D"A"R"K"""M"A"T"T"E"R"
How"the"missing"mass"of"the"art"world"is"re9shaped"in"
the"current"art"world"
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Master!thesis!Kunst.!en!Cultuurgeschiedenis:!Kunstgeschiedenis! By!Hannah!Lucia!Vink!–!10867724! ! Christa.Maria!Lerm.Hayes!INDEX:! Introduction" Chapter"1:"The"introduction"of"the"term:"Dark"matter." Where%the%term%is%introduced%and%the%consistency%of%the%dark%matter%becomes%clear.%% 1.1 About!the!term! 1.2 !What!does!it!consist!of?! 1.3 How!does!it!work?! ! Chapter"2:"The"implementation"in"the"art"world(s):"How"does"the"art"world"work?" Where% we% zoom% out% from% the% dark% matter% to% the% whole% institution% of% art,% and% by% understanding%the%system%we%can%further%place%dark%matter%in%the%whole.% 2.1!The!institution!of!art!! 2.2!Institutional!theory!!! 2.3!Contemporary!art!world! 2.4!New!&!experimental!institutionalism! ! Chapter"3:"The"process"of"becoming"canonical:"Canonisation."
Where% the% notion% of% the% canon% is% discussed,% the% working% of% art% history% as% a% practice% is% critically%reviewed%and%its%implementations%are%revised.%% 3.1!What!is!a!canon?!! 3.2!History!of!art.history’s!canonisation!! 3.3!The!survey!text!handbook!! 3.4!The!canonisation!process!! 3.5!Contemporary!canon(s)! 3.6!Artificial!canonisation:!shaping!the!canons!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Chapter"4:"The"role"of"dark"matter:"Place"in"the"art"world." Where%there%will%be%looked%at%the%working%of%dark%matter,%and%where%its%production%and% development%will%be%placed%in%the%contemporary%art%world.%%% 4.1!Artists!in!the!contemporary!art!world! 4.2!Dark!matter!as!a!breeding!place! 4.3!The!failed!artist! 4.4!The!hybrid!artist! 4.5!Post.Fordism! ! Chapter"5:"The"power"of"dark"matter:"The"broadening"or"artistic"practices." Where%the%artistic%qualities%of%artists%are%placed%in%the%post=industrial%and%post=Fordistic% art%world.%% 5.1!Contemporary!achievement.generation" 5.2!Appreciation!of!amateurism!in!art!! 5.3!De.skilling!&!re.skilling! 5.4!Autonomy!of!dark!matter!! ! Conclusion" Bibliography" List"of"images" " Appendix"1:"Survey"on"artistic"dark"matter" ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
INTRODUCTION:! ! “Light!thinks!it!travels!faster!than!anything!but!it!is!wrong.!! No!matter!how!fast!light!travels,!! it!finds!the!darkness!has!always!got!there!first,!and!is!waiting!for!it.”! ! ―!Terry!Pratchett,!Reaper!Man! !
Dark! matter! is! a! term! that! appeals! to! the! imagination.! Deriving! from! cosmology,! it! represents!the!‘missing!mass’!of!the!universe.!In!the!art!world,!the!term!is!now!adapted! to! describe! its! artistic! equivalent:! the! missing! mass! of! the! art! world,! the! supposedly! invisible!artistic!practices!that!carry!the!visible!mass.!Gregory!Sholette!first!adapted!the! term! to! art! in! 2002,! and! since! wrote! about! the! subject.! In! 2011,! he! published! a! book! called! Dark% Matter:% Art% and% Politics% in% the% Age% of% Enterprise% Culture,!which! revolves! around!artistic!dark!matter,!and!what!formed!the!inspiration!for!this!thesis.!This!artistic! dark!matter!is!the!subject!of!research!of!this!thesis.!It!will!investigate!what!dark!matter! is!according!to!Gregory!Sholette,!who!applied!the!term!to!art!history,!how!it!comes!into! existence!and!how!it!works!inside!the!bigger!system!of!the!art!world.! This!notion!is!relevant!today,!because!the!dark!matter!is!now!lighter!than!ever.! Where!the!bulk!of!the!artists!that!did!not!get!attention!twenty!years!ago,!today!they!can! be! very! visible! for! a! big! public.! With! the! emergence! of! the! Internet! and! social! media,! artists!are!in!control!of!their!own!visibility.!Websites!like!‘’DeviantArt:%The%largest%online%
gallery% and% community’’,! and! Facebook! groups! such! as! ‘International% Global% Art’! and!
‘Drop%a%Drawing’!have!drastically!changed!the!visibility!of!emerging!and!amateur!artists! over!the!last!decade.1!DeviantArt!has!over!35!million!registered!members!and!attracts! over!65!million!unique!visitors!per!month.!Their!members,!known!as!‘deviants’,!upload! over!160,000!original!art!works!every!day.!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Deviant!Art!started!in!2000!and!the!site!counted!in!2012!over!23!million!users!and!over!228! for!how!it!is!created,!discovered,!and!shared.!…![It]!is!the!largest!online!social!network!for!artists! and!art!enthusiasts,!and!a!platform!for!emerging!and!established!artists!to!exhibit,!promote,!and! share!their!works!with!an!enthusiastic,!art.centric!community.’’!Via:! <http://www.deviantart.com/>!(last!visited!at!14/12/2015).!!
Public! Facebook! groups! attract! many! thousands! of! members,! for! example! International! Global! art! has! 15.658! members! at! 14/12/2015! and! everyone! with! a! Facebook!account!(Worldwide!Facebook!has!1.01!billion!daily!active!users!on!average! for!September!2015!and!894!million!mobile!daily!active!users!on!average!for!September! 2015.2)!is!able!to!join!and!publish!their!art.!!
This! changes! many! structures! in! the! art! world,! among! which! the! distinctions! between!dark!and!light!matter.!The!control!over!these!distinctions!between!visible!and! invisible,!or!successful!and!unsuccessful,!is!now!spread!over!many!more!actors!than!that! used!to!have!this!control.!Today,!many!more!have!a!say!in!the!(dark)!matter.!! ! This!thesis!is!twofold!in!its!purpose;!it!combines!a!descriptive!investigation!with! an!exploratory!research.!The!question!that!is!being!answered! is:!‘What!is!artistic!dark! matter!and!how!is!it!seen,!and!how!is!it!evolving!in!the!current!art!system’.!The!thesis! sets!out!to!understand!and!research!the!artistic!dark!matter!in!a!historical!manner,!and! also!apply!the!contemporary!changes!of!the!workings!of!the!art!world!onto!the!workings! of! dark! matter.! The! more! descriptive! side! of! the! thesis,! the! explanation! of! what! dark! matter!and!the!art!world!are,!is!countered!by!a!more!inquisitive!and!critic!research!on! how! dark! matter! is! evolving! today,! and! operates! in! the! post.Fordistic! and! post. industrial!art!world.!!
! The!exploratory!side!of!the!thesis!is!accompanied!by!a!survey,!set!up!to!illustrate! these! contemporary! changes! and! ideas.! The! survey! is! meant! as! empirical! research! to! complement! the! thesis! and! to! show! some! contemporary! thoughts! on! the! matter.! It! is! seen!as!a!sample!of!the!artists!and!people!who!think!about!the!workings!of!art.!It!is!in!no! way!an!example!of!the!general!thoughts!on!dark!matter,!and!the!answers!cannot!be!seen! as!representative.!Instead,!its!goal!is!to!give!an!insight!in!some!people’s!vision!on!dark! matter.! The! survey! was! distributed! under! art! students,! people! in! the! art! world! and! under! (presumably)! dark! matter! artists.! Therefore,! the! recipients! are! not! a! random! selection!of!people,!but!already!pre.selected.!The!whole!survey!is!found!in!the!appendix.!! ! The! research! question! on! what! dark! matter! is! and! how! is! it! evolving! in! the! current!system!of!the!art!world,!is!divided!in!five!chapters.!First,!in!chapter!one,!the!term! is!researched.!This!chapter!concerns!what!dark!matter!means,!when!its!existence!came! to! light! and! when! it! became! subject! of! research.! The! consistency! of! dark! matter! is! examined,!what!makes!up!this!missing!mass!of!the!art!world?!Furthermore,!the!working! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
of!dark!matter!is!researched.!What!is!created!in!this!secret!bulk!of!artistic!practices,!and! what!does!it!create!in!itself?!After!the!first!chapter,!the!reader!is!aware!of!the!meaning!of! the!term!dark!matter!and!its!biggest!difficulties.!!
In!the!second!chapter,!the!theme!of!dark!matter!is!left!behind,!to!focus!on!the!art! world!as!a!whole.!By!researching!the!institution!of!art!and!the!system!of!the!art!world,! we! try! to! understand! the! big! sphere! of! art,! so! that! later! on! we! can! implement! dark! matter!and!its!workings!in!the!bigger!picture.!!The!working!of!the!art!world!is!illustrated! through! researching! the! institution! of! art! and! its! role! of! defining! art.! Following! its! historical! development,! institutional! theory! is! the! subject! of! attention.! The! paradox! of! the!institution!in!the!contemporary!art!world!is!questioned,!and!the!chapter!ends!with! the! illustration! of! new! and! experimental! institutionalism.! After! chapter! two,! the! difficulties!of!the!art!world!as!a!system,!and!subsequently!the!difficulties!for!dark!matter,! are!becoming!clear.!!
