoslavia, and you have Bosnia, that is ‘J’, Yugoslavia. This here is Branimir Stojanović: That is the question.
Bosnia. There is ‘jouissance’ and the small ‘a’, Bosnia, for example, as the Damir Arsenijević: The question also is what Yugoslavia meant. Let’s begin
small ‘a’. Bosnia was that - she was called “little Yugoslavia.” with a classic. We have the ethno-national elites.
Damir Arsenijević: Yes, but there is the analogy to Yugoslavia being the Branimir Stojanović: Current? Mathem 8
unconscious of Europe, and it follows that Bosnia is the unconscious of Damir Arsenijević: Yes, they were there then, and now they are still very
Yugoslavia. much here. They bring in capitalism and in that constellation they can be
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, but that relationship between ‘jouissance’, ‘J’ big, masters… of the smaller republics. There is no Yugoslavia, as a set of eth-
Yugoslavia, and ‘a’, small ‘a’, little Jugoslavija… no-national elites. No, because Yugoslavia is not “and-and-and“… it has a
Damir Arsenijević: … or the small letter in “muslim.” completely different logic.
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, small “muslim.” There is Yugoslavia, little Yugo- Branimir Stojanović: This logic means the rule of the people without the
slavia, in the place of the object ‘a’. elite, people’s participation in governance, in the apparatus of power, without
Milica Tomić: But, don’t forget that Yugoslavia was created in Bosnia. this ethno-national elite. This is precisely what was repressed - the people
Branimir Stojanović: I just wanted to say that! We have this paradox that the and the production of the ethnie. You could say that the same operation hap-
Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was created in Bosnia. pened throughout former Yugoslavia. From the People… to the ethnie, from
Milica Tomić: In the Second World War, the SFRY was created in Bosnia. In the People with a capital ‘P’, which was a constituent of all that Yugoslavia
the eighties, after Tito died, there was much talk about the breakup of Yu- was, we now have ethnies. This is practically an extrapolation from the Peo-
goslavia. Old partisans would often say “If the problem opens up in Bosnia, ple to the ethnie. All the ethnies are in the position of the object ‘a’ - victims
Yugoslavia is finished.” - in the end.
Damir Arsenijević: Where is now Yugoslavia, i.e. the small ‘a,’ the political Damir Arsenijević: But something remains. Something must have been left
subject will be? The political subject that comes with a capital “M.” over as a surplus from reducing the People into ethnies.
Branimir Stojanović: Why is ‘M’ the political subject? Branimir Stojanović: At that level we have the elite, the ethno-national elite…
Damir Arsenijević: The capital ‘M’, Muslim with the capital ‘M’, from 1974. Damir Arsenijević: … which had to split amongst ... I see now why we
Branimir Stojanović: It started in 1971, with amendments to the constitution. placed them this way rather than into a signifying chain.
Milica Tomić: 1971 was when the decision was made, and in 1974 the Branimir Stojanović: You mean like this, one after the other?
new constitution was adopted. This Muslim with capital ‘M’ is fascinating Damir Arsenijević: These are the ethno-national elites, are they not?
because it is unique. Muslims as a constituent people only existed in Yugo- Branimir Stojanović: What is in the place of the subject, then, as repressed,
slavia. Tito was the first to come up with this idea. Perhaps because of the and what in the place of ‘a’?
Nonaligned Movement, in fact, Tito always had that idea. Damir Arsenijević: The repressed subject is the People - that is the Yugoslav
Branimir Stojanović: I don’t think so. I think he was sticking to his view that People, no?
all the peoples who participated in the People’s Liberation Struggle [Narodna Milica Tomić: The split subject $.
oslobodilačka borba (NOB) in Serbo-Croatian] have the right to political sub- Damir Arsenijević: Yes. The object, the cause of desire, comes from the
jectivation. That was always his axiom. Real. What is real for this symbolic? Shall we think that way?
Damir Arsenijević: Where are we in relation to the genocide signifier? Milica Tomić: Excuse me, what is above object ‘a’?
Where is the signifier chain? Shall we begin in this way, or begin with all the Damir Arsenijević: Ethnie.
politics there were, because politics is the embodiment of certain discours- Milica Tomić: Which discourse is this now? How are we viewing this - how
es, certain positions. There was the Yugoslav People’s Army [JNA], and the did you set it up?
Army of Republika Srpska. There was the UN, as the international communi- Damir Arsenijević: This is the discourse of the master. This is capital ‘G’ [M].
ty, then the Army of BiH… What is the Real for this Symbolic Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia is ghostly still.
Branimir Stojanović: The HVO [Croatian Defence Council] Branimir Stojanović: In the place of production, practically.
Damir Arsenijević: They were an army, but they had no contact with Po- Damir Arsenijević: Yes. What knowledge does this produce? This is the
drinje… ethno-national elite producing knowledge about the ethnie, is that right?

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Branimir Stojanović: No... only the armies within genocide. And in fact, they are in this relationship.
Damir Arsenijević: Yes, we begin with the genocide situation. We are not Branimir Stojanović: The ethno-national elite and the ethnie cannot be in the
dealing with anything else now. [...] Well. [...] This had to be killed in order same place.
for the bone to be hidden. The enjoyment, the small ‘a’ is a leftover that has Damir Arsenijević: Why? They are impossible because they have to con-
to be hidden. stantly produce themselves. The ethno-national elite must constantly produce
Branimir Stojanović: There is a coincidence between Yugoslavia and, final- knowledge about the ethnie, recreate the ethnie, because it must keep
ly, the bone - the object, ‘a’. reinventing it. As such, they are in a position of impossibility. And this is a
Damir Arsenijević: That is what we are saying. One of the axioms we are position of impotence.
starting from is that this had to happen [the shift from M to m], so that Yugo- Mathem 6, 7 Branimir Stojanović: Between Yugoslavia and the subject. Mathem 9

110 Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide 111
 Damir Arsenijević: Well, always - was there not always a position of impo- Branimir Stojanović: You mean it offers this to Yugoslavia?
tence, though with the situation inverted? For then perhaps in the discourse Damir Arsenijević: No, this is not a question of offering but of defining all
of the hysteric there was a constant production of the People, then this was of the four discourses, of positioning within each of these discourses and
Yugoslavia, but then you would have - I mean, let’s try. Write. giving meaning to each position. Assuming positions is to establish the sign
Branimir Stojanović: Discourse of the hysteric, you have the People… and the signified, so as to say, ‘this is it’. In the multicultural scenario, Yugo-
Damir Arsenijević: … then below you have Yugoslavia, and above you have slavia is in fact a set of ethnies, right?
the ethno-national elite and below you have the ethnie. Branimir Stojanović: You know, we cannot do it this way. We have swapped
Milica Tomić: Is that the discourse of the master? the places of the only four elements existing in the world and introduced
Damir Arsenijević: No, this is the discourse of the hysteric. some completely arbitrary entities. You say that S1 is the ethno-national
Milica Tomić: This down there. elite, S2 is the ethnie, as its product, and then you say that People is in the
Branimir Stojanović: But it turned out that this is the truth of this. In fact, place of the subject and in the place of the waste is Yugoslavia, practically
that this is the starting situation, that this is the truth… unnecessary.
Damir Arsenijević: Let’s make all four combinations of this. Let’s see, per- Milica Tomić: I think we headed the wrong way. Let us return to the iden-
haps it is not like this… tification code we declared a matheme and how it appears once declared
Milica Tomić: No, let’s wipe it off and start again. Wipe it off. a matheme. Let us start from there. Let us start with the lost subject. First
Branimir Stojanović: I’ll wipe it all off. desubjectivated, this subject disappears the moment it was killed. It is then
Milica Tomić: No, not that - that is important. brought back through a system of science, as a code, which is gradually
Branimir Stojanović: Which is? That? Mathem 10, 11 ascribed an identity. What does the act of declaring this code a matheme
Milica Tomić: Just wipe off this bit on the top. Why wipe off Yugoslavia? really mean? What does it represent?
Damir Arsenijević: We’ll make it again… older, more beautiful and better! Damir Arsenijević: That would make sense. I am thinking about what Brani-
Milica Tomić: I think it is important not to erase this: ‘m’, ‘M’, ‘M’. mir said, that we cannot continue this way. There is sense in the fact that
Damir Arsenijević: Let’s do these four scenarios - something intrigues me. we ran after the People, after Yugoslavia, after…
Milica Tomić: Enough, don’t wipe off Yugoslavia. Branimir Stojanović: There is, certainly.
Damir Arsenijević: Here we write ‘H’ for the hysteric… Damir Arsenijević: The ethnie was certainly produced, at least in Bosnia, in
Branimir Stojanović: Here the master. relation to genocide.
Damir Arsenijević: Here the master - what remains now? The university Branimir Stojanović: That is what I am saying. And how did the other ethnies
remains. Who is the agent here? We have the ethnie here. Below we have come about?
the elites, is that right? Damir Arsenijević: What, other ethnies?
Milica Tomić: This is in reverse to the discourse of the hysteric. Branimir Stojanović: Within Bosnia today, the Muslim still has the same
Damir Arsenijević: And here we have Yugoslavia and below we have People. function he had within Yugoslavia. Today.
Branimir Stojanović: Below you have the analyst. Damir Arsenijević: The Muslim still has the same… what? Can you repeat
Damir Arsenijević: This is perfect. I can see already that … that?
Milica Tomić: Did Yugoslavia appear in the place of the agent? Branimir Stojanović: The same position he had within Yugoslavia he now
Damir Arsenijević: To insist, yes. has within Bosnia itself.
Milica Tomić: This is the discourse that does not exist? Damir Arsenijević: How does the Muslim have that today?
Damir Arsenijević: No, this is the question of the birth of new politics. This Branimir Stojanović: The Muslim has a double role, just like in Yugoslavia.
is S2. What is then our knowledge and what is the Other? Here you have… He was a Muslim and a Yugoslav, practically the only guarantee of Yugosla-
Branimir Stojanović: … the People and the ethno-national elites. via. This was the split within the Yugoslav Muslim. Today, within Bosnia, he is
Milica Tomić: That is correct, especially in relation to the rest. It is better split into a Bosniak and a Muslim.
than the option in which the People is underneath… Damir Arsenijević: Yes, but what then is a Bosniak? The Bosniak is in fact
Damir Arsenijević: … we don’t want to keep the People down… an ethnie, an attempt at creating…
Milica Tomić: When genocide enters into the equation, we said that ‘jouis- Branimir Stojanović: … an integrative ethnie, universal unitary glue. The
sance’, ‘J’ appeared. Does a new discourse also appear, or does ‘J’ stand Bosniak is meant to be the glue, just as the Yugoslav was.
alone? Damir Arsenijević: Capital ‘M’ must become the Bosniak.
Branimir Stojanović: There is no ‘J’ by itself. Branimir Stojanović: Yes, the Muslim ought to be fused into the Bosniak.
Milica Tomić: Which discourse was in power when ‘J’ appeared? Damir Arsenijević: … into Bosniak, so as to enable this ethno-national

