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Editorial

While browsing in my local big box book retailer recently, I noticed that there were numerous books on offer about the mechanisms of our impending doom-environmental and American- none of which I particularly wanted to read. The cultural pessimism of the moment was hard to ignore. 

In the art world, too, there is a sense of foreboding. The often used metaphor of an art world “explosion” conveys the idea of general out-of-controlness. But then, considering the sheer volume of activity now available to the art observer, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. 

Looked at objectively, however, the recent vitality of art should be seen in a positive light. Art is a form of enquiry, not a style or monetary investment. And when compared to the fate of other forms of modernist experimentation with which it shares origins- music and literature, for instance- visual art is thriving. It is a discipline that continues to find possible answers to questions that were posed over 100 years ago.

The audience for art is growing. Arguably, this is because of the myriad ways contemporary practice incorporates real world elements-including, in some cases, its audience-into itself. Although it still requires specialized knowledge to appreciate, contemporary art keeps pace with trends in our wider culture; a high-low dichotomy no longer applies.

There are a number of reasons for this push towards accessibility, among them the de-skilling of art practice, combined with an open-ended attitude about what can be art-both of which have deep roots in the philosophical questions past practitioners have asked.

A likely third factor is an anxiety on the part of practitioners about art’s relevance when compared to the sheer desirability of more commercial art forms, such as pop music and television.

An unintended consequence of this democratization is the loss of the allure that elitism once provided. Feelings of gloom about the art world can probably be calculated in inverse proportion to a loss of authority (real or imagined) on the part of those who are espousing them. Popularity always breeds a certain amount of resentment.

A related issue derives from the discipline-  
specific competence art now requires of

artists that is not necessarily related to traditional notions of craft or skill- resulting in a widespread plausibility of a range of artistic practices with a concomitant relativisation of value.

It’s a multi-polar art world, in other words, and not everybody is happy about it. All this is just to say that art practice is undergoing the same process of fragmentation and de-hierarchization as are other precincts of culture, a phenomenon that is technological and economic in origin.

A reflection of this can be found in a recent trend in major art exhibitions: a de-emphasis on art stars. This tendency, evident at last summer’s Documenta 12, and, more recently, the 5th Berlin Biennial, can be understood as a defensive position taken against a booming and overheated art market. 

At these events in Kassel and Berlin, a curatorial resistance against an apparent status quo helped initiate particularized conversations about art. Both shows presented a disparate range of artists pursuing diverse lines of artistic enquiry, all relatively accessible and all equally valid. The net effect was, however, of a vast playing field of possibility upon which points of access and points of interest were somehow two different things.

This issue of C, The Art System, addresses the structural aspects of art as a discipline and as an industry, and is comprised of examples from the broad spectrum of languages used to discuss art activity today, from news reports to highly speculative theoretical texts.

Chris Lloyd, an artist who devotes part of his practice to maintaining an ongoing correspondence with the Prime Minister of Canada, writes about the changing- and fast improving- climate of arts patronage in this country.

Lloyd discusses the newly established DHC/ Art Foundation in Montreal, where he works as a technician, bringing to the topic the perspective of someone with extensive experience working in the artist-run sector. Lloyd’s text foregrounds the strange admixture in Canada of government support for artists and private patronage, and an underdeveloped art market, the result of which is that most artists cannot make a living wage in this country as artists. Despite promising developments like the DHC/ Art and collector Bob Rennie’s soon to be opened private gallery in Vancouver, it’s a situation that will in all likelihood continue to leave the majority of Canada’s art practitioners relatively impoverished.

Writing about the critic Hal Foster in this issue, Lydia Perović provides historical perspective to this problem. Referring to Foster’s writings, Perović discusses ideas about the true character of the avant-garde as it has functioned at various points in its history, and considers how these ideas might be useful when negotiating today’s hypertrophic art world.

Perović shares with Marc James Léger, also writing in this issue, a suspicion of the neo-liberal appropriation of words like ‘creativity’. In his article, Léger talks about the currently popular practice of ‘community art’ as a tendency that fosters the neutralization of activist impulse in art.

All of this begs two questions: is it possible to be prescriptive about the role of the artist in society? And has an inflated art market distorted expectations about what it means to be successful in art today?

Editor

The Art System

issue-98-p2-3.pdf

Economy

Social

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the changing climate of arts patronage, the true character of the avant-garde, and the practice of community art.

Feature

Writer

issue-98-p7-10.pdf

Money

Government

The article explores the revolution and changing climate of art patronage in Canada. The author notes that the country's art industry got less attention compared to other public sectors such as health care and education. He mentions that only one of the top ten Canadian donations was given to arts organization in 2000\. Moreover, the author discusses the establishment of DHC/Art Foundation in Montreal, Quebec where he works as a technician.

Montreal's DHC/Art and the Changing Climate of Arts Patronage in Canada

issue-98-p5-7.pdf

Canadian

Painting

In this article, the author describes the paintings _Fabrique en Canada,_ by Heyd Fontenot and Patrick DeCoste at Pouch Cove Gallery in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Fabrique en Canada

issue-98-p10-14.pdf

Technology

Cultural Studies

An excerpt from the book “The Museological Unconscious,” by Victor Tupitsyn is presented.