Chapter! three! revolves! around! the! notion! of! the! canon,! and! the! process! of! canonisation,! that! is,! the! division! between! ‘light’! and! ‘dark’! according! to! the! stereotypical!narratives.!As!started!in!chapter!two,!the!constructed!character!of!the!art! world!and!its!related!disciplines!such!as!art!history!and!the!canon!are!made!clear.!The! chapter!starts!with!an!in.depth!analysis!of!the!canon!and!its!history.!The!notion!of!the! survey!text!is!also!included!to!illustrate!the!reductionist!character!of!these!overarching! practices.!Then,!the!canonisation!process!as!a!system!is!distilled!into!a!comprehensive! mechanism.!Following,!the!contemporary!problem!of!the!canon!lacking!inclusiveness!is! illustrated.!!When!the!working!of!canonisation!is!clear,!the!multiple!ways!of!diverging!in! this! system! can! be! shown.! The! chapter! ends! with! the! notion! of! artificial! canonisation,! and!how!one!can!bend!all!the!rules!in!one’s!favour.!!
The!following!chapter!will!then!be!able!to!revolve!around!the!role!of!dark!matter! inside!the!bigger!system!of!the!art!world,!as!researched!in!chapter!two!and!three.!The! working! of! dark! matter! is! placed! in! the! contemporary! art! world.! The! contemporary! developments!in!the!art!world!are!set!out,!to!sketch!the!difficulties!that!arise!with!the! recent!developments!of!dark!matter!in!the!art!world.!The!notion!of!the!hybrid!artist!is! introduced,!and!the!question!if!and!how!the!changes!in!the!art!world!influence!the!dark! matter!are!discussed.!
In!the!final!chapter,!the!previous!four!chapters!are!tied!together!through!placing! dark! matter! in! the! current! art! world! as! researched! in! the! previous! chapters.! This! chapter,! concerning! the! power! of! dark! matter,! starts! from! a! viewpoint! of! the! dark! matter! artists! themselves,! instead! of! looking! at! it! from! the! viewpoint! of! the! bigger! system.!The!troubles!of!contemporary!artists!are!set!out!by!discussing!the!contemporary! ‘achievement.generation’,!and!by!tracing!its!effects!on!art!and!the!artistic!practices.!On! the!one!hand!illustrating!the!appreciation!of!amateurism!in!art,!de.!and!re.skilling,!and! the!autonomy!of!dark!matter,!the!positives!of!dark!matter!are!highlighted.!On!the!other! hand,! by! placing! dark! matter! in! the! diffusing! and! ever.changing! systems! of! the! contemporary! art! world! and! artistic! production,! a! reflection! is! given! on! whether! the! notion!of!dark!matter!is!something!that!is!dissolving!itself.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
CHAPTER"1:"INTRODUCING"THE"TERM:"WHAT"IS"DARK"MATTER" 1.1 About!the!term.!
1.2 What!does!it!consist!of?! 1.3 How!does!it!work?! !
Before! we! can! begin! to! examine! the! complex! notion! of! dark! matter,! first! we! need! to! understand!what!it!means!exactly,!what!it!consists!of!and!where!it!is!found.!By!mapping! the!notion!of!dark!matter,!we!will!form!a!basis!of!understanding!of!the!term.! This!chapter!will!concern!the!term!‘dark!matter’.!It!will!focus!on!where!the!name!derives! from,!when!the!term!was!first!coined!and!what!it!includes!and!excludes.! ! 1.1!ABOUT!THE!TERM! Dark!matter!is!a!relatively!new!term!in!art!history.!In!fact,!the!term!dark!matter! derives!from!the!cosmology!and!theoretic!astrophysics.!In!that!discipline,!dark!matter!is! used!to!name!the!‘missing!mass’!of!the!universe.!As!far!as!is!known!today,!as!much!as! ninety.five! per! cent! of! the! universe! is! made! up! of! an! unknown! and! unseen! matter! or! energy.! Even! though! this! mass! is! missing,! meaning! it! is! invisible,! astrophysicist! now! believe! that! this! dark! matter! generates! a! gravity! that! supports! the! remaining! five! per! cent! of! the! visible! universe.!3!Summarizing,! even! though! it! is! never! seen,! it! is! the!
supporting! mass! of! the! universe.! Even! though! it! is! unknown,! it! is! omnipresent! and! without!it,!the!universe!as!we!(claim!to)!know!it!would!not!exist.!This!is!the!story!that! speaks!to!the!imagination;!the!unseen!and!unknown!becomes!the!hero.!!
This!is!where!we!will!leave!cosmology!behind!us.!We!will!now!shift!the!focus!of! the!thesis!to!artistic!‘dark!matter’.!In!2002,!artist!and!writer!Gregory!Sholette!first!used! the!term!‘dark!matter’!to!indicate!the!missing!mass!of!the!art!world.!In!his!view,!there!is! such! a! thing! as! artistic! dark! matter.! As! he! says,! ‘’I! appropriated! a! concept! from! theoretical!astrophysicists.’’4"Like!its!astronomical!equivalent,!creative!dark!matter!also! makes!up!the!bulk!of!the!artistic!activity!produced!in!society.!(See!illustration!1).!5" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3!For!more!information!about!the!astronomical!dark!matter,!sometimes!called!the!‘missing!mass! problem’,!see:!http://www2.lbl.gov/Science.Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/Jan/Rubin.Dark. Matter.pdf.! 4!Gregory!Sholette,!“Artists,%Embrace%your%Redundancy,”%An%Introduction%to%Gregory%Sholette’s% "Dark%Matter:%Art%and%Politics%in%the%Age%of%Enterprise"!in:!Manifesta!Journal!#15,!‘I!Forgot!to! Remember!I!Forgot’!2012,!!via:!<http://www.manifestajournal.org/issues/i.forgot.remember.
! !
Ill."1:"The"artist"hierarchy.""
(DLK! collection,! the! artist! hierarchy,! via:! https://collectordaily.com/book.don. thompson.12.million.stuffed>!(last!visited!at!10/11/2015).!
!
By! applying! this! curious! astronomical! phenomenon! to! the! contemporary! art! world,!he!thus!states!that!the!art!world,!as!the!universe,!could!contain!a!large!invisible! mass! that! carries! the! visible! part.! Sholette! ponders! if! this! means! that! the! majority! of! artist!are!also!like!dark!matter,!‘’!a!non.reflective!but!structurally!necessary!aggregate!of! creativity! that! while! systematically! underdeveloped! secretly! stabilizes! the! art! world’s! symbolic!and!financial!economy!by!actively!reproducing!its!exclusionary!hierarchies.’’6! While!astrophysicists!are!working!hard!to!figure!out!what!dark!matter!is,!the!occupants! of!the!art!world!largely!ignore!the!unseen!surplus!of!creativity!they!nevertheless!remain! dependent!upon.7! Writing!about!the!missing!mass!of!dark!matter!is!relatively!new.!There!was!never! much!attention!for!this!hidden!surplus!of!the!art!world.!The!first!steps!to!where!we!are! now! arose! in! the! mid! 20th! century.! In! 1966,! Walter! Benjamin! wrote! an! article,! ‘The!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! forget/artists.embrace.your.redundancy.introduction.gregory.sholettes.dark#>!(last!visited!at! 28/9/2015).! 5!However,!this!type!of!dark!matter!is!invisible!primarily!to!those!who!lay!claim!to!the! management!and!interpretation!of!culture.!the!critics,!art!historians,!collectors,!dealers,!curators! and!arts!administrators.!Gregory!Sholette,!Dark%Matter:%Art%and%Politics%in%the%Age%of%Enterprise% Culture,!Pluto!Press!London!2011,!p.1.! 6!Sholette!2012!(See!note!4).! 7!Gregory!Sholette,!Dark%Matter:%Art%and%Politics%in%the%Age%of%Enterprise%Culture,!Pluto!Press! London!2011,!p.1.!
Author! as! Producer’,! where! he! called! upon! cultural! workers! to! become! producers! transforming!the!means!of!their!artistic!production.8!Although!this!is!somewhat!in!line!
with! the! focus! on! the! invisible! surplus! of! artistic! production,! it! was! not! as! concretely! named.!!
In!1983!art!historian!Carol!Duncan!directly!attracted!attention!to!the!subject.!She! named! the! fundamental,! but! overlooked,! feature! of! high! culture:! that! the! majority! of! professionally! trained! artists! make! up! a! vast! surplus! whose! redundancy! is!the%normal%
condition%of%the%art%market.!“We!can!measure!the!waste!of!artistic!talent,”!she!states,!“not!
only!in!the!thousands!of!‘failed’!artists—artists!whose!market!failure!is!necessary!to!the! success!of!the!few—but!also!in!the!millions!whose!creative!potential!is!never!touched.”!9!!
! Gregory! Sholette! first! used! the! term! dark! matter! to! name! this! subject! in! 2002,! and!he!still!is!the!leading!figure!in!writings!on!dark!matter.!After!coining!the!term,!he! quickly!followed!it!up!with!another!article!on!the!subject,!and!a!book!dedicated!to!this! problem.!Even!though!this!developments!are!quite!recent,!the!debate!was!set!in!motion! long! before.! However,! this! took! place! in! the! realm! of! art! sociology,! and! did! not! really! took!ground!outside.!!Today,!there!is!an!increasing!interest!in!the!dark!matter,!and!there! is!more!and!more!academic!research!done.!! ! " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8!Walter!Benjamin,!‘The!author!as!producer’!in:!!Art%after%Modernism:%Rethinking%Representation,! Brian!Wallis!(ed.),!The!New!Museum!of!Contemporary!Art,!New!York!/!David!R.!Godine!
Publisher!Inc.,!Boston,!1988!(1984),!pp.!297.309.!
9!Carol!Duncan,!‘Who!Rules!the!Art!World?!(1983)’,!in:!Carol!Duncan,!The%Aesthetics%of%Power:%
1.2!WHAT!DOES!DARK!MATTER!CONSISTS!OF?! The!question!now!is,!what!does!this!dark!matter!of!the!art!world!consists!of?!Who! and!what!fill!the!place!‘outside!the!art!world’.10!Or!more!specifically,!what!is!it!that!lies! outside!the!established!art!world(s)?!There!are!multiple!reputable!art!worlds,!of!which! many!co.exist!peacefully!next!to!the!‘main!art!world’!and!the!‘high!art!world’,!which!is! the!most!well.known!art!world.11!The!high!art!world!can!be!figured!as!a!pyramid!with!an!
immensely! wide! base! leading! up! to! a! very! small! pinnacle,! the! acme! of! success! (see! illustration! 1).! Or! the! structure! of! the! high! art! world! can! be! conceived! as! a! set! of! interlocking! rings,! some! close! to! the! centre,! others! further! away.! (This! model! appropriately! suggests! classic! "world! theory,"! as! formulated! by! Immanuel! Wallerstein! and!others,!which!divides!the!world!into!metropolitan,!semi.peripheral,!and!peripheral! regions.)12!!As!the!artist!Martha!Rosler!mentions!in!an!anecdote,!she!was!once!informed!
by!an!art!dealer!that!the!art!world!is!as!a!table,!either!you’re!on!the!art!world!“table”!or! your!not.13!The!question!we!are!focussing!on!concerning!dark!matter!is,!who!supports!
the!table?!
You! could! describe! the! artistic! dark! matter! as! the! art! world’s! ‘surplus’,! a! term! better.known!than!dark!matter.14!This!surplus!of!the!art!world!consists!for!example!of!
museum!visitors,!art.book!and!art.supplies!buyers,!or!art!students,!art!school!graduates! employed!in!another!field,!or!unknown!artists.!Even!though!this!sounds!like!they!do!not! have!much!influence!in!the!art.world,!they!actually!form!a!very!important!part!of!the!art! world.! Dark! matter! like! these! examples! form! the! basis! on! which! the! smaller! zone! of! successful!artists!and!art.institutions!are!stooled!upon.!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10!Here,!the!art!world!is!used!singular.!However,!this!is!not!meant!that!there!is!only!one!art! world.!There!are!many!different!ones!to!be!distinguished.!For!example!the!canonical!art!world,! the!art!market’s!art!world,!and!the!conceptual!art!world.!In!this!thesis,!sometimes!the!art!world! as!a!singular!is!used.!In!these!cases,!it!is!meant!as!an!over.all!‘art!world’!!or!a!‘main!art!world’! including!all!different!kinds!of!art!worlds.!! 11!Martha!Rosier,!‘Lookers,!Buyers,!Dealers,!and!Makers:!Thoughts!on!Audience,’!in:!!Art%after% Modernism:%Rethinking%Representation,!ed.!Brian!Wallis,!New!York/Boston,!1984,!pp.323.325.! This!art!world,!if!it!needs!to!be!said,!is!located!in!the!advanced!industrial!countries!of!the!West.! 12!"Paoletti!Named!Art!Bulletin!Editor,"!CAA!News,!XXl,!no.!4,!July.Aug.!1996,!P.!3.!! 13!Martha!Rosler,!‘Money,!power,!contemporary!art!.!Money,!Power,!and!the!History!of!Art’,!in:! Art!Bulletin!2007,!p.1,!via:!<www.darkmatterarchives.net/wp. content/uploads/2011/11/ROSLER.Moneypower.MYmarkup..pdf>!(last!visited!at!15/9/2015). 14!The!term!‘surplus’!is!used!more!broadly!by!art!historians,!critics!and!sociologists.!For!example! used!by!Irmgard!Emmelhainz!in!his!article!‘Art!and!the!Cultural!Turn:!Farewell!to!Committed,! Autonomous!Art?’,!E.flux!journal!#42,!2013.!Via:!<http://www.e.flux.com/journal/art.and.the. cultural.turn.farewell.to.committed.autonomous.art/>!(last!visited!at!4/12/2015).!!
1.3!HOW!DOES!DARK!MATTER!WORK!
According! to! Sholette,! the! supporting! mass! that! is! dark! matter! includes! makeshift,! amateur,! informal,! unofficial,! autonomous,! activist,! non.institutional,! self. organized!practices—all!work!deliberately!or!un.deliberately!made!and!circulated!in!the! shadows!of!the!formal!art!world.15!It!contains!the!artistic!practices!that!have!no!choice!
but! to! be! invisible,! as! well! as! the! practices! that! deliberately! and! intentionally! want! to! stay!in!the!creative!dark!matter,!by!rejecting!the!art!world!demands!of!visibility.16!
Other! writers! who! thought! about! dark! matter! describe! it! as! the! fertile! ground,! where! artist! sprout.! The! notion! exists! that! the! dark! matter! is! the! place! where! every! artist!starts.!Some!may!grow!out!into!the!light!matter,!and!some!might!stay!dark!matter.!! This!is!also!how!artist!and/or!people!inside!the!art!world!see!dark!matter,!as!a!starting! point.!In!the!survey!taken!for!this!thesis,!this!notion!also!comes!forward.!!
!
‘’Question"16:"Does"the"art"world"need"a"dark"matter"to"exist?"
Recipient! #! 27:! Yes,! from! the! dark! matter! the! light! matter! is! born.! A! tip! of! an! iceberg!doesn't!just!appear!out!of!nowhere,!it!started!under!the!surface!and!was!pushed! above!it.’’17! ! ‘’Question"16:"Does"the"art"world"need"a"dark"matter"to"exist?! Recipient!#21:!Yes,!everyone!must!start!somewhere.’’18! ! These!answers!may!show!how!the!dark!matter!can!function!as!a!breeding!place! for!artists!and!artistic!practices.!It!is!a!place!where!one!can!practice!and!develop!his/her! artistic! practices! without! the! judging! gaze! of! the! public.! Here,! the! anonymity! of! dark! matter!is!actually!a!positive,!the!dark!matter!also!means!freedom!of!judgement!and!the! requirement!to!be!‘good’!or!‘innovative’.! Sholette!takes!this!notion!a!step!further,!by!asking!if!this!missing!mass!is!not!also! a!potential!seedbed!of!resistance!to!the!system!that!dominates!it,!a!resistance!that!might,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15!Sholette!2011!(See!note!7),!p.1.!! 16!Gregory!Sholette,!DARK!MATTER,!Activist!Art!and!the!Counter.Public!Sphere,!digital! publication!2003,!!Pp.!4.5.!Via!<http://www.gregorysholette.com/wp. content/uploads/2011/04/05_darkmattertwo1.pdf>!(last!visited!at!29/5/2015).! 17!See!appendix!1:!The!Survey,!#27!for!the!whole!questionnaire.!! 18!See!appendix!1:!The!Survey,!#21!for!the!whole!questionnaire.!
circumstances! permitting,! overtake! and! reshape! the! very! system! of! the! contemporary! art! world.! The! aspect! of! activist! dark! matter! and! intentional! dark! matter! will! be! discussed!in!chapter!5.!!
Dark!matter!is!not!only!a!breeding!ground!for!the!art!world,!it!is!also!credited!to! have!an!important!influence!on!the!art!market.19!There!is!functionally!an!"outside"!if!one!
is!considering!the!means!of!distribution,!promotion,!and!reception!for!high!art.!Even!so,! the! insularity! of! the! high! art! world! from! the! rest! of! culture! is! less! than! it! is! often! proclaimed!to!be.!Some!types!of!non.professionalized!art,!such!as!that!of!children,!the! mad,!street!artists,!untutored!"folk!art,"!is!repetitively!conscripted!into!the!scene!and!the! market! .! as! one! form! or! another! of! "outsider! art."! These! marginalized! forms! feed! the! mainstream! art! world.! This! is! comparable! with! how! dark! matter! art! as! ‘outsider! art’! works.!
!!
To!summarize!this!chapter:!the!overall!idea!of!dark!matter!is!that!it!is!“a!shadowy!social! productivity”!that!supports!the!art!world”.!The!great!many!excluded!practices!and!failed! artists! who! keep! the! art! galleries,! museums,! and! magazines! going! are! becoming! increasingly!visible,!and!attracting!more!attention.!Dark!matter!thus!presents!itself!as!a! map! or! collection! of! this! invisible! mass! of! makeshift,! amateur,! informal,! unofficial,! autonomous,!activist,!non.institutional,!and!self.organized!practices.!20! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 19!Rosler!2007!(See!note!13),!Pp.2.4.! 20!Marc!James!Léger,!Revenge%of%the%Surplus,!2012,!Published!online,!no!page!numbers.!Via:! <monthlyreview.org/2012/01/01/revenge.of.the.surplus/!>!(last!visited!on!25/9/2015).!