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Damir Arsenijević: All of the four discourses were there in some way. function. The Muslim cannot be a People. He cannot be what he was in Yu-
Milica Tomić: That cannot be. One had to have prevailed for anything to goslavia - he is reduced to being an ethnie.
happen at all. Milica Tomić: Where?
Damir Arsenijević: Well, that is now the question. Branimir Stojanović: In today’s Bosnia.
Milica Tomić: Let’s see which one of these discourses was in power at that Milica Tomić: To be one of the ethnies. He cannot be a People?
moment. It might be important for the production of genocide. Damir Arsenijević: And again, whose perspective is this from? From the
Damir Arsenijević: What is the point, then, of the discourse of the university perspective of the master. This is about the Bosniak assuming the place of
here? It produces knowledge about Yugoslavia, of what it was. That has the victim, about a subjectivation in relation to genocide. A kind of subjecti-
become this multicultural perspective, the unity of differences, if you like. vation of the bones in relation to genocide, as in “these are Bosniak bones”, Mathem 12

112 Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide 113
 or rather “these bones are ethnic bones”. Branimir Stojanović: Europe and Yugoslavia, the political People and…
Milica Tomić: This is what they become. Damir Arsenijević: … the ethnie. Let us see now the discourse of the ana-
Damir Arsenijević: Those bones, in the discourse of the master, can only be lyst, for that is the fine line…
ethnic bones. They cannot be any other bones. Branimir Stojanović: There is an ‘e’ in the place of the producer.
Milica Tomić: Or rather, the bones of the one from whom the capital ‘M’ Milica Tomić: Small ‘e’, ethnie.
[Yugoslav Muslim] was taken and who is instead forever inscribed with the Branimir Stojanović: What is here?
small ‘m’ [denigrated Muslim]. Therefore, the Muslim is the victim. The Mus- Damir Arsenijević: Yugoslavia.
lim is the victim because the capital ‘M’ was taken from him? Branimir Stojanović: And here is…
Branimir Stojanović: Because he was desubjectivated. Damir Arsenijević: … the political People. Mathem 15
Milica Tomić: The Yugoslav Muslim with a capital ‘M’ is the victim, because Branimir Stojanović: … the political People, and here is Europe.
this capital ‘M’ was taken from him. This is how he was desubjectivated. Milica Tomić: The tape ran out again. I’ll turn this off.□
Damir Arsenijević: I said that this cannot be such an easy relationship -
something must remain.
Branimir Stojanović: Wait, what about the ideology of ethnification? Who is
the producer of the ideology of ethnification?
Damir Arsenijević: Well, fuck it! In the end, it is Europe! Yugoslavia was an
anomaly.
Branimir Stojanović: I am saying the same to you. Mathem 13, 14
Damir Arsenijević: Or Europe’s unconscious. But we are speaking about
different logics, meaning different ideologies.
Branimir Stojanović: Absolutely. You have three different sequences.
Milica Tomić: Pardon me.
Damir Arsenijević: A Serbian soldier could only ever kill a Yugoslav Muslim
once he ceased being a Yugoslav Muslim.
Milica Tomić: That means that he was already a victim, even before he
turned into the victim. The whole process of demonising Muslims is con-
tained in the act of taking the capital ‘M’ away, in changing the capitalisation.
Damir Arsenijević: This is what we have written. The small ‘m’ [muslim] in
an ideological constellation becomes the capital ‘M’, and then in another
constellation it becomes ‘Bosniak’ and ‘bones’. What is that, Branimir?
Branimir Stojanović: This is Europe, Yugoslavia, the People and the ethnie.
Milica Tomić: Which discourse is this?
Damir Arsenijević: Which is impossible between Europe and…? Between
S1 and S2? The People is impossible. But which people, Branimir?
Branimir Stojanović: People as People - People as the political category.
Milica Tomić: This is the discourse of the master.
Damir Arsenijević: But that is People, not an ethnie.
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, and not the ethnic people. This is People, the po-
litical People.
Damir Arsenijević: Political? Let us then say that ‘N’ is the political People.
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, yes, the political People.
Milica Tomić: What is this Branimir - is this the discourse of the master?
Branimir Stojanović: Aha!
Milica Tomić: Is that the discourse of neoliberal politics?
Branimir Stojanović: Yes, yes! It is peculiar, very peculiar, that liberal pol-
itics representing multiculturality is, in fact, the result of the ethnies in the

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end. Do you understand?

Milica Tomić: Where the People no longer exists, but is an ethnie?
Branimir Stojanović: What is repressed…
Milica Tomić: … is the political People, in fact. Well, that is, as one might
say, logical. And what is this capital “E” below?
Branimir Stojanović: Europe.
Milica Tomić: And what is below - Yugoslavia?
Branimir Stojanović: Yes. But perhaps we might need to reverse this.
Damir Arsenijević: Europe there and Yugoslavia…

114 Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide Milica Tomić, Branimir Stojanović: Towards a Matheme of Genocide 115
 Grupa Spomenik-
knowledge and power, placed around the issue of missing persons with regard to the
work of the ICMP. This should initiate a debate with international trauma management
Damir Arsenijević instances: scientific institutions, forensic-criminological and juridical communities from
the perspective of the anthropology of law, cultural production, and literature.

Repeating the
The Monument Group, 2008, September
Damir Arsenijević, culture theorist; Darinka Popmitić, artist; Svebor Midžić, culture the-
orist; Branimir Stojanović, theorist of psychoanalysis; Milica Tomić, artist.
The main topic of the work of the Monument Group is the politics of memory.

Dissociation
The main working axioms of the Monument Group are:
- discussion = monument;
- there is no memory without politics
The main working axiom, discussion = monument, the Monument Group realizes through
developing a strategy of the production of autonomous discussion space, where a debate
about ideology and politics of the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia is possible.1
From when it started collaborating with theorists in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008 to What did the dislocation of insights and concepts, forged by the theoretical scene in
its break-up in 2012, Grupa Spomenik (‘Monument Group’) internalised and repeated the Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Serbia generate? It generated a different way of re-assem-
mechanisms and logic of the dissociation and collapse of Yugoslavia in its work. This bling ourselves beyond the fixed gaze of the perpetrators of crimes and enabled us to
paper reflects on how and why this happened, since these four years from 2008-2012 pose questions about our capacities as a collective to work together on difficult topics.
are crucial to understanding important break-throughs and disavowals that the group’s How can we and how do we associate labour and how do we translate the burden of
work made possible. More importantly, these four years of Grupa Spomenik enable the associating such labour into value? All these remain fundamental questions.
emergence of parallel histories of the dissolution of various artistic, theoretical and psy- The final sequence of the break-up of Grupa Spomenik was in its second collective
choanalytic group dynamics throughout Yugoslavia. encounter with the Goldsmiths-based Forensic Architecture framework in 2012. The split
In the summer of 2008, Grupa Spomenik set up the editorial board of the newspaper that emerged in the group concerned the ethics of a visit by a gathering of international
Mathemes of Re-Association with the following statement: students to a former concentration camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Grupa Spomenik
The Monument Group is establishing the Editorial Board of the newspaper, which will was divided over this question between those of us coming and working in Bosnia and
start working on 26. September 2008, on the opening day of the 49th October Salon, and Herzegovina and those of us working and living in Serbia. The words of some of the stu-
finish on 9 November 2008, on the closing day of the exhibition. dents at CZKD in Belgrade in April 2012 still echo: ‘But we were promised a visit to the
After two months of work in the exhibition space, the editorial board will publish the camp!’ The split, in my opinion, could best be described in the words of Branislav Jakovl-
newspaper Mathemes of Re-Association, which will inform about, and cover the effects jević, who writes about the changes in participatory performance:
of dislocation of the scene of contemporary science and theory from Bosnia and Herze- If participatory performance emerged as a response to rapid industrialization, only to
govina, into Serbia, that is to say, the editorial board space will serve as an intermediary be co-opted by the cultural and entertainment industries, it finds its renewed meaningful-
in the debates initiated by these two discourses within Serbia’s public and intellectual ness and efficacy in regions of rapid deindustrialization. New forms of sociality forged in
space. these places remind us that participation is non-synchronized and ex-centric. It insists on
In the center of the debates are the following concepts: missing persons, victims, math- solidarity instead of synchronicity, on collaboration instead of manipulation, on engage-
emes, traumas, and testimonies - concepts that originated through the discourse of con- ment instead of interactivity, on distribution instead of accumulation, and on an ethics of
temporary science and theory in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By dislocating of the scientific involvement instead of aesthetics of immersion.2
and theoretical community from Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serbia, a space is being The split in Grupa Spomenik was between those who insisted on the “ethics of involve-
created for the discussion and collaboration with scholarly, administrative, and theoreti- ment” as opposed to those who embraced the “aesthetics of immersion”.
cal community, and interested public in Serbia. The “ethics of involvement” found its ground in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the DITA
Within the editorial board space, the content of the newspaper will be presented, con- factory barricade in Tuzla in 2012 and in subsequent protests in this country in 2014. Other References
sidered, and developed in two distinct registers: 1. See: https://grupaspomenik.wordpress.
contemporaneous significant splits included the split in the Belgrade Psychoanalytic So-
com/mathemes-of-re-assotiation/
-Contemporary criminological-forensic scientific community of the International Com- ciety and the split in Učitelj neznalica. newspaper-editorial-board/
mission for Missing Persons (ICMP - Sarajevo/Tuzla/Lukavac). During twelve years of its How do we learn from these splits, seemingly disconnected but very much entangled? 2. Branislav Jakovljevic, ‘For an Art of
work, using the achievements of complex forensic processes related to the recovery and Any learning will have to start from the position - Wo Es war, soll Ich werden (‘Where it Participation: Common goods for the
identification of persons missing from the Srebrenica genocide, ICMP has developed a was, I shall be’) - in order to return again to what Grupa Spomenik posited: “Where the commons’, Performance Research 23 (4-
forensic method of re-associating missing persons; as well as the unique administrative genocide was, there shall the political subject be” - only this second time hopefully not 5), 2018: 213
as farce.□

