Extensive Modernity: On the Refunctioning of Artists as Producers

Angela Dimitrakaki*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract / Description of output

The driving illusion for art in extensive modernity is that it is a participatory democracy (a promise of the postmodern parenthesis) when, in reality, it is a participatory economy. The NEA Report explains an important parameter of this economy in stating that artists "make things and perform services". The criticality of modern art as originally encountered within the struggle against alienation was subjected to a refunctioning that contributed to the rise of post-Fordism and the genesis of the self-managed individual that today we find at the heart of artistic labor. The analysis of the refunctioning of artists as producers in extensive modernity, effected through a transference of responsibility from making art to participating in the art world, suggests that if an avant-garde can exist today, its right to leadership can in no way be legitimized through the artworks it delivers as outputs, no matter its good or indeed radical intentions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationA Companion to Modern Art
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Pages245-261
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781118639948
ISBN (Print)9781118639849
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Nov 2017

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Artistic labor
  • Avant-garde
  • Extensive modernity
  • Modern art
  • Postmodern parenthesis
  • Producers

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