CHAPTER"2:"THE"IMPLEMENTATION"IN"THE"ART"WORLD(S):"HOW"DOES"THE"ART" WORLD"WORK?" 2.1!The!institution!of!art! 2.2!Institutional!theory!! 2.3!Contemporary!art!world! 2.4!New!&!experimental!institutionalism! " In!the!previous!chapter,!the!distinction!between!light!and!dark!matter!was!made.!These! two!worlds!are!both!part!of!the!system!that!is!called!the!art!world21.!In!this!chapter,!the! art!world!as!a!system!will!be!looked!upon.!What!does!it!mean,!how!does!it!work,!and! how!many!art!worlds!are!there?!! ! 2.1!THE!INSTITUTION!OF!ART! The!art!world!is!the!whole!social!and!economic!network!in!which!art,!artist!and! artistic!practices!occur.!The!primary!function!of!the!art!world!is!continually!to!‘define,! validate,! maintain,! and! reproduce! the! cultural! category! of! art,! and! to! produce! the! consent!of!the!entire!society!in!the!legitimacy!of!the!art!world's!authority!to!do!so’’.22! An!institutional!theory!is!a!way!to!clarify!the!nature!of!art,!by!referring!to!social! institutions.!This!is!interesting!to!the!subject!of!dark!matter!because!clarifying!art!also! means!clarifying!and!explaining!the!distinctions!between!art!and!non.art,!and!between! dark!and!light!matter.!Institutional!theory!as!an!theory!on!how!art!functions!and!how! the!art!word!is!set!up,!is!crucial!to!the!understanding!of!the!place!and!functions!of!dark! matter,!since!it!is!also!part!of!this!art!system.!! To!explain!the!important!role!of!institutions!and!institutional!theories!on!art,!first! we! must! be! clear! on! what! an! institution! is.! An! institution! is! any! collectively! accepted! system!of!rules!(procedures,!practices)!that!enables!us!to!create!institutional!facts.23!For!
example,!we!collectively!give!a!piece!of!paper!the!worth!of!20!euro’s.!You!can!disagree! on! this,! but! because! in! the! institution! of! money! this! is! collectively! agreed,! it! is! an! institutional! fact.! The! creation! of! an! institutional! fact! is! the! collective! assignment! of! a! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21!I!mention!this!as!one!overall!art!world,!but!there!are!multiple!art!worlds.!See!note!10!in! chapter!1.!I!believe!there!is!one!overarching!art!world,!containing!all!these!other!art!worlds.! 22!Martin!Irvine,!Introduction%to%The%Institutional%Theory%of%Art%and%the%Artworld,!2007.2013,!no! page!numbers,!via%<!http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/visualarts/Institutional=theory= artworld.html>%(last%visited%at%1/10/2015).! 23!John!R.!Searle,!‘What!is!an!institution’.!In:!Journal%of%Institutional%Economics,!2005,!pp.!1.22.!
status! function.! The! same! goes! for! the! government,! which! is! also! an! institution.! We! collectively!gave!a!status!function!to!a!person,!who!is!now!prime.minister.!This!is!also!an! institutional!fact,!which!is!different!from!an!absolute!fact.!An!absolute!fact!is!something! that!is!independent!from!human!observation,!for!example!the!earth!travels!around!the! sun!in!365,25!days.!This!is!a!fact,!without!institutions!it!remains!the!same.!But!without! institutions,! the! prime.minister! would! just! be! a! regular! person.! ! It! is! important! to! understand! that! the! art! world! is! also! an! institution,! and! consists! of! many! separate! institutions,! like! museums,! galleries,! schools! and! artists,! commercial! market! systems,! professions,!etcetera.!These!all!participate!in!the!global!system!of!networks!for!art.24!In!
essence,!our!concept!of!art!is!a!social!convention,!which!identifies!as!the!‘institution!of! art’.!!
Art! is! defined! as! such! when! discourses! and! practices! recognize,! value,! evaluate! and! consume! it! as! art.25!This! means! that! the! art! institutions! define! art! through! their!
discursive! functions,! such! as! exhibitions! and! art! reviews,! catalogues! and! monographs,! panel! discussions! and! conferences,! art! school! critiques,! textbooks! and! journals.! One! could!say!that!it!is!the!purpose!of!the!art!institution!to!define!art.26!Here,!its!importance!
to! the! subject! of! dark! matter! grows! even! clearer.! Researching! the! art.status! of! dark! matter!can!only!be!truly!in.depth!if!the!action!and!system!of!defining!art!is!discussed!in! advance.!
This! institution! of! art! is! not! something! that! is! external! to! works! of! art,! but! the! place!where!the!existence!of!art!takes!place.!As!explained!by!Andrea!Fraser,!no!matter! how!public!in!placement,!immaterial,!transitory,!relational,!everyday,!or!even!invisible,! what! is! announced! and! perceived! as! art! is! always! already! institutionalized,! simply! because! it! exists! within! the! perception! of! participants! in! the! field! of! art! as! art,! a! perception!not!necessarily!aesthetic!but!fundamentally!social!in!its!determination.27!Just! like!a!20.euro!bill!will!have!no!value!without!the!institution!of!money,!art!has!no!worth! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24!‘As%in%all%institutions%as%interdependent%networks,%you%don't%need%to%know%you%are%participating% in%the%Artworld,%or%in%the%function%of%one%of%its%nodes,%to%be%carrying%out%its%primary%cultural% function.’!Irvine!2007.2013!(See!note!22),!no!page!numbers.! 25!Andrea!Fraser,!‘From!the!Critique!of!Institutions!to!an!Institution!of!Critique’,!in:!Artforum!44,! No.!1,!September!2005,!Artforum!Inc.,!p.!103.!! 26!Sophia!Kosmaoglou,!The%self=concious%artist%and%the%politics%of%art:%from%institutional%critique%to% underground%cinema,!Phd!thesis!for!Doctor!of!Fine!Art!at!Goldsmiths,!University!of! London,!June!2012,!p.!35.! 27!Fraser!2005!(See!note!25),!P.!103.!
without!the!institution!or!art.!!“We!are!the!institution”,!Fraser!writes.28!!
Important!at!this!part!is!that,!following!Fraser’s!definition!of!the!institution!of!art! dark! matter! is! also! part! of! this! institution.! She! states! that! if! the! institution! of! art! is! socially!determined,!then!it!is!also!internalized!and!embodied!in!people.!!The!institution! or!art!is!internalized!in!the!competencies,!conceptual!models,!and!modes!of!perception! that! allow! us! to! recognize! and! understand! art! as! art,! or! produce! and! write! about! art,! whether! as! artists,! critics,! curators,! art! historians,! dealers,! collectors,! or! museum! visitors.!The!significance!of!this,!as!Fraser!argues,!is!that!“above!all”!the!institution!of!art!! “exists! in! the! interests,! aspirations,! and! criteria! of! value! that! orient! our! actions! and! define!our!sense!of!worth”.29!The!institution!of!art!is!therefore!entwined!with!our!own!
investments! and! ambitions,! and! maybe! more! importantly,! it! is! entwined! with! our! identities!and!values.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 28!Fraser!2005!(See!note!25),!p.!282.! 29!Fraser!2005!(See!note!25),!p.!103.!
2.2!INSTITUTIONAL!THEORY!
The! institutional! theory! as! explained! above! is! relatively! new.! For! a! long! time,! defining! art! was! an! everlasting! journey! for! philosophers! of! art.! Anglo.American! philosophy!of!art!in!the!1950's!was!pretty!much!dominated!by!analytic!aesthetics.!!The! philosophers!of!art!in!the!‘50’s!were!convinced!of!the!impossibility!of!defining!art,!and! by! trying! to! decipher! the! complex! ‘post.Wittgenstein! ordinary! language’! they! only! expanded!the!maze!of!art.talk.30!In!the!1970’s,!the!impossibility!of!forming!an!including,!
essentialist! theory! of! art! was! the! rule,! rather! than! the! exception.! Stirred! by! the! revolutions!of!that!time!in!the!west,!some!key.figures!in!the!philosophy!of!art!found!the! courage! to! re.examen! this! matter.! The! difference! in! their! approach! was! crucial.! They! began!to!question!the!foundations!on!which!all!traditional!theories!were!rested.!Just!like! the! artists! of! the! ’70,! art! theorists! broke! free! from! all! essentialist! ties,! and! rethought! their!positions.!What!are!the!foundations!of!art!theory?!Does!art!has!an!essence!at!all?! What!makes!art!‘art’?!!
This! was! a! start! anew! for! the! philosophers! of! art.! Some,! like! author! and! illustrator!Aubrey!Beardsley,!insisted!on!continuing!the!essentialist!aesthetic!tradition.! Some,!like!Joseph!Margolis,!turned!to!‘Robust!relativism’!of!art!in!the!context!of!culture,! or,!like!Walton,!art!in!the!context!of!history.!Some!analyzed!the!open.ended!intricacies!of! language! use,! others! investigated! symbol! manipulation! systems! which! exhibit! "symptoms! of! the! aesthetic".! There! was! even! an! investigation! on! the! active! deconstruction!of!art!theory!in!general.!31!
