Almost nothing: Observations on precarious practices in contemporary art (Rethinking Art's Histories) - Softcover

Dezeuze, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1526112906 ISBN 13: 9781526112903

Verlag: Manchester University Press, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

Presents a short history of artworks at risk of passing unnoticed because they look like trash, or are little more than commonplace objects and fleeting gestures that disappear into the fabric of everyday life

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anna Dezeuze is Lecturer in Art History at the Ecole Supérieure d'Art et de Design Marseille-Méditerranée in Marseilles

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This book presents a new reading of contemporary art between 1958 and 2009 by sketching out a trajectory of 'precarious' art practices. Such practices risk being dismissed as 'almost nothing' because they look like trash, they present objects and events that are so commonplace as to be confused with our ordinary surroundings, or because they are fleeting gestures that vanish into the fabric of everyday life. What is the status of such fragile, nearly invisible, artworks? In what ways do they engage with the precarious modes of existence that have emerged and evolved in the socio-economic context of an increasingly globalised capitalism?

Works discussed in this study range from Allan Kaprow's assemblages and happenings, Fluxus event scores and Hélio Oiticica's wearable Parangolé capes in the 1960s, to Thomas Hirschhorn's sprawling environments and participatory projects, Francis Alÿs's filmed performances and Gabriel Orozco's photographs and constructions in the 1990s. Significant similarities among these different practices are drawn out, while crucial shifts are outlined in the evolution of this trajectory from the early 1960s to the turn of the twenty-first century.

This study addresses essential questions such as the art object's 'dematerialisation', and relations between art and everyday life, including the three fields of work, labour and action first outlined by Hannah Arendt in 1958. By situating these works within an original set of historical and critical issues, the book provides students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into the radical specificities of these practices.

Aus dem Klappentext

This book presents a new reading of contemporary art between 1958 and 2009 by sketching out a trajectory of 'precarious' art practices. Such practices risk being dismissed as 'almost nothing' because they look like trash, they present objects and events that are so commonplace as to be confused with our ordinary surroundings, or because they are fleeting gestures that vanish into the fabric of everyday life. What is the status of such fragile, nearly invisible, artworks? In what ways do they engage with the precarious modes of existence that have emerged and evolved in the socio-economic context of an increasingly globalised capitalism? Works discussed in this study range from Allan Kaprow's assemblages and happenings, Fluxus event scores and Hélio Oiticica's wearable Parangolé capes in the 1960s, to Thomas Hirschhorn's sprawling environments and participatory projects, Francis Alÿs's filmed performances and Gabriel Orozco's photographs and constructions in the 1990s. Significant similarities among these different practices are drawn out, while crucial shifts are outlined in the evolution of this trajectory from the early 1960s to the turn of the twenty-first century. This study addresses essential questions such as the art object's 'dematerialisation', and relations between art and everyday life, including the three fields of work, labour and action first outlined by Hannah Arendt in 1958. By situating these works within an original set of historical and critical issues, the book provides students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into the radical specificities of these practices.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Manchester University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1526112906
• ISBN 13: 9781526112903
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 346
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland