SYNOPSIS

............................................................................................................................................................
....................

We’ll use a recent exhibition as a jumping off point to explore the dangers of attempting a radical confrontation of the status quo from within the structures and conventions of the ‘art-world’. Our contention is that in being aligned with ‘art’ (either explicitly, through self-application of the label ‘art’, or implicitly through exploiting the structures of ‘art’) radical acts run the danger of negating their own ends; whilst ‘art’ is many things, we’ll consider its potential as an arm of the State – a contortion of form that works to neutralize its true essence, an essence that often has very little to do with the structures of the ‘art-world’; and which, for reasons that will hopefully become clear, is inherently in opposition to restrictive State structures.

We’ll also consider the potential for art to act as a fetish or resting place; a world within which radicalism can be safely play-acted without the threat of substantial change - change that may, at bottom, threaten the structures upon which the ‘art-world’ is built.

- Contents
> Introduction