When!the!dust!was!settled,!multiple!theories!and!definitions!of!the!institution!of! art!were!formed.32!During!the!20th!century!they!were!crystalized,!as!far!as!possible.!The!
definition!of!the!institution!of!art!as!‘centers!of!social!intensity!that!provide!legitimation’,! as!explained!before,!is!the!broadest!definition.!But!there!are!many!more!definitions.!The! institution! of! art! is! most! frequently! explained! as! (a! combination! of)! the! following! definitions:! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30!David!Graves,!!‘The!Institutional!Theory!of!Art:!A!Survey’,!in:!Philosophia,!April!1997,!Volume! 25,!Issue!1,!Springer!International!Publisher,!pp.!51.67.!! 31!Massimiliano!Lacertosa,!‘The!Artworld!and!The!Institutional!Theory!of!Art:!an!Analytic! Confrontation.’!In:!The%SOAS%Journal%of%Postgraduate%Research!2015,!Volume!8,!pp.!36.45.! 32!Graves!1997!(See!note!30),!pp.!60.67.!
The!first!is!the!view!of!the!institution!of!art!as!the!place!of!its!presentation,!such! as! the! museum! or! gallery.! It! is! the! most! specific! definition,! where! an! institution! is! understood! in! the! most! formal! sense.! This! notion! of! the! institution! is! encountered! in! Daniel!Buren’s!writing.!For!Buren!“institution”!is!synonymous!with!!“museum”!and!the! function! of! the! museum! is! to! frame,! isolate,! define,! validate! and! naturalize! works! of! art.33!!
The! second! definition! of! the! institution! includes! a! broader! network! of! social! institutions.!It!incorporates!organizations!that!accommodate!the!production,!display!and! reception! of! art,! not! only! museums! and! galleries,! but! also! journals,! biennials,! foundations,!art!schools,!studios,!funding!bodies!and!the!art!market.!Here,!institution!is! thought! of! in! a! broader! sense,! as! a! set! of! customs! and! practices! that! are! established! within!a!particular!culture!or!society.!!
The!third!and!broadest!concept!of!the!institution!of!art!refers!to!the!historical!and! contemporary! discourses! on! art,! which! enable! us! to! recognize! and! speak! about! art.! According!to!Arthur!Danto:!‘’To!see!something!as!art!one!needs!an!atmosphere!of!artistic! theory,! a! knowledge! of! the! history! of! art:! an! artworld.’’34!Danto! defines! the! art!
institution!as!a!value!system!and!the!tradition!of!art!in!the!west!as!an!ideological!system.! According!to!Peter!Bürger,!“works!of!art!are!not!received!as!single!entities,!but!within! institutional! frameworks! and! conditions! that! largely! determine! the! function! of! the! works”.!Bürger!defines!the!institution!of!art!as!the!!“framing!conditions”!which!regulate! the!“commerce!with!works!of!this!kind!in!a!given!society!or!in!certain!strata!or!classes!of! a! society”.35!The! concept! ‘art! as! an! institution’! […]! refers! to! the! productive! and!
distributive! apparatus! and! also! to! the! ideas! about! art! that! prevail! at! a! given! time! and! that!determine!the!reception!of!works.!! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 33!Daniel!Buren,!‘Function!of!the!Museum’,!in:!Artforum,!Volume!XII,!No.!1,!September!1973! Artforum!Inc.,!p.!68.! 34!Arthur!Danto,!‘The!Artworld.’!In:!Journal%of%Philosophy,!Volume!61,!No.!19,!American! Philosophical!Association!Eastern!Division!Sixty.First!Annual!Meeting,!Oct!1964,!p.!580.!Via:!<! http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/visualarts/Danto.Artworld.pdf>!(Last!visited!at! 18/12/2015).! 35!Peter%Bürger,%Theory%of%the%Avant=Garde,!University!of!Minnesota!Press!Minneapolis!2007! (1974)!pp.!12.22.!
! These!three!definitions!of!institutions!of!art!show!first!off!the!difficulty!of!finding! a!term!to!cover!such!a!big!variety!of!definitions.!But!when!understanding!the!broadness! of!the!system,!the!workings!become!clearer.!Trying!to!define!and!map!the!workings!of! such!a!big!social!system!can!be!quite!difficult,!but!in!the!end,!especially!by!approaching!it! from!a!sociological!standpoint,!there!can!be!rules!traced!and!the!system!explained.!! According!to!Pierre!Bourdieu,!art!is!an!institution!in!the!sense!that!the!“work%of%art%is%an%
object% which% exists% as% such% only% by% virtue% of% the% (collective)% belief% which% knows% and% acknowledges%it%as%a%work%of%art”36!The!institutional!theory!suggests!that!members!of!the!
artworld! have! the! power! to! make! anything! into! an! artwork! simply! by! accepting! it! as! such.37!!However,!in!real!life!this!is!not!this!simple!at!all.!As!explained,!any!institution!
stands!and!falls!with!the!collective!acceptance!of!its!rules.!Therefore,!a!sole!individual! cannot!change!the!definition!of!art!for!the!whole.!Even!so,!a!sole!individual!can!in!fact! change! the! definition! of! art! for! his/herself.! It! might! not! be! collectively! accepted,! and! therefore!not!be!an!institutional!fact,!but!it!can!be!very!valuable.!A!dark!matter!artist!for! example,!can!create!his/her!own!definition!of!art,!and!therefore!create!art!–or!not..!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 36!Pierre!Bourdieu,!The%field%of%cultural%production%:%essays%on%art%and%literature,!Cambridge!Polity! Press!1993,!p.!35.! 37!James!O.!Young,!‘Defining!art!responsibly’,!in:!The%British%Journal%of%Aesthetics,!Volume!37!No.1! January!1997!Oxford!University!Press,!p.57.!
2.3!CONTEMPORARY!ART!WORLD!
! The! art! world! appears! to! be! constantly! transformed! by! the! appearance! of! new! artists,!new!trends!and!new!spaces.!However,!the!conventions!of!the!art!world!and!the! major! centers! of! power! remain! consistently! the! same.! Andrea! Fraser! points! out! that! affirmations!of!the!changes!that!have!taken!place!within!the!art!world!since!the!1970s! do!not!account!for!the!persistent!underlying!distributions!of!power!within!the!art!world! that! are! legitimated! by! these! positive! changes.38!The! enormous! expansion! of! museum!
audiences,!celebrated!under!the!banner!of!populism,!has!proceeded!hand!in!hand!with! the! continuous! rise! of! entrance! fees,! excluding! more! and! more! lower.income! visitors,! and! the! creation! of! new! forms! of! elite! participation! with! increasingly! differentiated! hierarchies! of! membership,! viewings,! and! galas. 39 !Paradoxically,! it! is! critical,!
confrontational!or!experimental!art!exhibited!in!alternative,!independent!and!artist.run! spaces,! which! sustain! the! radical! profile! of! contemporary! art! and! the! mainstream! market.!Even!though!the!later!thrives!on!the!sale!of!established!and!secure!investments.!
Beside!that,!the!contemporary!art!world!is!not!distributed!equilaterally!across!a! global! network.! Curatorial! decisions! across! the! globe! can! be! traced! back! to! western! centers! of! financial! and! curatorial! power! (museums,! journals,! galleries).! The! current! climate! of! cultural! production! is! a! profitable! and! exclusive! professional! sector,! which! promotes! its! entrepreneurial! activities! on! the! fetishization! of! the! tradition! of! western! art.40!Contemporary!art!practice!emerges!from!the!historical!discourses!of!western!art!
and! aesthetics,! which! have! defined! the! legitimating! discursive! field,! appearing! naturalised,! current! and! universal.! ‘Outsider! art’! such! as! dark! matter,! is! in! the! social! system!of!the!art!institution!excluded,!while!it!might!be!included!in!the!definitions!of!art! as!set!by!the!institutional!theories.!
! This! seems! to! be! the! paradox! of! the! institutional! theory! of! art! in! the! contemporary!art!world.!!Even!though!the!definitions!of!art,!through!the!development!of! institutional!theory,!became!much!more!inclusive,!in!the!contemporary!art!world,!a!big! part!or!the!art!world,!of!which!dark!matter!is!one!example,!is!still!excluded!from!the!art! world.! This! discrepancy! is! interesting,! because! it! is! an! oxymoron.! As! explained! above,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 38!Fraser!2005!(See!note!25),!p.!104.! 39!Fraser!2005!(See!note!25),!p.!104.! 40!Liam!Gillick,!Contemporary%Art%Does%Not%Account%for%that%Which%is%Taking%Place,!E.flux!journal! #21!2010,!no!page!numbers.!Via:!<www.liamgillick.info/home/texts/Contemporary>!(last! visited!at!1/10/2015).!!!
art! always! exists! inside! the! institution,! however,! some! art! is! not! accepted! by! reputed! institutions!or!the!high!art!world.!However,!we!realize!now!that!the!distinction!is!not!so! much! between! art! and! non.art,! but! more! about! accepted! art! and! non.accepted! art,! where! the! non.accepted! art! is! for! example! amateur! art! of! dark! matter! art.! As! Carol! Duncan!explains,!artists!make!works,!but!they!do!not!make!art!in!the!social!sense.!Their! work! becomes! art! only! when! it! is! made! visible! in! an! art! context.! People! everywhere! make! things! they! regard! as! art,! and! what! may! look! like! art! to! their! friends! and! neighbors.! But,! she! states,! because! it! does! not! extend! outside! their! immediate! communities,!it!is!not!accepted!as!art!as!it!is!not!visible!in!the!art!context.41!However,!
much! has! changed! since! 1983,! and! with! the! developments! in! information! and! communication!technologies!(ICT)!and!new!(social)!media,!the!art!context!is!reachable! for!(nearly)!everyone.!42!All!art!made!in!‘amateur’!context!can!therefore!extend!into!the!
art!context!via!online!art!communities,!blogs!or!Facebook!groups.!Adding!this!idea!to!the! institutional!theory!and!the!inclusive!definitions!of!art,!all!requirements!for!art!(that!is! to! say! what! an! individual! can! do)! are! accessible! for! any! dark! matter,! amateur! or! renowned!artist.!!The!excluding!of!art!and!artists!from!the!general!art!world!depends!on! the! collective! acceptance! of! the! status! of! art.! As! explained,! an! institution! only! works! when! it! is! collectively! accepted.! The! acceptance! of! a! work! as! a! work! of! art! happens! through! a! process! of! validation,! for! example! through! art! critics! publicly! testifying! the! status!of!art!of!a!work!for!all!the!actors!in!the!institution.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 41!Duncan1993!(See!note!9),!p.!171.! 42!Yiannis!Mylonas,!!‘Amateur!Creation!and!Entrepreneurialism:!A!Critical!Study!of!Artistic! Production!in!Post.Fordist!Structures’!in:!!Triple!C,!Volume!10,!No.!1!(2012),!pp.1.2.!Published! online!via:!<!http://www.triple.c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/287>!(Last!visited!at! 17/12/2015).!! !