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technique of managing post-war traumas. This method of work has become the globally
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

accepted model for identifying missing persons; it is being used in the cases of missing in
the war in Iraq, in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, in establishing identity
and number of persons missing during the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s, but also for
identifying victims of natural disasters: the tsunami in South Asia, hurricane Katrina in the
US State of Louisiana, and the typhoon Frank in The Philippines.
-Register opened by the youngest generation of theorists of politics and culture of
memory, witnessing about trauma, and emancipatory policies from Tuzla and Sarajevo.
Lectures and debates will open up a field of criticism of political practices of regimes of

116 Damir Arsenijević: Grupa Spomenik- Repeating the Dissociation Damir Arsenijević: Grupa Spomenik- Repeating the Dissociation 117
 The Queerness
substance. I was obsessed with the idea of distancing myself as much as possible from
the body I used to have, from the voice I used to speak with. Taking testosterone felt like
Ana Hoffner the answer for my longing for an experiment with an open end. The physical changes I
Excerpts from then experienced opened a whole new field of thinking that I’m still struggling with and

of Memory
“The Queerness of Memory” trying to grasp and understand. Although I had a utopian perspective, my undertaking has
also been very ambivalent: taking testosterone is not an exclusively positive instrument
for the creation of a new body. It is a drug that at that time made me hopeful that I would
reach my goal of ultimately distancing, alienating and thus anaesthetizing myself. I was
interested in the desire as well as in the painful impossibility of forgetting, erasing and
For many years now, I have had the shits. It started as a sudden incident, without a neglecting one’s own body, and all the wishes and fantasies that come along with it. At
cause or explanation. It has become unstoppable and it has not changed for a long time. a certain point, I was no longer able to pathologize my condition nor my own longing to
The descent of my body has become a constant occupation of my life. Next to writing, re- neglect my body. I had to work with both.
searching, having relationships, spending time with people in public and private contexts, It is this embodied constellation of being under heavy control and wishing for a different
I am forced to repeatedly think about looseness and find ways to deal with it. Having the kind of control that is both the starting point and the closure of my reflection on the period
shits is not just a problem of the body, it is maybe even more about psychic pain than after 1989. It began only after 2000, when I slowly but regularly returned, emotionally and
physical. The condition I’m in has changed what I do and how I think. I’m not exaggerat- physically, to Yugoslavia. The only thing was that Yugoslavia was not there any more, and,
ing when I say that shit has shaped my behavior and influenced my fantasies and desire again, I was the last one to know that. What I found instead was a very diverse group of
for many years now. At some point, I started dreaming of scenarios enabling me to give people who, in spite of their differences, were all completely stressed out with transition.
myself up completely. Those fantasies were about becoming a bottom for someone who It was not the transition from one gender to another that I encountered, but a complex
would check my shits. I wished for someone to take control over my body, someone who social and political process. The main occupation for almost everyone between Ljubljana,
could make decisions about my physical processes instead of me. How would it be if Zagreb, Sarajevo and Beograd was how to become part of the European Union (the idea
someone influenced the consistence of my shit by manipulating my intestines, by intro- of Europe had been replaced by the European Union around the same time). When I went
ducing a different time and frequency to my shitting? I imagined this as a situation in back I didn’t want to talk about this new problem at first. I wanted to know about every-
which my mind would no longer be involved in my bodily actions, I would be taken care of thing I had missed since 1989. And I wanted to get together with all those I wasn’t able to
and satisfied no matter if I wanted to produce a painful watery looseness or an easygoing meet before, especially dykes, butches, and all the rest. But rather than fulfilling my wish-
well digested piece of shit. Of course, this would require a great deal of trust in the other, es for reconnection, I had to reformulate my own questions and desires because of the
a strong bond in both pleasure and violence. Apart from this fantasy (or maybe it is part reality I had found. My impression was that there had been no time to reflect on the wars
of it) there is also the utopian thought, that perhaps one day I would stop to shit forever. A before or right after 2000. The geographical distance from Yugoslavia that I experienced
life without shit would spare me the daily sight of my disgusting outcomes, I would forget as a migrant in Austria was not the cause for the absence of a suitable language about
the smell of shit, and most importantly my body would stop hurting. I would be relieved the war, however. The same situation was experienced by everybody else. Transition, as
from all of this information I have to constantly deal with: that my body has knowledge an actual process of the integration, evaluation and establishment of a completely new
about something that I don’t have. That it records, collects and remembers influences I society, had replaced any productive discourse, any remembrance of the war that could
cannot fully be aware of. have reestablished the relationships that were lost due to the war. This process of force-
For a long time having the shits made me feel like I was losing my body. In fact, my ful transformation involved everyone who had a connection to the territories of Yugosla-
impression was that my body had given up on me, and that my only reaction could be via in new violent scenarios, irrelevant of whether they were living inside or outside of the
to lose interest in the body in return. My physical dissolution was followed by a strong newly defined countries. The new thing about these situations, which emerged after 2000,
dissatisfaction with everything that seemed to be given or unchangeable. It was as if I was that they had visibly shifted towards queerness.
had to search constantly for new areas of manipulation, new challenges to develop new Since 2001, when a group of Serbian nationalists attacked queer people in a public
scenarios of becoming bottom. As much as I slowly lost interest in bodily issues, the more space who attempted to hold a Pride celebration, homophobic violence in Eastern Eu-
I discovered the meaning and the function of the voice. I started wondering if ‘the voice’ rope suddenly became a topic in Serbia on a broader and more public scale than ever
in its ephemerality could serve as a better projection site than ‘the body’ for my fantasies before. Its perception and interpretation quickly became part of the politics of European
of giving myself up. Would it be possible to find an external carrier to make decisions for integration, as the degree of tolerance and the security of minority rights were require-
me, someone who would manipulate my voice and my speech? Could someone make my ments for EU membership. This integration process happened both inside and outside EU
voice sound different? Could I then finally stop being occupied by the burden of having a borders simultaneously, putting pressure on migrant populations, particularly in Germany
voice and the urge to use it? Although being of a different, less physical quality, the voice and Austria.
had always stressed me out. As much as I wanted my body to be lifted and released from When I came back to Vienna after a queer festival in Belgrade in 2008, I had the chance

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its horrible habit of producing shit, I wanted to be liberated from the pressure of having to read something in my first language in a public space, for the first time in my life.
to speak up, to claim my needs and my rights on my own and to be responsible for my “Ljubav zasluzˇ uje respekt” (Love deserves respect) was printed on large posters hang-
actions. I imagined someone who manipulated my voice as the material component of ing all over the city. The posters were part of a campaign against homophobia, adopted
what I say and how this manipulation would retroact on my speaking and eventually give by the helpline Courage for same-sex and transgender ways of living of the LSVD (an
me relief. association of lesbians and gays in Berlin Brandenburg). They were rolled out in public
Those fantasies were so strong that I increasingly involved myself in projects which space as well as in schools, youth centers and youth clubs, in Berlin and later in Vienna.
would destabilize all my physical components - and therefore also my voice. For example, The campaign was co-funded in Vienna by the municipal authorities, who are responsible
I started to take testosterone. I wanted to radically reorganize the way my muscles, my for matters of integration and diversity. It was aimed at contributing to the development of
organs, my hair, and in the end also my voice, were constituted by means of an external strategies against homophobia and intolerance - especially in migrant communities. The

