Full Description
Critique has long been a central concept within art practice and theory. Since the emergence of Conceptual Art, artists have been expected by critics, curators, and art school faculty to focus their work on exposing and debunking ideologies of power and domination. Recently, however, the effectiveness of cultural critique has come into question. The appearance of concepts such as the "speculative," the "reparative," and the "constructive" suggests an emerging postcritical paradigm.
Beyond Critique takes stock of the current discourse around this issue. With some calling for a renewed criticality and others rejecting the model entirely, the book's contributors explore a variety of new and recently reclaimed criteria for contemporary art and its pedagogy. Some propose turning toward affect and affirmation; others seek to reclaim such allegedly discredited concepts as intimacy, tenderness, and spirituality. With contributions from artists, critics, curators and historians, this book provides new ways of thinking about the historical role of critique while also exploring a wide range of alternative methods and aspirations. Beyond Critique will be a crucial tool for students and instructors who are seeking to think and work beyond the critical.
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Permissions
INTRODUCTION: Beyond Critique
Pamela Fraser (University of Vermont, USA) and Roger Rothman (Bucknell University, USA)
PART 1: HISTORY & THEORY
1. An Allegory of Criticism
David Joselit (CUNY Graduate Center, USA)
2. Fluxus and the Art of Affirmation
Roger Rothman (Bucknell University, USA)
3. Defining Criticality as an Historical Object of the 1970s and 1980s
AnneMarie Perl (Princeton University, USA)
4. "The people were smart and hungry": Criticality, Egalitarianism, and the Pictures Generation
Anthony E. Grudin (University of Vermont, USA)
5. Shiny Things
Paul Preissner (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
PART 2: PRACTICE
6. Still in the Cage: Thoughts on "Two Undiscovered Amerindians," 20 Years Later
Coco Fusco (independent artist)
7. Parasitism and Contemporary Art
Adrian Anagnost (Tulane University, USA)
8. Time, Autonomy and Criticality in Socially Engaged Art
Grant Kester (University of California at SanDiego, USA)
9. Radical Proximity
Sofia Leiby (independent artist)
10. Post-Critical Painting
Andreas Fischer (Illinois State University, USA)
11. Intimate Bureaucracies: A [Sweetened and Condensed] Manifesto
dj readies [Craig Saper] (University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA)
PART 3: INSTRUCTION
On Performing the Critical
Billie Lee (University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA)
Consideration (As an Antidote to Critique)
Karen Schiff (Rhode island School of Design and Boston Architectural College, USA)
Re-Thinking Art Education (Revisited), or How I Learned to Love Art Schools Again
Jen Delos Reyes (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
Pragmatics of Studio Critique
Judith Leeman (Massachusetts College of Art and Design, USA)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Gift, Circulation, and Community Building in the Studio Art Crit.
Shona Macdonald (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)
Index