2.4!NEW!&!EXPERIMENTAL!INSTITUTIONALISM.!!
The! oxymoron! of! excluding! art(ists)! from! the! institution! of! art! also! leads! to! an! exciting!tension!between!artist!and!institution.!From!the!’60!onwards!there!are!artists! that! wanted! to! stay! outside! the! institution,! and! work! as! a! rebel! outside! the! system.! However,!since!art!can!not!exist!without!the!institution,!the!artist!is!in!essence!unable!to! work!outside!of!the!system.!The!notion!of!the!‘rebel!artist’!is!not!new.!Think!only!of!the! Salon!de!Refusès,!where!the!art!that!did!not!fit!in!the!high!art!world!was!celebrated.!Or! for! example! the! artists! that! became! well.known! for! their! institutional! critique.! Their! work! originally! gave! critique! on! the! institutions! where! they! are! now! exhibited.! "Institutional!critique”!is!an!artistic!practice!that!reflects!critically!on!its!own!housing!in! galleries!and!museums!and!on!the!concept!and!social!function!of!art!itself.!Such!concerns! have!always!been!a!part!of!modern!art!but!took!on!new!urgency!at!the!end!of!the!1960s,! when—driven! by! the! social! upheaval! of! the! time! and! enabled! by! the! tools! and! techniques! of! conceptual! art—institutional! critique! emerged! as! a! genre.43!Artists! like!
Hans! Haacke,! Benjamin! Buchlow! and! Andrea! Fraser! were! the! pioneers! in! this! movement,!in!creating!the!institutional!critique!as!well!as!writing!about!the!notion!itself.! Andrea! Fraser! even! is! the! one! who! coined! the! term! in! 1985! and! notes! in! a! critical! reflection!of!her!own!text!that!“Institutional%Critique%has%always%been%institutionalized.%It% could%only%have%emerged%within%and,%like%all%art,%can%only%function%within%the%institution%of% art”.44!! ! The!development!of!institutional!critique,!from!trying!to!be!separate!from!such! institutions,!to!being!represented!by!these!exact!institutions,!and!realizing!that!you!are! an!institution!yourself,!shows!the!internal!fight!artist!can!have!inside!the!institution!of! art!as!a!whole.!As!shown!by!the!three!definitions!given!before,!the!omnipresence!of!the! institution!of!art!is!difficult!to!grasp!sometimes.!However,!it!is!interesting!to!realise!that! even!though!the!rebellious!artists!want!to!flee!the!system,!there!is!no!existence!of!art! outside! the! institution.! The! most! radical! and! experimental! art! is! countered! by! the! formation! of! equally! radical! and! experimental! institutions.! So! even! in! the! inescapable! encompassing! institution,! separate! institutions! such! as! galleries,! artist.run.spaces! or! creative!grounds,!will!emerge!and!they!will!institutionalise!the!art!that!so!desperately! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 43!Alexander!Alberro!and!Blake!Stimson!(Ed.),!Institutional%Critique.%An%Anthology%of%Artists'% Writings,!MIT!press!London!/!Cambridge!2009,!introduction.! 44!Fraser&2005&(See¬e&25),&pp.&2785283. !
did! not! want! to! be! institutionalised.! However,! it! is! not! a! negative! that! they! are! eventually! institutionalised.! If! you! realise! that! you! are! part! of! the! bigger! system,! you! might!as!well!be!active!in!it,!and!be!institutionalised!by!an!institution!that!aligns!with! your!beliefs!and!ideas.!!
! This! idea! of! the! emerging! institutions! that! are! as! revolutionary! as! the! art! they! harbour,!is!called!new%institutionalism%or!experimental%institutionalism.%It!shows!how,!in! the!constantly!changing!contemporary!art!world,!the!institutions!also!develop.!From!the! 90’s! onward,! independent! curating! and! the! radical! and! inclusive! approach! to! the! function!of!the!gallery!has!led!to!the!‘new!institutionalism’.45!
!
Deducting,!we!now!know!that!the!artist!has!become!aware!of!the!institutions!of! art,!the!workings!of!the!art!world!as!a!sociological!system!and!the!inescapability!of!it.! But!it!did!not!led!to!despondence!because!it!in!no!way!means!that!the!artist!is!powerless.! Indeed,! there! is! no! art! outside! the! institution! of! art.! Therefore,! an! artist! is! always! institutionalised.! But! with! that! realisation,! great! possibilities! open! up.! The! institutionalisation! cannot! be! changed,! but! the! institutions! as! organisations! can.! Therefore!the!new!and!experimental!institutions!are!such!a!great!example!of!illustrating! how!even!the!most!rebellious!art!can!be!institutionalised!without!losing!its!character.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 45!Alex!Farquharson,!‘Bureaux!de!change’,!in:!Frieze,!Issue!101,!September!2006,!Frieze! Publishing!London!/!New!York,!no!page!numbers.!Via:!<! http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/bureaux_de_change/>!(last!visited!at!9/12/2015).!
CHAPTER"3:"THE"PROCES"OF"BECOMING"CANONICAL:"CANONISATION" 3.1!What!is!a!canon?!! 3.2!History!of!art.history’s!canonisation!! 3.3!The!survey!text!handbook!! 3.4!The!canonisation!process!! 3.5!Contemporary!canon(s)! 3.6!Artificial!canonisation:!everything!light!matter!! ! The!concept!and!existence!of!a!canon!of!works!of!art!is!central!to!the!study!and! teaching!of!art!and!the!history!of!art!for!centuries.!Despite!being!under!attack!at!least! since!the!1980s,!it!is!still!omnipresent!in!the!traditions!and!the!teaching!of!art!history!in! many!European!countries,!and!still!shapes!public!perception!of!‘Art’.46!" Still!today!canonical!works!of!art!are!what!makes!up!what!one!is!led!to!consider! as!the!“main!art!world”.!These!works!do!not!seem!to!have!lost!any!of!the!aura!bestowed! on!them!by!the!cult!of!the!“genius”!of!the!19th!century!and!their!canonical!status.!The! notion!of!the!canon!also!informs!the!scholarly!production!of!the!discipline!both!in!the! past!and!today,!as!in!the!form!of!the!survey!texts,!for!instance,!or!the!critical!edition!of! visual!and!textual!sources.!At!the!same!time,!the!canon!has!changed!over!time.!Both!the! evolving! visual! culture! as! the! changing! views! on! methodology! and! art! theory! led! to! a! critical!review!of!the!canon!and!its!formation.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 46!Charlotte!Schoell!Glass!and!Hubert!Locher,!‘The!Art!Historical!Canon!and!its!Functions’,! symposium!text!!for!IAWIS/AIERTI!(the!International!Association!of!Word!and!Image!Studies!/! Association!Internationale!pour!l’Etude!des!Rapports!entre!Texte!et!Image,!Hamburg,!published! online!2006,!no!page!numbers,!via:!<http://iawis.org/the.art.historical.canon.and.its. functions/>!(Last!visited!at!12/10/2015).!!
3.1!WHAT!IS!A!CANON?!
The! term! ‘canon’! is! derived! from! the! Greek! word! ‘kanon’,! which! means! ‘rule’! or! ‘standard’.47!According! to! the! Oxford! dictionary,! ‘canon’! has! multiple! definitions! (See!
illustration!2).!The!last!definition!(definition!2.2)!is!most!applicable!to!the!canon!of!art;! ‘’The% list% of% works% considered% to% be% permanently% established% as% being% of% the% highest%
quality’’.!The!explanatory!sentence!can!easily!be!transformed!in!a!definition!of!the!canon! of!art,!!‘’The%most%important%artists%are%established%in%the%canon%of%art’’.!! ! ! Ill."2:"Oxford"dictionary""‘Canon’.!!! Via:!http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/canon!(Last!visited!at! 9/12/2015).! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 47!Griselda!Pollock,!Differencing%the%Canon.%Feminist%Desire%and%the%Writing%of%Art’s%Histories,! Routledge!London!1999,!p.!3.