118 Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory 119
 message that love deserves respect was written in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian and Turkish This is possible because the process of disavowal is not the same as repression (which
on a background of kissing couples whose gender and racial affiliation had been picked is an unconscious process, beyond the subject’s control). Freud knew that the refusal of
with utmost care to suggest a loving togetherness despite/due to differences. Homopho- what he called external reality is, paradoxically, not neglected, but acknowledged by the
bia in Eastern Europe was seamlessly connected to migrant communities, the source of disavowing subject. What emerges from this situation is fetishism. And what is typical
violence being very clearly targeted by national and racial identity. The posters made for the fetishist is that s_he is very well aware of the simultaneous refusal and acknowl-
evident how the migrant body was divided: on one hand as the homophobic perpetrator edgment of the absence of the penis (or any other sexualized object). The fetishist knows
who had to be addressed in his mother tongue, on the other as the potentially violated that hir fetish is not what s_he makes out of it ‘in reality’, but this self-awareness would
victim of homophobic violence. Both had to be saved, cured or transformed; both were a never change or put hir desire in question. The fetishist is constructing and disavowing
target of intervention. hir external reality.
It seemed to be my language, but it was not my voice. It seemed to be queer, but it was Hence, theorizing about the fetish has been developed by a larger number of queer,
not. In fact, the voice of someone who had experienced war, transition, violence and/or feminist and postcolonial thinkers. Postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhabha has elaborated
migration was absent in this public ‘fight’ against homophobia. Instead, what was visible about this splitting of the subject in two (the fetishist knowing but still wanting hir object)
for everyone who had witnessed the representation of the wars in Yugoslavia throughout into the figure of ambivalence in his book The Location of Culture.6 What is (still) striking
the 90s was that the body of war had been replaced by the queer body (or what was about Bhabha’s theory is that he takes the division between Europe and its colonies as
understood to be queer after 2000). It was no longer the picture of emaciated masculin- a fundamental ground to redefine actual global relations, which are mostly subsumed
ity behind barbed wire, the stories about raped Bosnian women that were circulating, it (and thus simplified) as cultural differences. By integrating psychoanalytical theory into
was the beaten up or killed queer person from exactly the same region. It seemed to be, colonial history, Bhabha proposes several figures of thought (such as ambivalence) that
again, impossible to address all the urgent questions that arise exactly from this shift: intervene in present-day social and political relationships between Europe and its Other.
How has the historical period after 1989 affected these subjectivities and their voices, in The period after 1989 could indeed be described through the notion of ambivalence, but
particular, those who were neglected as victims of war in the 1990s and stigmatized as also the ongoing transition after 2000 and the gap that has transformed the subject of war
the violated queer body after 2000? How has the eradication, effacement and forgetting to the queer subject. The relationship between the European Union and those waiting on
of Eastern European histories dismissed or allowed the finding of one’s own voice, the its threshold is one of an ongoing ambivalent character. But what is ambivalence exactly
navigation through and articulation of the experience of the transitional period, both as and how does it work?
the collapse of socialist systems and the integration into the new value system of the For Bhabha, ambivalence is a powerful strategy to govern and establish colonial rule
European Union? What are the modes and means of articulation within historically shift- (the way Europe exercised power over its colonies for centuries), but also a strategy of
ed institutions of gender, sexuality, race, psychic and physical ability for a subject being subverting the mechanisms of this very rule. He describes first how the colonial govern-
repeatedly in transition? ments produced a “desire for a reformed, recognizable Other as a subject of a difference
The fact that the war time body has been transformed into the queer body in peace time that is almost the same but not quite.”7 This requirement was not simply fulfilled by the
underlies a fundamental process of disavowal. This was in fact the first indication for colonized, nor was it simply rejected or ignored. It produced colonial mimicry, a process References
me that I’m afflicted by, and working within a discourse of trauma which is so hard to ap- of imitation as a double articulation, in which disavowal became paramount.8 It is the 1. As explained throughout this book, I
understand the whole transitional period
proach that its very reappearance, its continuation (although under different signs) must disavowal of the imposed cultural norms that enables a process of imitating and mimick-
of Eastern European societies after 1989,
be neglected, disavowed, pushed away - publicly. What I was interested in, and what ing the colonizers in order to become the “reformed, recognizable Other”. But imitation after 2000 as a queer time: it has in fact
I’m still searching for, is a different kind of voice, one that would not simply remember always differs from the original and will never replace it, thus there can never be a suc- already produced a queer voice, a voice
and reestablish its connection to the past by overcoming its own negativity, but a voice cessful or complete adoption of what the colonizers ask for. The imposed cultural norms that might enable us in the present to
that could work with its own ability to disavow. What is or what could be the productivity are thus refused and acknowledged at the same time, and become floating fetishized articulate the queerness of the past.
of disavowal in the sphere of queerness and violence, during and after the wars of the objects. And by that I don’t only mean the wars
1990s? And what would happen if the process of transition itself were disavowed?1 What Here again, it is important to understand disavowal as differentiated from repression. in Yugoslavia, as they have reshaped
a whole culturally diverse territory and
kind of practices or objects of negotiating the traumatic experience would arise from Bhabha refers to Freud in order to emphasize that disavowal is the “vicissitude of the
established new national, political,
that? idea” while repression is the “vicissitude of affect.”9 Disavowal is not to be mistaken as social, and cultural borders. The anti-
In their dictionary - The Language of Psychoanalysis - the psychoanalysts Jean a neglect of cultural difference in general. Bhabha’s use of the term is performed rather war activism that emerged in the 1990s
Laplanche and Jean-Bertrand Pontalis explain the connection between disavowal and as a method of criticism, which does not engage in the reconstruction of the repressed or (Women in Black being one of numerous
fetishism, which is crucial for the understanding of the relationship between Europe and rely upon the originality of affect. According to Bhabha, disavowal questions the imposed examples) has found its continuation in
its Other, as I will show later.2 They state that, for Freud, disavowal is “a mode of defense cultural norms through a “strategy of ambivalence in the structure of identification that queer activism after 2000 (the collective
Queer Beograd being here another
which consists in the subject’s refusing to recognize the reality of a traumatic percep- occurs precisely in the elliptical in-between.”10
example).
tion.”3 What is refused is mainly the perception “of the absence of the woman’s penis.”4 In It doesn’t allow for the identification with nor the neglect of one’s own belonging to bi- 2. Jean Laplanche and Jean-Bertrand
this definition it is possible to see how Freud conceptualized trauma as an integral part of nary structures such as East/West, and becomes a fundamental element for the creation Pontalis, The Language of Psychoanalysis

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subjectification and not exclusively as an external event. Trauma (and hence disavowal) of a different articulation, one that is neither fully subjected nor fully liberated. ‘Almost (London: Karnac Books, 1988).
arises because of the inability to accept (gender) difference or to understand that there the same but not quite’ seems like the perfect description of the process of Eastern Eu- 3. Ibid. 118.
is a reality different from one’s own. One could also say that what is disavowed is the fact ropean transition, as a site of cultural regulations in which the Eastern European subject 4. Ibid.
that becoming a subject happens in different modes and terms. Laplanche and Pontalis had to learn to transform according to the expectations of the new social and political 5. Ibid.
6. Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture
question very precisely the “hypothetical ‘fact of perception’” (the so-called lack of a system. The most important demand of the discourse surrounding European integration
(London: Routledge, 1994).
penis) and push the act of disavowal back to the subject’s psyche.5 The ‘lack’ is thus not a was characterized by the condition of double temporality: one was asked to disavow 7. Ibid., 86.
fact of external reality any more but a presumption of the disavowing subject. one’s own past (of totalitarianism, war, violence and later homophobia) and become a 8. Ibid.
But what is especially interesting is that structurally, disavowal is not generally dis- new subject, as if all that history had never happened. 9. Ibid., 132.
missed by Freud or by those who continued to work with disavowal as a figure of thought. But without completely embodying the Western history of capitalism, this new subject 10. Ibid., 60.

120 Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory 121
 could only be ‘almost the same but not quite’. Imitating and mimicking the regulation of
transition produces, therefore, constant necessary interventions in the politics of time. If
transition is a time after totalitarianism that consists of rejecting the past, a time of post-
ness, then we have to declare this time to be over by using the same strategy of temporal
distancing - disvowing transition again and again.

After the Transformation

Video installation, colour/sound, 15:52, 2013.

The physical effects/repercussions vanished shortly after I stopped testosterone treat-

ment, but my voice will remain changed. I decided to take lessons in voice training, not
to achieve a clearly identifiable gendered voice, but to explore the ambiguous space
in-between. Working with voice coach Iris Gattol became an almost performative prac-
tice based on physicality and embodiment, rather than a discursive form of knowledge
production.
The documentation of this process led to the video installation “After the Transforma-
tion”. I gathered the visual, textual and audio material imagining a scenario that actively
constructs time, history, and memory rather than narrating a personal biography. The
Nach der Trans 1
voice training had begun to structure itself more and more around the question of how to
shift the performance of gender and to step out of the process of transitioning at the same
time, of how to stop being a body in transition. I constantly reflected on this process, first
through writing a text in which I formulated my experiences and wishes for a potential
future, as well as a fictional past of the voice.
I included thoughts about the sociopolitical transformation after 1989 and the regula-
tions of Eastern European transition since the fall of the Iron Curtain, but never mentioned
the historical moment explicitly. In a next step I used this text during my voice exercises,
which led to discussions with the voice coach about the possibility of referring to histori-
cal sociopolitical change through the transformation of voice.
I then documented this process with photography and sound, and eventually edited a
video with all three components: the sound layer establishes continuity, while the still
images are frequently interrupted by text fragments.
“After the Transformation” can be read as a fictional scenario about an interruption
in both the transformation of gender and the dominant narratives of Eastern European
transition. It’s situated in an impossible present in which the field of performing gender
Nach der Trans 2
seems to have been left behind. Iris Gattol and I display our interest in the material quality
of sound and voice itself, of its ranges and pitches. Our practice negotiates the con-
temporary scientia sexualis of transgenderism, of that which defines, categorizes and
classifies gender and sexual identities. And yet we are also situated in a double field of
medical institutionalization and medical service, always socially and economically gen-
dered. Who is paying for this treatment, and who is, in fact, treating whom? In the first
image, Iris Gattol and I are facing each other; we both appear in feminine, tight blouses of
a soft, almost white color. The setting is an undefined space. The still images appear in a
flash, followed by the sound of a camera, the familiar sound of a photo shoot. The images
disappear before any valid connection between the depicted bodies and the masculine/
feminine voices can be made. I montaged voice and body in a way that does not allow
for the illusion of their belonging together. In its function as documentation, the footage

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seems difficult to identify and thus unreliable. But what kind of voice does a viewer imag-
ine when looking at gendered and racialized bodies?
The sound of a camera can also be heard in the video. I have placed it exactly at the
moments when pictures flash up. The camera sounds function as the one reliable refer-
Nach der Trans 3 ence point during the documentation. The spoken text consists of fragmented dialogue
sequences that are full of stumbling, interruptions, unfinished sentences and exercises
with syllables. The text frames, appearing in moments of silence, are based on a more
consistent narrative and introduce the historical context, however fragmented. The text
is written from the coach’s perspective and refers to a ‘he’, while I, the person in training,

122 Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory 123
 speak from my own perspective, using ‘me’ and ‘I’. Is this the body that belongs to the How does it feel?
queer voice - the object of interest, as well as the target of an observing or instructing Better, because it’s louder.
gaze? While the text itself talks about queer desires for ambiguity and uncertainty, it is Maybe it’s a bit too black and white, maybe the grey is still missing.
written from an authoritative position, that of a representative of a medical institution. By
Then let’s make an intermediary step. I’ll show you an exercise. … I don’t know exactly
making our voices difficult to correlate with the figures on screen, the work is an attempt
what you want, probably it should not be so clear.
to intervene in present-day visual memory concerning transgender appearances.
There is a shift in “After the transformation”. When we start talking about the transfor- It should not be so clear because it’s about the ambivalence and difficulty. The
mation of the European space after the Cold War, the main temporal signifier, the year text is a narration,
1989, is not explicitly named as the reminder of a historical trauma, but appears through it is about telling a story and writing this story. But it is not only about writing one’s
embodied experience only. For example, there are moments when it becomes evident own story,
that the voice training takes place in German, thus it stays specific and cannot refer to but about how history is written. There are the connections of what I told you
any other socio-political or historical context. The training can only unfold in dialogue in before: voice, body,
relation to another language, and thus could also be seen as a setting for practising a government body. It should all resonate in this ambivalence, ambiguity, difficulty.
Western European language. It is as if the video should ‘forget’ the painful events that It should be
happened during the radical change of a political and social system. The trauma appears inscribed into this tone and not just conveyed by narration.
only retrospectively and can only be seen and interpreted from the point of view of the Then I think this sound, the one you just had, fits perfectly because it allows for both. If it’s
present. too low, it’s too forced into a masculine direction.

