ask23 > Lingner: ABOUT THE END OF THE ART EXHIBITION AND EXHIBITION ART

Michael Lingner

MICHAEL LINGNER

ABOUT THE END OF THE ART EXHIBITION AND EXHIBITION ART

IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY ART LIBERATED ITSELF FROM ITS ECCLESIASTICAL, COURT AND CORPORATIVE FUNCTIONAL CONTEXTS. PRODUCTION AND RECEPTION OF ART WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE INTO THE SECLUSION OF STUDIOS AND MUSEUMS. AUTONOMOUS ART HAD ONLY VERY SPECIAL PLACES IN WHICH TO SHOW ITSELF. EXHIBITION GALLERIES SET UP AS »WHITE CUBES« DID NOT SERVE ONLY TO SCREEN OFF NON-ARTISTIC INFLUENCES, THEY ALSO ISOLATED INDIVIDUAL WORKS FROM EACH OTHER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

IN THE MEAN TIME ART HAS BECOME A SYSTEM IN SOCIETY, AND THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE TWO DOES NOT EXIST ANY MORE IN ITS OLD FORM. TODAY ART'S DISTANCE FROM SOCIETY, ITS ATTEMPT TO MAKE ITSELF INDEPENDENT AS FAR AS SOCIETY IS CONCERNED, IS COMPLETELY ILLUSORY. ART CAN SHAPE AND DEVELOP ITS OWN PARTICULAR NATURE ONLY WITHIN SOCIETY. THUS ART-CREATION SHIFTS INTO SOCIAL COMMUNICATION.

BUT THERE ARE NO LONGER SPACES THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED GENERALLY PREDESTINED FOR EXHIBITING ART. ART HAS BECOME PLACELESS, AND MUST IN PRINCIPLE BE ABLE TO HAPPEN EVERYWHERE. THE WHOLE OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE HAS BECOME A SPACE FOR ART. ALL THAT REMAINS OPEN TO ART IS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN VARIOUS PUBLIC SPHERES, EACH OF WHICH HAS ITS OWN CONDITIONS FOR COMMUNICATION. TODAY ART NO LONGER LIVES IN WORKS, BUT THROUGH COMMUNICATION ABOUT PRODUCTIONS CALLED WORKS.

THE »WORK OF ART« THEN ACQUIRES THE FUNCTION OF INITIATING COMMUNICATION, KEEPING IT GOING AND GIVING IT A JOINT OBJECT-RELATIONSHIP. THIS IS HOW THE »WORK« ORGANIZES INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNICATION, REDUCES ITS RANDOM QUALITY AND REGULATES THE EXPECTATIONS OF THOSE INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATION. IF ART IS TO CONTINUE TO EXIST IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT COMMUNICATION PERSISTS, AND TO THIS END IT NEEDS WORKS. HOWEVER - NIKLAS LUHMANN SAYS - THESE ONLY EXIST »IF AND TO THE EXTENT THAT CALCULATIONS CAN BE MADE ABOUT THEM«. IN THIS RESPECT »COMMUNICATION IS THE ONLY THING THAT STILL (HAS TO) FUNCTION« IN ART, WHILE »EVERYTHING ELSE IS SHIFTED INTO THE SECOND RANK OF A CONDITION THAT IS NECESSARY FOR IT«.

IN CONTRAST WITH THIS, CURRENT EXHIBITION PRACTICE CONTINUES TO WORK ON THE BASIS THAT ARTISTIC ESSENCE IS DIRECTLY DEPENDENT ON SPECIFIC QUALITIES OF A MATERIAL CARRIER. TO THIS EXTENT, ART PRODUCTION IS PERCEIVED AS BRINGING SUCH AESTHETIC CARRIERS INTO BEING. THIS IS ALSO THE BASIS OF THE NOTION THAT ART IS GUARANTEED TO OCCUR IN PLACES WHERE APPROPRIATE CARRIERS ARE SHOWN WITH AESTHETIC INTENTION. EXHIBITIONS ARE UNDERSTOOD TO BE INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH ART THAT HAS BEEN PRODUCED ELSEWHERE IS SIMPLY RE-PRODUCED AND THUS IN A CERTAIN SENSE RE-PRESENTED.

BUT ART TODAY IS NOT TO BE THOUGHT OF ONTOLOGICALLY AS A MATERIALLY FIXED AND ETERNALLY EXISTING AESTHETIC SUBSTANCE, CALLED A »WORK«. RATHER THAN WORKING ON ITS NATURAL CONDITION, ART SHOULD BE APPROACHED ON A BASIS OF SOCIAL-COMMUNICATIVE FEASIBILITY. FOR THIS REASON THE PREVIOUS CONCEPT OF EXHIBITIONS AS A REPRODUCING AND DOCUMENTING APPARATUS HAS HAD ITS DAY. IT ALSO DOES NOT HELP IN THIS CONTEXT IF EXHIBITION ORGANIZERS TRY TO COMPENSATE FOR OUTDATEDNESS OF THIS KIND BY PROGRAMMATICALLY FORCED INTUITIVE INTERVENTIONS; THE ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE IS THE CASE: THE APPARATUS PRODUCES EVEN MORE SCANTY REPRODUCTION AND DOCUMENTATION PERFORMANCE.