The!canon,!in!this!case,!is!a!collection!of!artworks!that!are!supposed!to!be!of!exceptional! value.48!This! is! a! useful! selection,! because! it! functions! as! a! grid! upon! which! art! and!
artists! can! be! placed.! By! thinking! of! art! within! the! framework! of! the! canon,! the! multitude!becomes!manageable.!!
One!could!make!a!distinction!between!an!internal!and!external!viewpoint!of!the! canon.!Generally!the!canon!is!seen!as!a!natural!phenomenon,!not!as!a!process!of!active! selection!and!repression.49!This!is!the!internal!approach!on!the!history!of!art.!It!states!
that! art! functions! independently! of! the! outside! world! and! only! refers! to! itself.! The! internal! viewpoint! on! the! canon! believes! that! the! history! of! art! is! not! determined! by! conditions! outside! the! realm! of! art.! It! all! takes! place! internally,! hence! the! name.! The! canon!of!art!is!a!collection!of!art!works!of!exceptional!artistic!value,!objectively!proven! by! art! historians,! and! justified! by! tradition.! Formalism! is! the! most! purely! internal! or! natural! approach.! Formalism! means! that! the! works! of! art! are! judged! solely! on! their! formal!qualities,!and!other!considerations!are!irrelevant.!!
The! external! approach! attacks! this! concept! of! naturalness! of! the! canon.! The! external! viewpoint! claims! that! art! and! its! appreciation! depends! on! factors! external! of! the! art! world,! such! as! the! social,! economical,! political! and! ideological! context! of! the! artwork! and! of! art! consumption.! Therefore! the! canon! of! art! is! constructed! by! these! factors.! The! external! view! approaches! art! more! as! a! social! system! that! acknowledges! that!time!and!place!can!influence!the!artefact.50""
If! we! go! back! to! the! etymology! of! the! word! ‘canon’,! the! internal! approach! becomes!more!complex.!Already!long!in!the!history,!the!word!canon!is!used!outside!art! history.! For! example,! it! was! used! in! Christian! disputes! in! the! fourth! century.! In! these! debates!the!canon!signified!a!series!of!preferred!texts!–!which!are!now!associated!with! the! Bible! and! the! work! of! certain! early! theologians! –! in! opposition! to! rival! Christian! teachings.! This! definition! still! lingers! today,! as! one! can! see! in! the! first! and! second! definition!in!illustration!2.!These!definitions!also!refer!to!the!historical!canonisation!of! religion,!based!on!deliberate!decisions!by!certain!influential!people.!This!implies!that!the! canonical!tradition!is!based!on!a!process!of!active!selection!and!repression,!completely! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 48!Hilde!Hein,!‘Institutional!Blessing:!the!Museum!as!Canon.Maker’!in:!Monist,!volume!76! Cengage!Learning!Inc.,!October!1993,!!p.!556.! 49!Steve!Edwards!ed.,!Art%and%its%Histories:%A%Reader,!Yale!University!Press!New!Haven!/!London! 1999,!p.!9.! 50!Annelies!Monseré,!Art%and%its%Canon.%Towards%a%New%Approach%to%the%History%of%Art! (Masterthesis!History.!University!of!Utrecht.!Promoter:!Dr.!J.!Segal),!P.5.!
different! than! the! internal,! nineteenth! century! belief! of! canonisation! as! a! natural! and! objective!process.51!Thus!canonization,!whether!ratified!by!church,!state,!or!some!other!
cultural! agency,! is! not! simply! a! designation! by! category,! but! an! act! of! deliberate! constructing!a!hierarchy.!This!is!a!more!contemporary!understanding!of!the!canon,!as!a! process!that!is!not!autonomous,!but!constructed!and!established!by!the!art.world!itself,! and!therefore!influenceable.!!
Within! traditional! art! history,! the! internal! point! of! view! is! dominant,! while! external! factors! have! increasingly! been! taken! in! account.! In! contemporary! art! history,! the!external!approach!is!taking!ground!and!is!prevalent!among!art!historians!of!modern! and!contemporary!art.!! This!distinction!between!the!internal!and!the!external!approach!on!the!canon!is! interesting!when!combined!with!the!notion!of!dark!matter.!As!we!understand!that!the! canon!can!be!forged,!and!does!not!naturally!evolve,!then!what!effect!does!this!have!on! the!dark!matter?!And!who!then!form!the!canon,!and!why!do!they!leave!the!dark!matter! out!of!consideration?!At!this!point,!it!is!good!to!specify!certain!distinctions.!There!is!a! difference! between! being! in! the! dark! matter,! being! in! the! art! world,! and! being! in! the! canon.!Those!are!not!to!be!confused!with!another.!You!can!be!a!(relatively)!well.known,! innovative! and! popular! artist,! and! not! be! in! the! canon.! Even! more,! if! you! are! a! light! matter!artist,!chances!are!slim!that!you!will!be!included!in!the!canon.!If!you!look!back!to! illustration!1,!the!highest!tip!of!the!hierarchy!then!symbolises!the!canon,!so!you!see!that! most!of!the!light!matter!artists!are!not!included.!The!ever.expanding!group!of!artists!and! the!passing!of!the!years!make!the!canon!grow,!even!though!the!essence!of!it!is!to!form!a! grid.!By!definition,!the!canon!cannot!be!inclusive.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 51!Edwards!1999!(See!note!49)!p.!9.!
3.2!HISTORY!OF!ART.HISTORY’S!CANONISATION:! Since!it!is!understood!that!the!canon!is!constructed,!there!is!also!a!point!in!time! where!it!was!created.!The!beginning!of!the!canon!runs!parallel!with!the!creation!of!art. history.!This!discipline!was!also!constructed!over!time.!In!the!formation!of!art!history,! the!foundations!of!canon.forming!become!clear.!The!modern!discipline!of!art!history!is! founded!upon!a!series!of!assumptions!regarding!the!meaning!and!significance!of!man. made!objects.52!There!are!two!principle!hypotheses!that!have!formed!the!foundations!of! the!field!from!its!beginning.!The!first!is!that!not!all!objects!are!equal!in!the!amount!of! information!they!carry!within!about!their!maker(s)!and!origin(s).!The!second!is!that!all! such!objects!are!time.factored:!they!contain!marks!of!the!artefact’s!historical!genealogy,! either! in! formal! or! thematic! nature.! The! first! assumption! lies! behind! varying! justifications!for!delimiting!art!history’s!inquiry,!while!the!second!connects!that!defined! subject.domain! to! particular! visions! of! individual! and! collective! history! and! development.!The!history!of!art!history!as!a!practice!can!be!seen!as!the!development!of! many!variations,!transformations,!and!consequences!of!these!fundamental!assumptions.!! The! history! of! art! history! is! a! subject! that! gives! great! insight! in! our! current! understanding! of! art! and! its! development.! Various! books! are! written! on! this! meta! subject.! Generally,! they! lead! the! reader! chronological! through! the! forming! of! the! discipline.!Starting!with!Giorgio!Vasari!and!Johann!Joachim!Winckelmann,!the!first!steps! of! writing! art.history! are! recalled.! Followed! up! by! Immanuel! Kant! and! G.! W.! F.! Hegel,! aesthetic!philosophy!and!the!function!of!art!are!added.!Through!Heinrich!Wölfflin!and! Aby! Warburg,! the! principles! of! art! history! are! set! out,! and! through! more! modern! and! critical!!art!historians,!the!problems!of!art!historical!descriptions!are!made!clear.!This! grid!is!then!worked!out!by!adding!inquiries!of!mechanisms!of!meaning,!like!iconography! and!semiology.!After!that,!the!notion!of!expanding!the!history!of!art!is!issued!through! feminism,!orientalism!and!post.colonialism.!Some!histories!of!art!history!conclude!their! journey! with! the! deconstruction! and! the! limits! of! interpretation,! some! with! contemporary! institutional! theory! or! philosophy! of! art.! However! these! meta.histories! are!built,!they!explain!the!reader!with!the!multitude!of!theories!and!philosophies!on!art,! and!show!how!the!discipline!of!art!grows!more!broad!and!complicated!over!time.! " !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 52!Donald!Preziosi!(ed.)!The%Art%of%Art%History:%a%critical%anthology,!Oxford,!Oxford!University! Press!1998,!p.!21.!
3.3!THE!SURVEY!TEXT!HANDBOOK!
The!universal!and!developmental!presumptions!of!art!history!are!nowhere!better! expressed! than! in! the! global! survey! text.! More! than! any! other! genre! within! the! discipline,!the!survey!text!embodies!the!nineteenth.century!vision!of!history!to!unify!the! art!of!the!past!into!a!coherent!and!relevant!story!for!the!present.!The!survey!text!asks!us! to! believe! that! the! immeasurable! diversity! of! art! can! be! brought! together! into! a! great! chain!of!meaning.53!The!survey!text!is!art!history’s!canon!at!its!best,!promising!to!reveal!
the! complex! truths! of! humanity! through! art.! It! is! also! art! history! at! its! most! political,! reducing! cultural! and! individual! differences! to! questionable! hierarchies! and! generalities.!Since!there!is!no!place!for!everything!from!five!continents!and!thousands!of! years,! the! canon! is! made! as! selective! as! possible,! while! trying! to! convey! a! sense! of! completeness.!"