After the Transformation The voice training took place in a dialogue with me and therefore in a relation to another
language. It made him imagine how this story could look like and how he might be tell-
Just now, there was this quality, not squeaking, but something masculine. … It’s not like ing it, after he had developed his low voice in another language, in a language, which
when I say ‘hihi’; it’s different. … It’s the same pitch but it sounds different. … Here it is could give him a new past. He imagined how he would have constructed a memory,
again. Could you start there; or is it too deep? … Let’s see, we’ll work on it. If it’s too deep, which was more than a simple practice and how he could have found a way of remem-
we can begin higher. … Because at ‘I started voice training’ the voice is the lowest. At bering that was not there before.
the end of the sentence the voice is the deepest.
‘I started voice training.’ … The shades of grey also fit quite well, because this is I’ll try again, I’ll read the next paragraph. … I’ll try louder. … Is it better?
exactly how I want to read the text. … Should we do paragraph by paragraph? It sounds a bit intense, but it resonates better.
Let’s do paragraph by paragraph.
His story was about a transformation, at a time, when the transformation was long over.
After he had finished taking testosterone, after his muscles, his beard and his body hair History had turned the transformation into the past by constructing a memory. After the
had regressed, he started voice training. During the time of the transformation his voice transformation his new voice had gained a new history. Having studied modulation and
had undergone changes, it had changed its tone and had gotten deeper. My instructions variation, it could unfold its full range and fluently transition between extreme pitches.
were supposed to strengthen his expanded vocal range, they were supposed to enable The construction of memory had enabled the overcoming of the voice break. The con-
a fluent transition between extreme pitches. By studying modulation and variation his struction of history had made a new present without remembering a time before the
voice would be able to unfold its full range. For the transformation had not only opened transformation.
up possibilities, it had caused a voice break. His voice would break, exhausted itself
and cracked, then there was no voice at all. Voice loss. When I talk about transformation, some complications should be introduced. I
mean this sentence:
It’s already quite deep, is this the outcome you want? Or could it be a little bit stronger My story was about... It is the transformation of the voice. But I mean the trans-
but higher? formation after ‘89.
The nineties and the transitional processes, all this should somehow resonate
It was maybe a bit monotonous now.
with this text.
But that’s not unmasculine.
Then integrate it into your image.
It should convey something ambiguous, ambivalent, difficult. It should convey Or in the next sentence it becomes even more apparent: History had turned…
something beyond the content.
Then you should start higher, so you don’t have to fall back on the lowest note. We can During the time of the transformation his voice had undergone changes, it had changed

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

leave it a bit open and think that there is something behind, it does not sound like you are its tone and had gotten deeper. My instructions were supposed to strengthen his ex-
at your limits. You can start there and after ‘voice training’ I’ll stop again maybe. panded vocal range, they were supposed to enable a fluent transition between extreme
pitches. By studying modulation and variation his voice would be able to unfold its full
Through body workout and breathing exercises he realized soon that he could easily range. For the transformation had not only opened up possibilities, it had caused a voice
find his low voice. It was more about a process of constructing memory than exercising. break. His voice would break, exhausted itself and cracked, then there was no voice at
He couldn’t learn any new skills, but he could remember something that had until re- all. Voice loss.
cently been unknown to him. While he located the memory of his voice, which obviously I think the voice was much more full now. … I would like to try out something. Can you say
was part of his body but has not always been there, he could create his own history. ‘ne-ne’. … It’s about closing the vocal cords a little bit.

124 Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory 125
 The voice training took place in a dialogue with me and therefore in a relation to another
language.

And I love it, when it’s squeaking. Now take the word “transformation” and try to build
this into this position.
But this is very pressed…
For me this is not pressure, it’s just sharp. If you say, it’s about the collapse of the systems
I don’t know if something like this could work, something sharp. … Right, then you could
do it like this, you could toughen your the voice. … Let’s try this sentence: My story was
about a transformation, at a time when the transformation was long over.
Now it was very exaggerated, but ok.

History had turned the transformation into the past by constructing a memory. After the
transformation his new voice had gained a new history. Having studied modulation and
variation, it could unfold its full range and fluently transition between extreme pitches.
The construction of memory had enabled the overcoming of the voice break. The con-
struction of history had made a new present without remembering a time before the
transformation.□

The
Spatiliaties of
THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Inconsistency
126 Ana Hoffner: The Queerness of Memory
 Coco Fusco
Empty Plaza
2012
Inspired by the 2011 Arab
Spring, Coco Fusco chose the
empty Plaza de la Revolución
in Havana as the site for her
meditation on public space,
revolutionary promise, and
memory. Fusco’s video punc-
tuates views of the Plaza’s
current architecture with long
takes documenting Fusco’s
passage through the vacant
square, intermingled with
archival footage depicting
scenes from post-revolution-
ary Cuba.
“The absence of public in
some plazas seemed just as
resonant and provocative as
its presence in others,” Fusco
noted. “Cuba’s Plaza of the
Revolution is one such place
- a stark, inhospitable arena
where all the major political
events of the past half-centu-
ry have been marked by mass
choreography, militarized dis- above and below:
Coco Fusco
plays and rhetorical flourish.
The Empty Plaza / La Plaza Vacia, 2012
I decided to create a piece Single channel video
about that legendary site - an Dimensions variable
empty stage filled with mem- Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates,
ories, through which every New York © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights
foreign visitor passes, while Society (ARS), New York
nowadays many, if not most,
Cubans flee.”

128 129
Coco Fusco, The Empty Plaza / La Plaza Vacia, 2012, Single channel video, Dimensions variable
Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
 Ben Gravile
Quotations of Chairman Mao (part 1)
As I landed in Shanghai China I bought a copy of Quotations of chairman Mao (the
world’s second most published book after the bible) and started to read and photograph
what I saw of new China.

A misinformed western perception of the east and china changed after a couple of
days in Shanghai, as I walked around an up market area I saw a young western nanny
pushing a Chinese baby towards a creche and then been in a nightclub where two eu-
ropeans danced half naked for the crowd of young Chinese shanghai residents, or the
advert showing cruises on a boat where westerners would serve you lunch and dinner
and were at your beck and call. I had just left the propaganda museum when I saw the
western nanny and had seen all the images associated with their quest to infuse a pop-
ulation of 600 million “poor and blank” Chinese to work for the sate and communism. I
saw the image of land workers walking triumphantly from the fields and fat rich american
imperialists suppressing african americans with beatings and low wages to the huge
prints of the Chinese army bearing down on evil looking enemy soldiers. These were
images I saw as a child often with a mocking description of the propaganda at hand, it
was refreshing if unrealistic to see male and female land workers walking with purpose
or pride and a belief after a day toiling on a collective farm. Growing up in England I never
heard anyone say anything positive about the country I lived in, other than the heroic his-
tory of war and a royal family and the upper class who were for some reason better than
other people, there was nothing positive about workers and the importance of people, all
I saw was contempt from the state who had and still have a determination to destroy what
little power the people have. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that I heard peoples opinion change
and I heard people talk positively about England, by then workers unions and rights were
virtually destroyed and the country had been sold.
The myth of china persists both in the country and outside, with a population of 1.397
billion (2016) and suppressed information and the great fire wall of china not allowing
western web sites and news services, its hard to understand what china really is, there
are clues, it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, poor human rights and
seeing adverts in Shanghai for the prevention of loneliness in the elderly the push to-
wards a burgeoning middle class has fragmented society to the haves and have nots.
The cultural change from the early nineties economically has created bustling cities with
never ending adverts of glossy people with expensive products and a nightlife to match
with clubs bars and restaurants open all night from cities that had very little to offer after
six in the evening thirty years ago. A generation growing up under the single child policy
(1979-2015) has seen a more independent youth growing up with an attention overload
from parents and grandparents whose interests in western culture and african american
culture has made electronic dance music and hip hop fuel a desire for change, increas-
ing debt amongst the youth, and taste for western designs, its a sort of boom and bust
with protectionism. And how does china’s youth become creative if you are not able to
question your surroundings and authority, this is why China are the best in the world at
replicating products and manufacturing. Drive through a city and see all its hundreds
of factories which supplies 60% of the worlds christmas decorations or a town where
there is a sea of towers where they test the newly produced elevators that supply the
thousands of high rise apartment buildings is an idea of the modern collectivism in china
of long hours and poor wages for the uneducated and low skilled which fuels the middle
class and elite. This seems to be the new capitalist mantra of China the exact same the
west has peddled for time and desperately holds on to.

Book inserts, Quotations of chairman Mao (1966)

132 133
 To Resist: The Kumjana Novakova Ultimately, art and society belong to the same stream of history. So wrote Hohendahl,1
building on Adorno’s claim that art does not transcend history: art is a (specific) historic

Dream of a
Visual essay form.
An image, as an artwork, while reflecting on society, embodies society. A re-presentation
of the present. As an artefact of the nowness. Even if the represented present is the value
exchange world contradicting the very idea of art as such in its non-exchange value.

Ridiculous Man
As an aesthetic embodiment of society, art stands in opposition to all that is ‘anaesthetic’,
dull and numb. In its opposition to dullness or numbness, wouldn’t aesthetic stand for
responsiveness, for an ability to react, for an ability to counter-act? An ability to stand up.
A human action on the public stage.
An ability to resist.