Objects on stage (Notes from pre- and post-) 

issue-98-p14-18.pdf

Do the ideas of the avant-garde still make sense in a multi-polar artworld? The article discusses the historical perspective of the issues faced by art market. She refers to critic Hal Foster's writings to demonstrate the true character of the avant-garde as it has performed at various points in its history. She considers how these concepts can be useful when dealing with the current growing art industry.

Art and Politics: On the critic Hal Foster 

issue-98-p18-23.pdf

Relational art

Public art

The author makes a case for avant-gardism as the repressed underside of service-oriented community art project.It highlights the role of artists in society and addresses how avant-garde artist can separate themselves from site-specific artists, community artists, public artists, and new genre artists.

The Elephant in the Room: A Brief Excursus on Avant-Garde and Community Art 

Jon Davies is a Montreal-based curator and writer. He recently received his PhD in Art History from Stanford University.

issue-98-p27-32.pdf

Collaboration

Collecting

Jon Davies on the autarkic art practice of FASTWÜRMS.

Props to the Fairy People

issue-98-p32-36.pdf

Video

International

Jacob Wren on the work of Finnish artist Nina Lassila.

Cat Thinks People Not Living Life to the Full

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Chris Lee is a graphic designer and educator based in Buffalo, New York and Toronto. His research explores graphic design’s entanglement with power, standards and legitimacy. Chris is an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo SUNY.

Designer

Publisher

Artist Project

Artist

issue-98-p23-26.pdf

Bouquet, Diane Borsato

Review

issue-98-p37-39.pdf

The article reviews the exhibition of American artist Brice Marden at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum in Berlin, Germany.

Brice Marden

Jesse McKee is a curator and writer in Vancouver, where he works as Head of Strategy at 221A. Previously he was the Curator of Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery and a curatorial resident with tranzit, Romania and Things that can happen, Hong Kong. 

issue-98-p38-40.pdf

Drawing

Performance art

The article reviews the solo exhibition of Pablo Bronstein at Paternoster Square in London, England. The exhibition continues the artist’s dialogue with the formal vocabularies of dance and architecture.

Pablo Bronstein

issue-98-p39-41.pdf

Sculpture

Film

Installation

Performance

The article reviews the exhibition of the 74th Whitney Biennial at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Artists discussed include Rachel Harrison, Mitzi Pederson, Julia Meltzer and David Thorne, Ellen Harvey, and Mungo Thomson.

The 2008 Whitney Biennial

issue-98-p40-42.pdf

Photography

The article reviews the exhibition “Imprints for a Fleeting Memorial,” which featured the works of Colombian artist Oscar Muñoz. The exhibition was held at the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art in association with YYZ Artists’ Outlet in Toronto.

Oscar Muñoz: Disappearing Image

issue-98-p41-43.pdf

The article reviews the exhibition “Rightfully Yours,” at Justina M. Barnicke Gallery in Toronto, Ontario. Organized by guest curator Tejpal Singh Ajji, the exhibition featured artists Wendy Coburn, Steven Cohen, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, Alicia Framis, Alison S.M. Kobayashi, Mingering Mike, Mattias Olofsson, The Yes Men, Camille Turner, Sislej Xhafa, Your personal viewing of Borat, Ali G, and Bruno.

Rightfully Yours

issue-98-p42-45.pdf

Conceptual

The article reviews the art exhibition “Exponential Futures,” at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia. The exhibition featured the work of eight young Vancouver artists: Tim Lee, Alex Morrison, Isabelle Pauwels, Kevin Schmidt, Mark Soo, Corin Sworn, Althea THauberger, and Elizabeth Zvonar.

Exponential Futures

issue-98-p44-46.pdf

Memory

History

The article reviews the exhibition “Reconstitutions/Re-Enactments,” at DHC/Art in Montreal, Quebec. Artists featured include Nancy Davenport, Stan Douglas, Harun Farocki, Ann Lislegaard, Paul Pfeiffer, and Kerry Tribe.

Reconstitutions/Re-enactments

issue-98-p46-48.pdf

The article reviews the exhibition of Valérie Blass at Parisian Laundry in Montreal, Quebec.

Valérie Blass

Header

C Mag

Issue 98

The Art System

Credits

Editorial

The Art System

Features

Montreal's DHC/Art and the Changing Climate of Arts Patronage in Canada

Fabrique en Canada

Objects on stage (Notes from pre- and post-)

Art and Politics: On the critic Hal Foster

The Elephant in the Room: A Brief Excursus on Avant-Garde and Community Art

Props to the Fairy People

Cat Thinks People Not Living Life to the Full

Artist Projects

Bouquet, Diane Borsato

Reviews

Brice Marden

Pablo Bronstein

The 2008 Whitney Biennial

Oscar Muñoz: Disappearing Image

Rightfully Yours

Exponential Futures

Reconstitutions/Re-enactments

Valérie Blass