The! early! art! history! survey! texts! can! be! divided! between! contextual! and! formalist! methods.! Whereas! the! contextual! survey! texts! were! guided! by! a! higher,! a! priori! order! of! art! located! in! God! or! the! subjective! human! spirit,! the! formalist! survey! texts!were!descriptive!and!internally!focused!on!art.!This!division,!based!on!the!question! of!how!much!extra.formal!context!to!include!in!the!survey!text,!is!an!issue!that!is!still! relevant! today.! Beyond! this! difference,! most! survey! texts! share! a! belief! in! the! global! significance!of!artistic!development.!Since!a!survey!text!is!supposed!to!give!a!coherent! overview!of!the!history!of!art,!writers!choose!for!a!chronological!line!towards!a!perfect! art!and!beauty.!!
Although! the! surveys! gradually! included! more! and! more! artistic! periods! as! a! result! of! on.going! art! historical! and! archaeological! investigations,! they! all! proclaimed! restricted! eras! of! artistic! perfection.! This! concept! of! perfection! promoted! hierarchy,! both! over! time! and! in! regard! to! national! culture.! Following! the! lines! traced! by! art! historians,!the!survey!texts!took!over!the!notion!of!a!linear!line!of!artistic!development.! This!excluded!non.European!art!and!art!made!by!minorities!almost!completely!from!the! canon.54!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 53!Mitchell!Schwarzer,!!‘Origins!of!the!Art!History!Survey!Text’!in:!Art!Journal,!Volume!54,!No.!3,! Rethinking%the%Introductory%Art%History%Survey,!Taylor!&!Frances!Group,!1995),!p.!24.! 54!When!the!arts!of!Oceania,!Africa,!Asia,!and!the!Americas!are!mentioned,!it!is!as!the!foundation! stones!for!the!development!of!higher!forms!of!artistic!expression!in!Europe.!They!were! preparatory,!flawed!stages!along!the!route!toward!artistic!culmination!in!classical!Greece,! medieval!Christianity,!and!modern!Europe!(as!the!combination!of!both).!Only!Islam!was!granted! higher!status,!and!only!then!because!of!its!substantial!inheritance!from!Rome!and!Byzantium.!
The! popular! surveys! written! by! Janson,! Hartt,! Gardner,! and! Gombrich,! among! others,! echo! the! developmental! lineage! and! elitist! aesthetic! sensibilities! of! their! nineteenth.century!predecessors.!As!Anita!Silvers!explains!in!her!text!‘The!Story!of!Art! Is!the!Test!of!Time’,!repetition!creates!a!strong!canon.55!So!where!survey!texts!already!
are! art.history’s! canon! at! its! best,! by! rewriting! survey! texts! the! canon! is! only! made! stronger.! In! following! the! lines! of! the! history! of! art,! the! accuracy! of! the! canon! is! confirmed.!Even!though!surveys!kept!developing!to!include!new!findings!and!notions,!it! never! changed! the! basis! they! derive! from:! the! notion! that! there! is! such! a! thing! as! a! universally!art!history,!and!that!it!is!possible!to!objectively!recap!of!the!development!of! art,!over!thousands!of!years!and!all!over!the!world.!!!
It! is! important! to! understand! how! the! survey! text! is! in! fact! a! third! degree! reduction!of!a!whole.!When!the!main!art!world!is!taken!as!the!whole,!it!is!being!reduced! by!every!step!that!is!trying!to!preserve!it.!First,!as!this!history!on!the!survey!text!shows,! what! art! is! picked! up! at! a! certain! time! in! space! depends! on! many! different! elements! outside!of!the!art,!such!as!the!social!and!economical!status!of!the!maker,!and!the!time! and!place!of!where!it!was!made.!It!is!good!to!realise!that!the!canon!we!know!today,!is! dependent! on! random! chance.! Because! when! you! think! about! it,! if! Leonardo! da! Vinci! was!a!woman,!or!Rembrandt!van!Rijn!was!black,!would!they!be!in!the!canon!as!they!are! now?!In!that!sense,!being!noticed!in!the!mass!that!is!the!art!world,!is!the!first!reduction.! ! The!second!reduction!takes!place!when!the!artist!is!implemented!in!the!canon!of! art!history.!This!is!already!a!thorough!reduction,!the!art!history’s!canon!is!no!slim!one,! but!excludes!much!more!than!it!includes.!!
! The! third! reduction,! which! is! that! of! the! survey! text,! is! the! most! ruthless! reduction.!Since!it!tries!to!make!a!comprehensive!overview,!it!can!only!include!so!little.!! The!survey!text!is!also!empowered!by!its!repetition,!so!there!is!little!room!for!change.!! ! The! realisation! that! the! inclusive! character! of! the! survey! text! is! completely! opposite!to!what!it!really!is!shows!how!difficult!it!is!to!write!an!inclusive!history!of!art.! This!understanding!is!important!to!the!subject!of!dark!matter,!because!we!understand! that! we! are,! whether! we! like! it! or! not,! working! with! and! looking! at! a! selection! of! a! selection! of! a! selection.! When! these! selections! are! understood! as! selections,! and! not! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
55!Anita!Silvers,!‘The!Story!of!Art!Is!the!Test!of!Time’,!in:!The!Journal!of!Aesthetics!and!Art!
Criticism,!Volume!49,!No.!3!(Summer,!1991),!pp.!211.224.!Published!online!by!Jstor,!via:!<! http://www.jstor.org.proxy.uba.uva.nl:2048/stable/431475>!(Last!visited!at!18/12/2015).
disguised! as! the! whole,! there! is! room! to! work! in.! concluding,! it! is! not! about! adding! everything!into!one!big!inclusive!canon,!but!it!is!losing!the!pretence!of!being!complete.!! "
3.4!THE!CANONISATION!PROCESS!!
The! internal! history! of! art! shows! the! tradition! in! art! history! of! creating! and! defending!the!canon.!In!1974,!the!art!philosopher!George!Dickie!formulated!a!definition! of!art!that!both!include!the!external!and!internal!perspectives!of!defining!art.!According! to!him,!art!is!not!art!because!it!has!a!higher!value!than!other!artefacts.!It!is!art,!simply! because!of!the!fact!the!it!takes!place!in!the!context!of!art,!the!artworld.!A!work!of!art!is! an! artefact! of! a! kind! created! to! be! presented! to! an! artworld! public.56!This! reflects! the!
institutional! theory! as! discussed! in! the! previous! chapter.! The! role! of! institutions! and! other!elements!external!to!art!on!the!forming!of!the!canon!is!also!expressed!by!the!art! historian! Christopher! Steiner.! He! claims! that! the! canon! is! a! structure,! which! is! in! a! continuous!process!of!reproducing!itself,!mediating!its!identity!through!market!forces,! and! negating! the! social! conditions! of! its! production! by! covering! the! tracks! of! its! arbitrary!and!subjective!formations.57!According!to!him,!aesthetic!judgements!cannot!be!
made! under! objective! conditions! free! from! moral,! political,! economic! and! social! influences.! In! this! way! neither! art,! nor! the! canon,! are! autonomous.! The! canon! is! kept! into!place!by!its!‘aura’,!to!speak!in!Walter!Benjamin’s!terms.!Art!historians!who!accepted! that!art!is!not!autonomous!and!broke!with!the!internal!perspective,!took!on!a!structural! methodology! to! confront! their! object! of! study.! The! post.modern! perspective! on! the! canon!involves!the!notion!that!the!history!of!art!is!a!story!that!develops!itself!parallel!to! the! story! of! society.! The! structural! approach! explains! social! and! other! phenomena! by! analysing!structures,!as!such!as!language,!social!class,!economical!relations!and!so!on.! Structures!are!constants!that!stand!outside!the!subject,!outside!men,!and!so,!they!can!be! called! “objective”.58!Canon! forming! therefore! starts! with! an! objective! object! (See!
diagram! 1).! The! canon! of! art! history! is! determined! by! these! structures,! and! not! by! a! ‘universal!aesthetic!quality’.!After!all,!what!people!see!as!aesthetic!quality!is!determined! by!these!structures,!which!are!different!for!everybody.!According!to!this!understanding,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 56Willem!Elias,!Tekens%aan%de%Wand.%Hedendaagse%Stromingen%in%de%Kunsttheorie,!Hadewijch! Antwerpen!/!Baarn!1993,!104.105. 57!Christopher!Steiner,!‘Can!the!Canon!Burst?’!in:!Art%Bulletin,!volume!78,!No.!2,!Cengage! Learning!Inc.,!1996,!p.217.! 58Michiel!Leezenberg!en!Gerard!de!Vries,!Wetenschapsfilosofie%voor%Geesteswetenschappen,! Amsterdam!University!Press,!Amsterdam!2001,!p.!158.
the! canonisation! process! starts! with! structures! ‘outside’! art.! (See! diagram! 2)! These! structures,! consisting! of! institutions,! have! the! ability! to! change! an! object! into! art,! by! giving!this!status!to!the!object.!(See!diagram!3.!Think!back!to!the!social!status!given!by! institutions,! as! explained! in! the! previous! chapter).! Then,! the! status! of! art! must! be! accepted!by!other!institutions,!to!really!count!as!art!(See!diagram!4)!Once!the!object!has! the!status!of!art,!the!process!of!canonisation!can!start.!This!happens!when!the!status!of! art! is! accepted! and! upheld! (See! diagram! 5).! Confirmation! of! the! status! of! art! by! institutions! and! repetition! of! this! status! leads! to! canonisation! of! said! artwork! (See! diagram!6).!
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