FROM THE BOOK

The art world has changed out of all recognition in the last 20 years. Not only has the number of people that call themselves artists increased tremendously since the 1980s, but society's attitude to art and artists has changed too. In those days, any 18 year old who told people he wanted to go to an art school got some funny looks from friends and acquaintances. And such a wish was often vetoed by parents, or at least hedged around with the condition that the youngster first learned 'a real profession.' Twenty years later, much less fuss is made when someone chooses to ply a creative trade, and the exotic aura around the artist's calling has evaporated somewhat. Today, creativity, innovation, authenticity and even idiosyncrasy are embraced by the business world and governments alike. The 'progressive' entrepreneur has grasped the benefits of artistic entrepreneurship for his Post-Fordian business, and politicians embrace the arts with a view to an attractive creative city that can hold its own in the global competition of places to be. In other words, art—or at least 'the artistic'—has been promoted in the course of 20 years from the margins of society to its heart. Or, as the Italian philosopher Paolo Virno declares, echoing the German writer Hans Enzensberger: art has been diluted in society like a soluble tablet in a glass of water.

Excerpt is from Pascal Gielen's Introduction to The Murmuring of the Artistic Multitude: Global Art, Memory and Post-Fordism.