WHEN AN ARTIST'S MATERIAL MANIFESTIONS NO LONGER HAVE A »WORK« FUNCTION, THEN SOMETHING INTENDED AS ART CAN COME INTO BEING ONLY AS A PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION. ALL THE FORMAL DECISIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ARE TO BE MADE WITH A VIEW TO ENABLING SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION. TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS HAPPENS, IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO MAKE A DISTINCTION IN PRINCIPLE BETWEEN THE FORM OF THE »WORK« AND ITS COMMUNICATION FORM. RATHER THAN THE MERELY REPRODUCING CHARACTER OF EXHIBITIONS, WHICH HAVE PREVIOUSLY FUNCTIONED AS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION, WHAT IS NOW NEEDED, IN ANY PLACE WHERE ART IS INTENDED TO OCCUR, IS AN OVERALL STRUCTURE THAT WILL GENERATE COMMUNICATION.

ART EXISTS ONLY AS THIS COMMUNICATING CONTEXT. THE PLACE FOR COMMUNICATION UNDERSTOOD IN THIS WAY IS TO BE SEEN AS A PRODUCTION SITE AND EVERYONE INVOLVED AS PRODUCTIVE FORCES FOR ART. THEN ARTISTIC QUALITY IS DEPENDENT ON THE QUALITY OF WHAT IS COMMUNICATED AND THEREFORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT IS TO BE TAKEN BY ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATION, RATHER THAN SIMPLY BY THE ARTIST. LIKE THE LAYMAN, THE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATOR HIMSELF CONSEQUENTLY BECOMES AN ARTIST - AT LEAST IN THE SENSE THAT HE TAKES OVER CERTAIN ARTISTIC PART-FUNCTIONS.

THIS CERTAINLY DOES NOT INCLUDE THE FATAL PRACTICE OF ARRANGING INDIVIDUAL AESTHETIC CARRIERS IN RETROSPECT TO MAKE THEM INTO A WORK-LIKE MACRO-STRUCTURE FOR AN EXHIBITION, LIKE A KIND OF SUPER-ARTIST. IT IS MUCH MORE THAT ARTISTIC PART-FUNCTIONS SHOULD ALWAYS BE SEPARATED AND DIFFERENTIATED, THEN RELATED TO EACH OTHER IN SUCH A WAY AS TO PRODUCE A SYSTEMIC COMBINATION OF FACTORS CRUCIAL TO ARTISTIC COMMUNICATION. THE NECESSARY MATERIAL MANIFESTATIONS FUNCTION AS ORGANIZATION FORMS FOR COMMUNICATIVE PROCESSES CONCERNED WITH SHAPING ARTISTIC PREFERENCES.

IT IS NOT FOR THEORY TO DRAW FACTUAL CONCLUSIONS AND DEVELOP STRATEGIES OF AESTHETIC ACTION FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ARTISTS, LAYMEN AND ARTISTIC PROFESSIONALS FROM THESE THOUGHTS. BUT SOME FURTHER FUNDAMENTAL POINTS AFFECTING PRACTICE CAN BE MENTIONED:

1.: IF ART IS POSSIBLE ONLY TO ACHIEVE COMMUNICATION, THEN THE CIRCLE OF EXTREME SELF-REFERENCE THAT GOVERNED AVANT-GARDE ART MUST BE BROKEN. INSTEAD OF REFLECTING ONLY ON PLACING IN THE IMAGINARY MUSEUM, THE WHOLE COMPLEX OF ARTISTIC PRACTICE HAS TO RELATE TO THE REAL CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH ART IS COMMUNICATED. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE THINGS INVOLVED IN THIS IS INCLUDING CERTAIN PLACES OR PERSONS AND OTHER SPECIFICALLY COMMUNICATIVE CONDITIONS WITHIN THE ARTISTIC CONCEPT. SUCH FOREIGN REFERENCES MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO OVERCOME THE HERMENEUTICS OF AUTONOMOUS ART. COMMUNICATIVE STARTING POINTS ARE PRODUCED ALL THE MORE READILY WHEN MORE SUITABLE EVERYDAY UTILITY CONNECTIONS ARE INCLUDED. ARTISTIC SHAPING IS NOT EXHAUSTED BY MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN FICTIONAL AND »REAL REALITY«.

2.: FOR AS LONG AS ART CONTINUES TO TAKE PLACE IN EXHIBITIONS AND DOES NOT CONVEY ITSELF THROUGH COMMUNICATIVE CONNECTIONS ITS POST-AUTONOMOUS PERIOD HAS NOT REALLY BEGUN. IF THE CHANGE OF PARADIGM FROM AUTONOMOUS TO COMMUNICATIVE ART IS TO SUCCEED, IT MAY BE A FIRST STEP TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATION BETWEEN »WORKS«. FOR IN EXHIBITIONS THE OTHER »WORKS« SURROUNDING A »WORK« ARE SOME OF ITS CRUCIAL REAL REFERENCE QUALITIES. DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC REFERENCES BETWEEN THEM BECOMES ALL THE MORE PROBABLE WHEN »WORKS« ARE CREATED ONLY IN THE PROCESS OF ARTISTIC COMMUNICATION. THE FORM OF THE WORKS IS THUS DERIVED FROM THE FORM FOUND BY ARTISTS FOR THEIR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. THUS IN THE LAST RESORT FORMS OF COMMUNICATION ARE EXHIBITED THAT FUNCTION AS A MEDIUM FOR OBSERVATION OF AND PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNICATION.

3.: HOW ELSE CAN ART BE POSSIBLE IF THERE IS NO DIRECT EXCHANGE BETWEEN MATERIAL AND CONSCIOUSNESS, NOR BETWEEN DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS?

translated by Michael Robinson


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URL dieser Ressource: http://ask23.de/resource/ml_publikationen/kt92-13_en
Das ist die Originalversion der Ressource: Verfügbar gemacht von ask23 am 2004-07-08, Hashwert 0d3fcca4630c591ff58b4533ead43970636751d6