Contemporary Art

An engaging account of today's contemporary art world that
features original articles by leading international art historians,
critics, curators, and artists, introducing varied perspectives on
the most important debates and discussions happening around the
world.

• Features a collection of all-new essays, organized around
  fourteen specific themes, chosen to reflect the latest debates in
  contemporary art since 1989

• Each topic is prefaced by an introduction on current
  discussions in the field and investigated by three essays, each
  shedding light on the subject in new and contrasting ways

• Topics include: globalization, formalism, technology,
  participation, agency, biennials, activism, fundamentalism,
  judgment, markets, art schools, and scholarship

• International in scope, bringing together over forty of the
  most important voices in the field, including Sofía
  Hernández Chong Cuy, David Joselit, Michelle Kuo, Raqs Media
  Collective, and Jan Verwoert

• A stimulating guide that will encourage polemical interventions
  and foster critical dialogue among both students and art
  aficionados

Autorentext

Alexander Dumbadze is assistant professor of contemporary art at George Washington University. He is president of the Society of Contemporary Art Historians and a cofounder of the Contemporary Art Think Tank. He has written essays for a number of international exhibition catalogues, and is a recipient of the Creative Capital| Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. His book Bas Jan Ader: Death is Elsewhere is forthcoming in 2013.

Suzanne Hudson is assistant professor of contemporary art at the University of Southern California. She is president emeritus and chair of the executive committee of the Society of Contemporary Art Historians and a cofounder of the Contemporary Art Think Tank. In addition to her work as an art historian, she is an active critic whose work has appeared in international exhibition catalogues and such publications as Parkett, Flash Art, and Art Journal; she is a regular contributor to Artforum. In 2009 she published Robert Ryman: Used Paint, and Painting Now is forthcoming in 2013.

Klappentext
The contemporary art world has expanded exponentiallyin both size and complexityover the last two decades, leading to a general uncertainty as to what matters and why. Contemporary Art: 1989 to the Present provides an unparalleled resource for students, artists, scholars, and art enthusiasts who are eager to navigate today's art world. It is the first collection of its kind to bring together fresh perspectives from leading international art historians, critics, curators, and artists for a comprehensive discussion of what contemporary art is today.

Divided into fourteen thematic clusters, each section presents three essays that offer a kaleidoscope of lively and expert viewpoints on each topic. Topics include globalization, formalism, technology, participation, agency, biennials, activism, fundamentalism, judgment, markets, and art schools, and scholarship. These clusters organize material in distinct and overlapping ways, allowing readers to customize their approach to their needs.

With up-to-date research concerns as well as more enduring topics, this text will provoke lively discussion regarding contemporary art, its study, and its historiography. Contemporary Art: 1989 to the Present provides a much-needed examination of the unique contemporary situation, and an encapsulation of a complex intellectual zeitgeist.

Zusammenfassung

An engaging account of today's contemporary art world that features original articles by leading international art historians, critics, curators, and artists, introducing varied perspectives on the most important debates and discussions happening around the world.

• Features a collection of all-new essays, organized around fourteen specific themes, chosen to reflect the latest debates in contemporary art since 1989
• Each topic is prefaced by an introduction on current discussions in the field and investigated by three essays, each shedding light on the subject in new and contrasting ways
• Topics include: globalization, formalism, technology, participation, agency, biennials, activism, fundamentalism, judgment, markets, art schools, and scholarship
• International in scope, bringing together over forty of the most important voices in the field, including Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, David Joselit, Michelle Kuo, Raqs Media Collective, and Jan Verwoert
• A stimulating guide that will encourage polemical interventions and foster critical dialogue among both students and art aficionados

Inhalt

Contributors ix

INTRODUCTION 1
Alexander Dumbadze and Suzanne Hudson

1 THE CONTEMPORARY AND GLOBALIZATION 5

Worlds Apart: Contemporary Art, Globalization, and the Rise of Biennials 7
Tim Griffin

Our Contemporaneity? 17
Terry Smith

The Historicity of the Contemporary is Now! 28
Jean-Philippe Antoine

2 ART AFTER MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM 37

Elite Art in an Age of Populism 39
Julian Stallabrass

Of Adversity we Live! 50
Monica Amor

Making it Work: Artists and Contemporary

Art in China 60
Pauline J. Yao

3 FORMALISM 70

Form Struggles 72
Jan Verwoert

Formalism Redefined 84
Anne Ellegood

The World in Plain View: Form in the Service of the Global 95
Joan Kee

4 MEDIUM SPECIFICITY 105

The (Re)Animation of Medium Specificity in Contemporary Art 107
Sabeth Buchmann

Medium Aspecificity/Autopoietic Form 117
Irene V. Small

Specificity 126
Richard Shiff

5 ART AND TECHNOLOGY 137

Test Sites: Fabrication 139
Michelle Kuo

Inhabiting the Technosphere: Art and Technology Beyond Technical Invention 149
Ina Blom

Conceptual Art 2.0 159
David Joselit

6 BIENNIALS 169

In Defense of Biennials 171
Massimiliano Gioni

Curating in Heterogeneous Worlds 178
Geeta Kapur

Biennial Culture and the Aesthetics of Experience 192
Caroline A. Jones

7 PARTICIPATION 202

Participation 204
Liam Gillick and Maria Lind

The Ripple Effect: Participation as an Expanded Field 214
Johanna Burton

Publicity and Complicity in Contemporary Art 224
Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy

8 ACTIVISM 232

Activism 234
Andrea Giunta

Knit Dissent 245
Julia Bryan-Wilson

Light from a Distant Star: A Meditation on Art, Agency, and Politics 254
Raqs Media Collective

9 AGENCY 265

Participation in Art: 10 Theses 267
Juliane Rebentisch

Fusions of Powers: Four Models of Agency in the Field of Contemporary Art, Ranked Unapologetically in
Order of Preference 277
Tirdad Zolghadr

Life Full of Holes: Contemporary Art and Bare Life 287
T. J. Demos

10 THE RISE OF FUNDAMENTALISM 298

Monotheism à la Mode 300
Sven Lütticken

Freedom's Just Another Word 311
Terri Weissman

On the Frontline: The Politics of Terrorism in Contemporary Pakistani Art 322
Atteqa Ali

11 JUDGMENT 331

Judgment's Troubled Objects 333
João Ribas

A Producer's Journal, or Judgment A Go-Go 346
Frank Smigiel

After Criticism 357
Lane Relyea

12 MARKETS 367

Globalization and Commercialization of the Art Market 369
Olav Velthuis

Three Perspectives on the Market 379
Mihai Pop, Sylvia Kouvali, and Andrea Rosen

Untitled 388
Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri

13 ART SCHOOLS AND THE ACADEMY 406

Lifelong Learning 408
Katy Siegel

Art without Institutions 420
Anton Vidokle

Will the Academy Become a Monster? 429
Pi Li

14 SCHOLARSHIP 436

Our Literal Speed 438

Our Literal Speed
Globalization, Art History, and the Specter of Difference 447
Chika Okeke-Agulu

The Academic Condition of Contemporary Art 457
Carrie Lam…