Here, art sociologist Pascal Gielen examines the notion that the global art economy—with its ever-renewable youth quota, its gender imbalance, flexible working hours and short-term contracts (or lack of contracts)—is wholly congruent with the worst aspirations of late capitalism, and is ripe for economic exploitation. Conscious that art also offers real liberties, Gielen also proposes alternative models and argues for a recognition of the values implied by the creative process, rather than by the subtle coercions of post-Fordist production imperatives to which we are all subject.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Good Reads
Pascal Gielen
In this excellent and challenging collection of mainly previously published (although not in English) essays woven together into a single narrative Gielen’s exploration of the work of artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto or the ways in which curators make their exhibition decisions reveals important things about art’s relations to power. Highly recommended.
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.
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FORMAT: Pbk, 5.25 x 8.25 in. / 368 pgs / 50 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $28.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $35 ISBN: 9789078088349 PUBLISHER: Valiz AVAILABLE: 3/31/2010 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ME
The Murmuring of the Artistic Multitude Global Art, Memory and Post-Fordism
Published by Valiz. By Pascal Gielen.
Here, art sociologist Pascal Gielen examines the notion that the global art economy—with its ever-renewable youth quota, its gender imbalance, flexible working hours and short-term contracts (or lack of contracts)—is wholly congruent with the worst aspirations of late capitalism, and is ripe for economic exploitation. Conscious that art also offers real liberties, Gielen also proposes alternative models and argues for a recognition of the values implied by the creative process, rather than by the subtle coercions of post-Fordist production imperatives to which we are all subject.