A brief note on ‘voyeurs of the utopian through a resisting body’ by Johannes Gierlinger, Consequently, could one define an artwork as a contemporary historical form with the
but also a brief note on some of our responsibilities in art today. function of resisting the present, resisting the society it embodies, as a human action on
the public stage that offers alternatives?
The beginning of the previous century was marked by dreams of never-ending progress To reshape the present and reform society - to act for the body of the future - one needs
and futuristic utopias. The century ended, however, with nostalgia for past times and to resist.
anti-consumerist and degrowth movements. The present century cannot find a home in Art becomes research, documentation, political contextualization. Resistance.
either of the two and is marked by the impossibility of articulating its own paradigm. The
Showing an image is somehow an act of conserving the image, which is primarily a polit-
conflict can hardly be simplified to dichotomies such as modern/postmodern or capitalist/
ical act. The invisible becomes visible. The screen, or the dispositive, becomes a site of
post-capitalist. Rather, the only characteristic of current times on which we can all agree
political and social resistance. The hope is that an alternative regime of information and
seems to be that of ever-growing noise - the noise of eccentric modernities running in-
consequently an alternative regime of knowledge production is created.
dependently of each other in time and space in a world that resembles a buzzing factory
And, our ability to look and listen regenerates. Even if the resistant, emancipatory capac-
of nothing. Parallel temporalities and spatialities are the constantly sliding background
ities are commodified by the all present capital, we regenerate the ability to still rethink
against which we exist as fluid subjectivities whose identity is uncomfortably shaped by
resistance and emancipation.
rejecting rather than choosing, discontent rather than content, and with a growing feeling
We produce commonness, on the opposite of the common goods.
of entrapment and anxiety. Drifting above wasted concepts and ideologies, confronted
with rising right-wing groups and a failed left, the fluid subject develops defence mecha- “[…] today the energies of freedom are emerging in us, and […] this is exactly the point
nisms and constantly tracks escape routes in a search for eco-social justice, cultivating where one can speak of art […] this is, so to speak, a kind of science of freedom.”2
values and ways of relating to other people and to nature other than those embodied and Freedom as a miracle of infinite improbability, and nevertheless possible.
reproduced by the totality of capital. The fluid subject goes off - rather than in - acting,
choosing and forming ‘off-spaces’ (as in arts - spaces outside of the value-exchange 2. Memory
system and the commodity world, used for the public and by the public only) and in some
cases even pursuing life ‘off the grid’, i.e. unconnected to or served by publicly or private- “All of them would remember differently.”
ly managed utilities.
Memory. A term used for a variety of systems in the brain with different characteristics.
Thus, on the background of this, art and courageous imagination have come to be wide- In all cases, however, it implies the ability to reinvoke or repeat a specific mental image
ly regarded as the last recourse for resistant subjectivities. Consequently, what are the or a physical act.3
responsibilities of art? Which are the forms the struggle assumes in art practice and
theory? What is a revolutionary, radical art practice today? Not so recently, Rancière saw cinema as a history of illustrious figures - a form of history
that preserves memory through its very being.
The notes below are part of a conversation with Johannes Gierlinger which took place I imagine cinema as an archaeology of the present, excavating memories of the present
when Johannes accepted an invitation to submit a visual essay for this first issue of the from the debris of noise and creating the memory of the archive. The repository of all
reshaped art journal The Large Glass. Our collaboration and friendship had been mostly memories of the world, protected from the crouching noise of the totality of the capital.
shaped by the questions above, mostly in our work in cinema. The background and the Meaning opposes noise.
main focus of our dialogue is the art of cinema and the art of the image today, particularly
within documentary and post-documentary sensibilities and methodology. The following We do not remember, we rewrite memory much as history is rewritten. Statues also die.
notes and visual essay are our notebooks, diary-like entries, and represent an open invi- We take an image, we create a memory - we show an image, we inscribe a memory - we
tation for all concerned to join the discussion. preserve a memory. We project an image, inscribing it in the collective self, learning how
to look at it and read it to the body of the future. We learn how to remember it. Successful
1. To Resist remembering depends, as in Plato and Aristotle, on having a clean surface, a well-or-
dered background and clearly inscribed figures or images.4
“She said that through the images of one body, perhaps one’s own or the other’s, we have Chris Marker asked how one can remember thirst?
the opportunity to realize that we are part of an opposition.”

136 137
 History is that time in which those who have no right to occupy the same place can oc-
cupy the same image.
Memory is the space in the present in which those who have no right to occupy the same
place occupy the same image. Those who struggle, who resist, take the image. Like an-
ti-monuments of historical consciousness. As, “the tradition of the oppressed teaches us
that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We must
attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. Then we shall clearly
realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency, and this will improve our
position in the struggle against Fascism.”5

“He who had once begun to open the fan of memory, never comes to the end of its seg-
ments. No image satisfies him, for he has seen that it can be unfolded, and only in its folds

voyeurs
does the truth reside.”6
Page 139 - 149: Text and images by Johannes
3. To Dream Gierlinger, 2014

of the
“A sentence that perhaps includes the words revolution, failure and dream.” Page 150 -151
Collage from various images and texts:
The infinite freedom of imagination. An adventure. Like an experience that disrupts the Map Bialystok, 1976
flow of our everyday life so as to crystallize its innermost core. Archival material, Decentrum Squat Bialystok, 2005
Sleep, as the last space we have outside of the system. Dreaming, as the last space of
articulation outside of the capitalocentric vision.
Social daydreaming is a vocation.
utopian Page 152
Collage from various images and texts:
Images destroyed Białystok, German Invasion, approx.
An image of happiness? Is it an opposition or an experiment?

“The individual’s images, his feelings, his mood belong to him alone, he lives completely in
through a 1942/1943
Various archival texts, approx. 1944
Portrait: Chaika Grossman - Jewish Partisan &
Resistance Fighter

resisting
his own world; and being completely alone means, psychologically speaking, dreaming.
[…] Portrait: Mordechai Tenenbaum - Leader of the
An individual turns from mere self-identity to becoming a self or “the” individual, and Białystok Ghetto Uprising
the dreamer awakens in that unfathomable moment when he decides not only to seek to Image Białystok Wegierko Drama Theatre,

body
know “what hit him,” but seeks also to strive into and take hold of the dynamics in these approx.1960
References Image member of Esperanto Movement, approx. 1900
events, “himself”-the moment, that is, when he resolves to bring continuity or conse-
quence into a life that rises and falls, falls and rises. Only then does he make something. 1. Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Reappraisals:
Shifting Alignments in Postwar Critical
That which he makes... is history.”7
Theory. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, Page 153
1991. Collage from various images and texts:
2. Joseph Beuys. What Is Art?: Conver- Image: Women on the Streets of Białystok, approx.
sations With Joseph Beuys. Clairview 1932
“I will begin about my dream. Yes, I dreamed a dream, my dream of the third of November. Books, 2007, p. 10. Various archival textmaterial: Białystok Pogrom;
They tease me now, telling me it was only a dream. But does it matter whether it was a 3. Gerald Edelman. Wider than the Sky: Anarchist Movements
dream or reality, if the dream made known to me the truth? If once one has recognized the The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness. Group image: Anarchists Krynki, approx. 1905
London: Allen Lane, 2004.
truth and seen it, you know that it is the truth and that there is no other and there cannot Portrait: Anarchist Niomke Friedman, approx. 1905
4. Anne Whitehead. Memory. Routledge,
be, whether you are asleep or awake. Let it be a dream, so be it, but that real life of which 2008.
you make so much I had meant to extinguish by suicide, and my dream, my dream - oh, it 5. Walter Benjamin. ‘Theses on the Philos-
revealed to me a different life, renewed, grand and full of power!”8 ophy of History’. In Arendt, Hannah (ed.) Page 153 - 159
“Illuminations: Essays and Reflections”. by Text and images by Johannes Gierlinger, 2017
Schocken Books, 1969.
6. Walter Benjamin. ‘Theses on the Phi-
Johannes
losophy of History’ pp. 257-58. Quoted in Gierlinger
Boym, Svetlana. The Future of Nostalgia.
New York: Basic Books, 2001.
7. Michel Foucault and Ludwig Bin-
swanger. ‘Dream and Existence’, Review
of Existential Psychology & Psychiatry,
Vol. XIX, no. I. 1984-85.
8. Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Dream of a
Ridiculous Man. 1877 (Translated by Con-
stance Garnett, 1916.)

138 139
From Anglo-Norman resistre
Middle French resister
to resist
to withstand
to overcome
to sustain
The latin word re- + sistere 141
Latin resistere, from re- + sistere to endure to stand
If you are truly dividing the earth
into zones, I declare this a new
one. Time is out of whack. What
will these impressions be like
in a year’s time? Perhaps it’ll
meld into other impressions?
One of many stories. Maybe you
never really arrive... you´re just
venturing off anew. That applies
to this city. A city that completed
its first year of existence with
the words: Nuevo Extremo. New
Ending. I’ll take it as written.
New Ending. It´s a paradox, but
it works. A beginning and an
end are a decent prerequisite,
someone once told me. What
happens in between though? I
was about to set out again, and
that feeling pulsed through the
people as well. They once again
fascinated me. Something was in
the air, but in our conversations
we couldn’t put our finger on
it. So we started discussing
what it feels like to pursue
something that you are always
a step behind. That shouldn’t
invoke a sad picture, quite the
opposite actually. It was the old
workers crossing the paths of
younger people. The pictures
are almost identical to the ones
taken 30 years ago... at least I
think so. I imagine pictures exist
twice. Only the protagonists are
younger, they of the future.
To voyeur the utopian with a do not know what time or code there any real avatars? Masks?
resisting body is. And with some parts I do not Except for the short story he
know what is readable and what told, he did not say anything
He wanted to get on the bus, but is encrypted. How fortunate: We while she was speaking.
realized that neither he, nor the know not to know everything. She concluded: We now
woman who stood next to him, Both looked at each other. accept that we are not just
fit into it. At one point he looked at
He said: Maybe our bodies are a child passing by, holding
too good to be crushed. Who a hobbyhorse in her hands ”voyeurs of the
likes masses of bodies?. and a deep memory of one of
She said that through the
images of one body, perhaps
his journeys returned. Now
suddenly he started to speak, utopian through
one’s own or the another’s, but he didn´t really speak, it
we have the opportunity to
realize that we are part of an
was more as if she was reading
a thought bubble aobove his
a resisting
opposition. This thus resistant head: As we drove down the
body leaves traces, traces that
have inscribed themselves
hills of the City of Iquique a man
in a yellow jumpsuite was riding
body”
into itself this body and traces a hobby horse. We passed but also
that remain on the path of this by and Ignatius asked: Hey
resistance: on you, me, them, Amigo, are you crazy? The man
him, her, us. These traces allow
us to accept each other at a
answered: No I´m not crazy, but
the horse is crazy. Then the man
“voyeurs of the
mutual sight: it is the body of
history. It is the body of the
rode into the dark night.
She looked at him and
utopian by a
future. continiued with her monologue. resisting gaze”.
This body is one’s own, it is the You remember. This body sticks
one next to you, above you, on all sides. It screams: We He looked onto the floor and
below you, it is the one who are always resistant! We stick said nothing. Perhaps he
comes, who walks, who seems together. This body is our story. doesn´t like his gaze.
alien, who remembers, and who This story is resisting. This Then she left while I was still
forgets, who seems familiar, resistance can be absorbed by standing there and observed
who crushes, the one of the the gaze. This gaze is a voyeur. the whole scenaerio.
past, the future. The one of all An avatar of gazes. One looks But who was I?
cities. The one of all books. The through theise eyes with an
one of the present, which is attitude of doubt, until it absorbs
passing by right now. The one and makes one understand that
of all songs and of this: New there can be neither one nor the
Order - Dreams never end. (A other, that there will be a picture
moment we rarely realize.) before and after. AND maybe
Then she moved to something one in between. Rememeber the
different and said: I’ve Chilenian city. Remember the
transcribed parts of a movie, guy and the horse. We are now
some with time code, some just looking different.
like that, and in some parts I The traveler always says: Are
144
Critic
Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French critique, from Latin criticus, from Ancient Greek κριτικός (kri-
tikós, “of or for judging, able to discern”), from κρίνω (krínō, “I judge)

Noun

critic (plural critics)

A person who appraises the works of others.

