In his book Contemporary British Art Grant Pooke mentions
that Bourriaud features in the book The
History of British Art 1870-Now (2008) edited by Chris Stephens (fourth
volume) and that he talks about developments since the millennium.
He also notes that a change happens inline or aided by
the exhibition British Art Show 6
(Sept 2005-2006). ‘As the co-curators Alex Farquharson and Andrea Schlieker
noted, the cultural diversity of contemporary British art could no longer be ‘attributed
to the post-colonial diaspora alone’, but to the interesting dynamic of
globalisation.’
Pooke relates this observation to Tate Britain’s Fourth
Triennial Exhibition and Bourriaud’s manifesto for the Altermodern and draws
upon Bourriaud’s use of the word ‘translation’ as an implementing of new
languages in an overly westernised arena of historical identities. He says that
the suggestion of the Altermodern reveals the cultural practice is ‘informed by
hybridity, mobility and translation.’ (Pooke 2011 p11). That it puts the artist
as ‘traveller’ in a state of ‘flux’ as they are affected by the ‘now’ of
society and geography in which they are located. The implication is that the social
context is now eminent out weighing the role of Modernism.
Pooke highlights the relationship Bourriaud’s ideas have
with post-colonial theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s work Empire (2000). He suggests that the two
share the vision of an international market that taps and encourages new audiences
for the corporate good. Pooke also highlights though that he has doubts about
whether Altermodern as a term can appear in the pure state that Bourriaud
indicates. He cites Sarat Maharaj and how he talks about a bridge between
western and non-western cultures which is difficult to cross without simplifying
many complex meanings and languages and that in a sense it is untranslatable.
Pooke is talking about identity and it’s many nuances and its relationship to
the assumed British identity but that this should be questioned making the argument
for the Altermodern even more complex if fixed identity is also in a constant
state of flux.
‘Increasingly, within the ‘expanded field’ of cultural production
and proximities, artists hybridise styles, formats and media.’ (Pooke, 2011 p5)
No comments:
Post a Comment