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Artivism and the Spirit of Avant-Garde Art

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Art and the Challenge of Markets Volume 2

Part of the book series: Sociology of the Arts ((SOA))

Abstract

Artivism is ambiguous: Positioned between art, politics, and protest movements, it is an artistic-political practice giving voice to the opposition to capitalism and consumerism. Some believe Artivism to be the first new art form of the twenty-first century. However, Artivism also has a tradition: Artists have combined art and activism long before artivists became part of (or triggered) the Occupy Movement, or before Pussy Riot became the world-wide face of protest. In the contribution, the author reflects upon Artivism as an artistic practice and as a political practice. In line with the main theme of this book, the author also analyzes its link to the impacts of the global capitalist economy and the so-called market-based turn in society.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I will follow Peter Weibel here and write the term using a majuscule, much in the same way as any other art form mentioned in the text.

  2. 2.

    I have discussed the problematics of theories referring to works of art elsewhere (Danko 2011) and will not repeat my arguments here. I merely wish to point out that there is always a double effect at work: one of reducing the work of art to a simple illustration and one of elevating the work of art to the only source of original experience and innovative thoughts.

  3. 3.

    See online: https://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html (retrieved June 26, 2014).

  4. 4.

    A statement by the artist, a video, and photos of the performance, as well as of works of art originating from the performance, can be viewed on Throwell’s home page: http://www.zefrey.com/project_wall_st.html (retrieved: June 26, 2014).

  5. 5.

    See the occupiers’ report online: http://occupymuseums.org/index.php/actions/43-occupy-museums-and-the-7th-berlin-biennale (retrieved: June 26, 2014).

  6. 6.

    There is speculation about yet another Artivist “twist” to dOCCUPY . Allegedly, the camp itself was inspired by a previous (and removed) clandestine art installation, once again in the form of a tent, by the artist Thierry Geoffroy (see Baden 2014).

  7. 7.

    Due to limitations of space, it is impossible to take into account all of the variety that Artivism presents worldwide. In particular, there is no mention of South American Artivism here. In this regard, I recommend Brian Holmes’ writings (2009, 2012) about Activist Art, as he gives ample examples from this region.

  8. 8.

    See the full video on Pussy Riot’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCasuaAczKY. Accessed June 26, 2014.

  9. 9.

    Interestingly enough, some of the founding members of Voina were part of the curatorial team around Artur Żmijewski for the Berlin Biennale in 2012.

  10. 10.

    Ai Weiwei’s Twitter account is @aiww. His official home page, listing many of his projects, is http://aiweiwei.com

  11. 11.

    A more thorough analysis of Boltanski and Chiapello’s study can be found in this book in the contribution by Dan Eugen Ratiu (Chap. 7).

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Acknowledgments

This contribution is a systematization of a series of paper presentations given at the conferences of the European Sociological Association (ESA) Research Network “Sociology of the Arts,” including: “Interaction Art? How ‘acting together’ may have become an art form” (Geneva 2011), “Art interventions between artistic and political practice” (Vienna 2012), “The sociological implications of ‘Art as catalyst’” (Turin 2013), as well as “Artivism – Subversion oder Bestätigung der ‘Kunstautonomie’?” held at the conference of the German Research Network “Soziologie der Künste” in Leipzig in 2013. I am deeply grateful for all the helpful comments I received during these meetings.

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  1. European Sociological Association, Paris, France

    Dagmar Danko

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  1. Dagmar Danko
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK

    Victoria D. Alexander

  2. University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Samuli Hägg

  3. University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Simo Häyrynen

  4. University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Erkki Sevänen

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Danko, D. (2018). Artivism and the Spirit of Avant-Garde Art. In: Alexander, V., Hägg, S., Häyrynen, S., Sevänen, E. (eds) Art and the Challenge of Markets Volume 2. Sociology of the Arts . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64644-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64644-2_9

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