A specialist in judging works of art.
One who criticizes; a person who finds fault.
An opponent.
Obsolete form of critique (an act of criticism)

147
From Anglo-Norman memorie
from Latin memoria
related Ancient Greek μνήμη (mneme, “memory”)
μέρμερος (mérmeros, “anxious”)
The english word memory
from Proto-Indo-European (s)mer μέριμνα (mérimna, “care, thought”) 149
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,200
An instant away,
in front of a old factory,
00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,120
a woman is reading
Shakespeare´s Hamlet.
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,360
Words in Esperanto.
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,360
Is there another language meaning
‘the one who hopes’?
00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,920
Once, this city was the centre
of a great labour movement,
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,600
and of an ethnic diversity,
where Jews, Poles, Russians,
00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,760
Germans, Belarusians,
Tatars lived together.
00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,320
It was called
‘Manchester of the north’.
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,240
This factory was part of it.
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,360
Later part of the Jewish ghetto
erected by the Nazis.
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,840
At the beginning of the 21st century
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,560
it turned into an anarchist centre.
00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,840
They called it appropriately:
Decentrum.
00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:30,680
Most people remembering
the labour movement are dead
00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,640
and those who remember
the anarchist times have left.
00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,000
All of them would
remember differently.
151
an
idea of
history
a history
of ideas
Perhaps from Proto-Germanic draugmas
deception, illusion, phantasm
Old Norse draugr
ghost, apparition
Old English dream
joy, mirth, noisy merriment, music
The english word dream
155
In a crowd of people, one
hopes to find at least one an-
swer to a question. An answer
which is , if you listen careful-
ly, formed from the sum of the
individual conversations and
word fragments to a coher-
ent sentence. A sentence that
perhaps includes the words
revolution, failure and dream.
I always said: The only revolu-
tionary thought is to wake up
the dreamer.

One could lay the images of

the two cities on top of anoth-
er and hope that the resulting
image is one that has never
been seen before. An image
that confronts us, without
being fragile. An image that
looks back, like cities do. Gaz-
es where you don´t borrow
eyes, like in the Persian say-
ing.. But instead trust one ‘s
own eyes. One contemplates
There are connections you
have to generate. It seems
like an error that one tries to
theorize subjectivity, Psyche
will be equated with space.
Like a museum. Perhaps this
picture should hang in a mu-
seum and the visitors would
while looking at it decipher an
encrypted part of their life.

157
The MoCA’s exhibition

All That We Have

in Common
18 April 2018, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje

The exhibition All That We Have in Common addressed aspects of uncertainty - including
precariousness, vulnerability and existential unpredictability - in a variety of social, political
and cultural contexts. Instability is causing great suffering throughout the world as people
find themselves bereft of former social constellations and deprived of their rights, exposed
to symbolic and material acts of violence - conflicts, transitions, labour abuse, migration,
injustices and gender inequality. In these conditions of precariousness, the question arises
whether it is possible to undertake practices directed towards a common good: Is it possible
to cooperate in joint actions in a context where uncertainty is simultaneously ‘common’ to all
but also the chief factor that separates us from each other? How can disparate and restless
entities find ways to act in unity?

Eighteen artists were selected to display their works in this exhibition, present precar-
iousness in a wide variety of contexts. The tragic issues addressed in their works include
conditions of political manipulation, social misery and exclusion and cultural subjugation.
Their works also invite us to engage in active self-exploration, digging into our experiences
and attitudes in an effort to become more involved in the present.

The exhibition thus raises awareness of our shared conditions of uncertainty while en-
joining us to commit ourselves to some motivated action to overcome this precarity. The
selection of works inspires us to think about the ways we perceive current conditions and
encourages us to think about how our personal vision, responsibility and involvement can be
socially shared.

160 Ištvan Išt Huzjan: Earth Reflections (Odsevi zemlje) | 2015

Anri Sala:Long Sorrow | 2005 Video

Maja Bajevic: Arts, Crafts and Facts | 2015

Video

163
Maria Papadimitriou: Why Look at Animals?
AGRIMIKÁ, 2015 Video
 CONTRIBUTORS

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist and activist. ator of Open Utopia, an open-access, open-source, web-based
His father’s (Ai Qing) original surname was written Jiang (蔣). Ai edition of Thomas More’s Utopia and is co-founder and co-di-
Weiwei collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meu- rector of the Center for Artistic Activism.
ron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium
for the 2008 Summer Olympics. As a political activist he has Grant Kester is a Professor of Art History in the Visual Arts
been critical of the Chinese Government’s stance on democra- department at the University of California at San Diego and
cy and human rights. He has investigated government corrup- the founding editor of FIELD: A Journal of Socially Engaged
tion and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan corruption scandal Art Criticism. His publications include Art, Activism and Op-
following the collapse of so-called “tofu-dreg schools” in the positionality: Essays from Afterimage (Duke University Press,
2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing 1998), Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in
Capital International Airport on 3 April, he was held for 81 days Modern Art (University of California Press, 2004),The One and
without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context
allegations of “economic crimes”. He is one of the leading cul- (Duke University Press, 2011) and Collective Situations: Read-
tural figures of his generation and serves as an example for free ings in Contemporary Latin American Art 1995-2010, co-edited
expression both in China and internationally. with Bill Kelley, Jr. (Duke University Press, 2017). His current
book project is Autonomy and Answerability: The Aesthetics of
Anthony Downey is an academic, editor and writer. He is Socially Engaged Art.
Professor of Visual Culture in the Middle East and North Africa
within the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City Maja Ćirić is an independent curator and art critic expe-
University. Recent and upcoming publications include Zones rienced in leading and contributing to international art proj-
of Indistinction: Contemporary Visual Culture and the Cultural ects. Maja’s practice, that is based on terms of criticality and
Logic of Late-Modernity (forthcoming, Sternberg Press, 2019); post-globalism, is a critique of the dominant curatorial geopol-
Don’t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet: The Works of Hiwa K itics. Maja received a PhD in art and media theory from the
(Walther König Books, 2017); Future Imperfect: Contemporary University of Arts in Belgrade (Dissertation title: Institutional
Art Practices and Cultural Institutions in the Middle East (Ster- Critique and Curating). Maja’s areas of concern span from cu-
nberg Press, 2016); Dissonant Archives: Contemporary Visual rating as institutional critique through to the research of meth-
Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East (I.B. Tauris, odology and epistemology of curating, and to the international
2015); and Art and Politics Now (Thames and Hudson, 2014). In and transnational circulation of ideas and curating. Maja is a
2019, he will launch a new series of books, Research/Practice: recipient of Lazar Trifunović Award for Art Criticism (Belgrade),
25 Artists/25 Projects (Sternberg Press, 2019). CEC ArtsLink Independent Projects Award (New York), ISCP Cu-
rator Award (New York), Dedalus Foundation and Independent
Forensic Architecture is an independent research agency Curators International Curatorial Research Award.
based at Goldsmiths, University of London. The interdisciplinary
team of investigators includes architects, scholars, artists, film- MTL is a collective based in New York that combines re-
makers, software developers, investigative journalists, archae- search, aesthetics and activism with artistic practice. It in-
ologists, lawyers, and scientists. Their evidence is presented in cludes artist and organizer Nitasha Dhillon and Amin Husain,
political and legal forums, truth commissions, courts, and human lawyer, artist and organizer. MTL builds on the experiences
rights reports. Forensic Architecture also undertakes historical and movement-generated theory produced recently to deepen
and theoretical examinations of the history and present status of solidarity, foster shared analysis, and produce formations that
forensic practices in articulating notions of public truth. allow groups to retain the specificities of their struggles in coa-
lition while moving together and separately towards decolonial
Stephen Duncombe is Professor of Media and Culture at freedom.
New York University. He teaches and writes on the history of
mass and alternative media and the intersection of culture and Steve Lambert is an artist who works with issues of adver-
politics. He is the author of Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive tising and the use of public space. He made international news
Politics in an Age of Fantasy (The New Press, 2007) and Notes after the 2008 US election with The New York Times “Special
From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Underground Cul- Edition,”a replica of the “paper of record” announcing the end
ture (Verso, 1997). He is editor of the Cultural Resistance Reader of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other good news. In the
(Verso, 2002), co-editor, along with Maxwell Tremblay, of White Summer of 2011 he began a tour of Capitalism Works For Me!
Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race (Verso, 2011), and True/False - a 9 x 20ft sign allowing people to vote on whether
writes on the intersection of culture and politics for a range of capitalism worked for them He is also the founder of the Center
scholarly and popular publications. Duncombe is also the cre- for Artistic Activism.

