Almost Nothing: Observations on Precarious Practices in Contemporary Art (Rethinking Art's Histories) - Softcover

Dezeuze, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1526112906 ISBN 13: 9781526112903

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2016

Synopsis

What does an assemblage made out of crumpled newspaper have in common with an empty room in which the lights go on and off every five seconds? This book argues that they are both examples of a 'precarious' art that flourished from the late 1950s to the first decade of the twenty-first century, in light of a growing awareness of the individual's fragile existence in capitalist society. Focusing on comparative case studies drawn from European, North and South American practices, this study maps out a network of similar concerns and practices, while outlining its evolution from the 1960s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. This book will provide students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into contemporary art practices and the critical issues that they raise concerning the material status of the art object, the role of the artist in society, and the relation between art and everyday life.

About this title

About the Author

Anna Dezeuze is an Honorary Research Fellow in Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Manchester

From the Back Cover

This book presents a new reading of contemporary art between 1958 and 2009 by sketching out a trajectory of 'precarious' art practices. Such practices risk being dismissed as 'almost nothing' because they look like trash, they present objects and events that are so commonplace as to be confused with our ordinary surroundings, or because they are fleeting gestures that vanish into the fabric of everyday life. What is the status of such fragile, nearly invisible, artworks? In what ways do they engage with the precarious modes of existence that have emerged and evolved in the socio-economic context of an increasingly globalised capitalism?

Works discussed in this study range from Allan Kaprow's assemblages and happenings, Fluxus event scores and Hélio Oiticica's wearable Parangolé capes in the 1960s, to Thomas Hirschhorn's sprawling environments and participatory projects, Francis Alÿs's filmed performances and Gabriel Orozco's photographs and constructions in the 1990s. Significant similarities among these different practices are drawn out, while crucial shifts are outlined in the evolution of this trajectory from the early 1960s to the turn of the twenty-first century.

This study addresses essential questions such as the art object's 'dematerialisation', and relations between art and everyday life, including the three fields of work, labour and action first outlined by Hannah Arendt in 1958. By situating these works within an original set of historical and critical issues, the book provides students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into the radical specificities of these practices.

From the Inside Flap

This book presents a new reading of contemporary art between 1958 and 2009 by sketching out a trajectory of 'precarious' art practices. Such practices risk being dismissed as 'almost nothing' because they look like trash, they present objects and events that are so commonplace as to be confused with our ordinary surroundings, or because they are fleeting gestures that vanish into the fabric of everyday life. What is the status of such fragile, nearly invisible, artworks? In what ways do they engage with the precarious modes of existence that have emerged and evolved in the socio-economic context of an increasingly globalised capitalism? Works discussed in this study range from Allan Kaprow's assemblages and happenings, Fluxus event scores and Hélio Oiticica's wearable Parangolé capes in the 1960s, to Thomas Hirschhorn's sprawling environments and participatory projects, Francis Alÿs's filmed performances and Gabriel Orozco's photographs and constructions in the 1990s. Significant similarities among these different practices are drawn out, while crucial shifts are outlined in the evolution of this trajectory from the early 1960s to the turn of the twenty-first century. This study addresses essential questions such as the art object's 'dematerialisation', and relations between art and everyday life, including the three fields of work, labour and action first outlined by Hannah Arendt in 1958. By situating these works within an original set of historical and critical issues, the book provides students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into the radical specificities of these practices.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1526112906
• ISBN 13: 9781526112903
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344