165
Hristina Ivanoska: The missing document: performance no.8 (A letter form Lenin) | 2018
The Large Glass No. 25 / 26, 2018
Dmitry Vilensky is an artist, curator, and author of numer- Branimir Stojanović is a psychoanalyst in Belgrade and an Eyal Weizman is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures, Tihomir Topuzovski received his doctoral degree from the
(Journal of Contemporary
ous texts on contemporaryArt,
art Culture andHe
and activism. Theory)
is co-founder international associated member of SALP. He is the founder of and Director of Forensic Architecture. He is a founding mem- University of Birmingham in the UK. He also has two BAs in Phi-
of the group Chto Delat and co-editor of the eponymous news- the journal of the Belgrade Psychoanalytic Association Archive ber of the architectural collective DAAR in Beit Sahour/Pales- losophy and Art, and an MA in Art, and has received numerous
Published
paper. twice
In 2013,a he
year. Price for
co-founded theaSchool
singleforcopy 500 MKD,
Engaged Art in Annual
of Psychoanalysis and has been its editor-in-chief from 2008 to tine. His books include Forensic Architecture: Violence at the academic achievement awards and research grants. He was a
St. Petersburg. Threshold of Detectability (2017), The Conflict Shoreline (with postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East Eu-
subscription: 1000Vilensky’s
MKD practice embraces artistic projects, 2010. He was the founding member of the School for History and Fazal Sheikh, 2015), FORENSIS (with Anselm Franke, 2014), ropean Studies in the Södertörn University in Stockholm. His
public actions, and seminars directed at the art of political nar- Theory of Painting, the art-theory group Monument, focusing
rative. With the art group Chto Delat, Vilensky has taken part on questions of disintegration, war and genocide in Yugoslavia, Mengele’s Skull (with Thomas Keenan at Sterenberg Press, research is at the intersection of philosophy, politics and the
Publisher: Museum
in numerous of Contemporary
exhibitions, Art Skopje
conferences, seminars, and theatrical and a founding member of an archive-library of Yugoslav hu- 2012), Forensic Architecture (dOCUMENTA13 notebook, 2012), visual arta. He is currently collaborating on a research project
Address: Samoilova
performances. 17, MK - 1000 Skopje manities Teacher Ignoramus and His Committees. He is a mem- The Least of All Possible Evils (Verso 2011), Hollow Land (Verso, on the politicisation of spaces and artistic practices, developing
Tel: (++) 389 2 110 123 ber of the Belgrade Psychoanalytic Association. 2007), A Civilian Occupation (Verso, 2003), the series Territo- a new understanding of temporary urbanism. Topuzovski cur-
ries 1, 2 and 3, Yellow Rhythms and many articles in journals, rently works as a research leader in the interdisciplinary pro-
E-mail: info@msu.mk
Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić are Belgrade-based artists
Milica Tomić is Yugoslavian-born artist and Head of IZK-In- magazines, and edited books. He has worked with a variety of gramme of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje and is
Web whose research-oriented work comprises drawing, text, video,
site: www.msu.mk NGOs worldwide and was a member of the B’Tselem board of editor-in-chief of the journal The Large Glass. He has published
photography, installation and intervention in public space. In stitute for Contemporary Art (TU Graz). Her work centres on
their collaborative practice Rena & Vladan explore the relation unearthing and bringing to public debate issues related to polit- directors. a number of papers and participated in individual and group ex-
Director: Mira
between artGakina
and politics, unveiling the contradictions of today’s ical violence, economic underpinnings and social amnesia. As hibitions.
societies and developing transformative potentials of art in the a response to the commitment to social change and the new Kumjana Novakova works in the field of creative documen-
Editor-in-Chief: Tihomir
context of social Topuzovski
struggles. They engage with current debates forms of collectivity it engenders, Milica Tomić has made a tary cinema and audio-visual arts since 2006. Her formal edu- Mira Gakina is an art historian and a director of the Museum
and struggles in collaboration with social movements and dis- marked shift from individual to collective artistic practice. She cation combines social sciences and research studies in Sofia, of Contemporary Art in Skopje. She graduated from the Institute
Sarajevo, Bologna and Amsterdam. She was the co-founder of History of Art and Archaeology at the Faculty of Philosophy in
seminate
Editorial Board:theirZoran
art works through reproduction
Petrovski, Melentieis Pandilovski,
in various media.
Jovanka Popova, a founding member of the new Yugoslav art/theory group,
and director of the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival in Sarajevo. She Skopje and completed her postgraduate studies at the Faculty
“Grupa Spomenik” [Monument Group, 2002]; she conceived
Slavco Dimitrov, Yane Calovski, Artan Sadiku, Hristina Ivanoska and
Bojan Ivanov is an art historian. He completed his gradu- and initiated the cross-disciplinary project and Working Group
collaborates as a film curator with several film festivals and of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb. She gained her PhD in
Ljiljana Nedelkovska
ate and postgraduate studies at the Institute of Art History and Four Faces of Omarska [2010].
cinema platforms worldwide. She teaches documentary cine- Art Management at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje. She has
ma at Béla Tarr’s film factory and at the non-fiction department curated a number of exhibitions in the country and abroad and
Archaeology in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of
at ESCAC in Barcelona. Kumjana develops projects between has presented her work in New York, Krakow, Berlin, Ljubljana,
Layout: Private
SS Cyril Print
and Methodius in Skopje. He has been publishing stud- Kim Charnley is an art theorist and contemporary art his-
cinema and contemporary art, exploring the interplay between Texas and Zagreb. She has published her writings in diverse
ies, reviews and essays on the Macedonian contemporary arts torian who writes about art activism and institutional critique,
identities and memories. Her works have been exhibited at in- publications, catalogues, books and magazines.
scene on the pages of the domestic daily press and art maga- among other issues to do with the politics of art. He has pub-
Printed by: Feniks Print, Kocani ternational festivals and galleries. She currently works as a film
zines and journals since 1983. He is a founder of Mala Galerija lished in Art Journal, Historical Materialism and Art and the
curator at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Skopje. Jovanka Popova is a curator and programme coordinator
in Skopje. Public Sphere. In 2017, he edited and provided an introduction
Copyediting/proofreading: Matt Jones at the Press to Exit project space and curator at the Museum of
for a collection of the essays of activist artist, theorist and cura-
Ana Hoffner is engaged in an art practice that excavates Contemporary Art in Skopje. She completed her B.A. and M.A.
Elena Veljanovska is a freelance curator and cultural man- tor Gregory Sholette, entitled Delirium and Resistance: Activist
moments of crisis and conflict in history and politics. Hoffner’s at the Faculty of Philosophy Institute for History of Art in Sko-
Copies: 1000
ager. She graduated from the Institute of Art History and Ar- Art and Capitalist Crisis (Pluto Books).
performances, video and photo installations seek to introduce pjе. She has curated exhibitions in the contemporary art field
chaeology in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University SS Cyril
temporalities, relations and spaces in-between established per- in Macedonia and worked on international curatorial projects.
and Methodius in Skopje. Her work experience includes work Johannes Gierlinger studied Digital Media & Art in Salz-
spectives and memories of iconic images and highly performative She has also presented her work at the Humboldt University,
with the Cultural Center Tocka, Skopje, Line I+M, a platform for burg, Istanbul and at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. His films
The postage
new media fee
artfor
andsending thewhich
technology, magazines abroad
she directed until is charged
2010. accordingdeal with memory, history and resistance as
and installations
events. Hoffner employs means of appropriation such as restag- the Central European University in Budapest, the Goethe Uni-
to theIncurrent ing photographs, interviews and reports and desynchronization versity in Frankfurt, the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in
2012–2015 she was actively involved in the creation of the wella the
price list of Post of Macedonia and is paid when with the forms of representation. Within an essayistic
of body and voice, sound and image. She* has finished the PhD Seoul, the Kunst Historisches Institut in Florence, the Bahcese-
subscription
Association is purchased.
of the Independent Cultural Scene JADRO, and form he explores readings, doubts and possible future imag-
in Practice Program at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2014. hir University in Istanbul, the Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts
she works as an executive director and curator in Kontrapunkt, es. Thereby he tries to examine a world by a flaneur-like act of
and other institutions. She is a president of the Macedonian
ISSN:Skopje. 5823 her latest projects is the CRIC-Festival of criti- seeking and by creating connections through confrontation and
1409 -Among Coco Fusco, interdisciplinary artist and writer, explores the Section of the AICA International Association of Art Critics.
cal culture. In 2009 she was a guest-curator in the Stedefreund scrutiny of images. Gierlingers work has been screened and ex-
politics of gender, race, war, and identity through multi-media
gallery in Berlin and a co-curator of the Macedonian Pavilion at hibited at various filmfestivals and institutions.
productions incorporating large-scale projections, closed-cir-
the 53rd International Art Exhibition in Venice.
Financially supported by the Ministry of cuit television, web-based live streaming performances with
Ben Graville is a photographer, he received a diploma in
Culture of the Republic of Macedonia
Damir Arsenijević works in the fields of critical theory and photography from N.E.S.C.O.T. in 1991. He travelled and worked
audience interaction, as well as performances at cultural
events that actively engage with the audience. Fusco has per-
psychoanalysis. His art and theoretical interventions establish in various areas of photography including furniture and studio
formed, lectured, exhibited, and curated internationally since
settings for the discussion of painful topics after the war and work. From 2001 to 2006 he worked in press agencies special-
1988. Her work has been included in two Whitney Biennials
genocide in former Yugoslavia as our commons. He was a Ful- izing in criminal and civil law for Photonews and Central news. (2008 and 1993), the Mercosul Biennial (2011), the Sydney Bi-
bright Visiting Scholar and Professor at the Department of Rhet- Graville also worked for the newspaper The Independent be- ennale (1992), the Johannesburg Biennial (1997), the Shanghai
oric, UC Berkeley in 2011/12. Currently, he is a Leverhulme Fellow tween 2006 and 2009. Parallel to his professional practice, he Biennale (2004), and Performa05. She is an associate profes-
at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, leading the project ‘Love creates variations on the theme of documentary and photojour- sor and Director of Intermedia Initiatives at Parsons The New
after Genocide’. He founded the Psychoanalytic Seminar Tuzla in nalism incorporating ideas from the art world which through dif- School for Design in New York.
Bosnia and Herzegovina which opens up the public space for the ferent projects he has exhibited and published internationally.
exploration of the unconscious of war and genocide.

166
in this issue:
Ai Weiwei
Anthony Downey
Forensic Architecture
Stephen Duncombe
Grant Kester
Tihomir Topuzovski
Maja Ćirić
MTL Collective
Steve Lambert
Dmitry Vilensky
Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić
Bojan Ivanov
Elena Veljanovska
Damir Arsenijević
Branimir Stojanović
Milica Tomić
Kim Charnley
Johannes Gierlinger
Ben Graville
Eyal Weizman
Kumjana Novakova
Ana Hoffner
Coco Fusco