| The Visual Culture Reader, 3rd edition Edited by Nicholas Mirzoeff JQ Routledge Tybee rp LONDON ano Nav YORK Roms566 OKWUI ENWEZOR view of artiste practice, This, in tur, appropriates and subverts subjective judpment into a sovereign assesment of al artistic production within a general framework. The curator, therefore, not quite the sovereign we earlier made her ost to he, Nonetheles, she operates (ith the unambiguous sanction of historical and imperial precedent) lke a viceroy, with the role of bringing the ponbclevers under the sovereign egard ofthe great Western tradition Ivis the sovereign judgment of art history, with i unrensting dimension of universality ae totality, that leads us to question wbether i is possible to maintain a singular conception of| artistic modemit).Itaboraiscs the question of whether tis perminsble toll retain the idea that the unique, wie, and discriminating exercee of curatorial taste—or that come could call, ambiguously, “rtcalty"—ought to remain the reat of how we evaluate contem- porary art today, Foucault's call for the problemaization ofthe concept of thought in rela tion to critica praxistemsins pertinent. The Feld of practice in which relations production, acculturation, asimilaton, translation, apd interpretation take place confront us immedl- ately with the contingency ofthe contemporary norm of curatorial procedures tht spring from the sovereign world of established categories of art inberited from “the history of at.” “The mascum of Modern at as an object of historical thought has a social hf, as well as 4 political dimension, and its function cannct be dissociated from the complex arcaa of society an culture within which its discourses imbricated. To that end then, iti ofsgnil- icant interest ose the curator afigure who bas assumed a poston asa producer oferta inde of thought sbout ar, artist, chibtions, and ideas and ther place amongst afield of other possible forms of thought that govern the transmission and recepticn of artistic production—someone, that i who dinks rellexwely about museums. Inerestingly recent decals iti artists more thaa curators who have interrogated the instcstion of the museum with consiéerable rigor. Even if “institutional critique,” which inaugurated this ceria intervention ito the discursive spaces of the muscu, hus mad itself redundant ia light of the parasitic relationship it developed within the instination, it nonetheless opened up a space of ertcal address that few curators rarely attempt. “The challenge bere is for dhe curator to grayp her work a 4 mode of practice that leads to particular ways of aligning thought and vision throogh the separation and justaposition of 2 number of models within the domains of artistic production and public reception. This ‘method shows how the curutor reflexvely prniaccs an exiliton, while allowing the viewer to think, tee, appreciate, understand, transtorm, and translate the visual order of contem- porary art into the broader order of knowledge about the history of ar. IF we were to atempt a definition ofthe status ofthe artwork inthe current climate of restlessness and epistemological challenges, st would not be a restrictive one, but an ing of the artwork as being produced and mobilized in a fel of relations.” A field of relations places comtemporary art ands problematics within the context of historical dlscourses on moderaity, and elucidates the challenges to, and porentiaives of, curatorial ‘work today. The incandescence of Foucault's splendid definition of the idea of work” provides a true insight into the problem. This is how be defines work: “hat whic sux Uble of tnroducing a meaningful ference inthe fekd of knowledge, albeit with a certain dlemand placed on the author andthe reader, bt with the eventual recompense ofa certain pleasure, that sto say, of an access to another figure of truth. Staated, as curators and art acalenics are, on the other side ofthe line fem which the poblic face institutions of legimation, how might we achiew this other figure of truth, espe: Cilly ivan exhibition context? With wiataesteti and artistic language dos one utter such ‘wath Tn what ind of environment? For which public? How does one define the public oat, particalirly given the proliferation of audiences? Folly, in the circumstances ofthe conten porary upheaval of thought, ideas, Kemutics, polite, cultures, histories, what truth are we gug's 254585 Fe 2CONTEMPORARY ART IN PERMANENT TRANSITION 567 talking about? The upheaval that today defines contemporary events is historical one, shaped by disaffection with two paradigms of tocalization: capitalism and imperialism, and socialism and totalitarianism. Ifthe disaffection with these paradigms di not shift significantly the axis and forces of totlization, it dd shape the emergence of new subjectivites and identities. But the dominant description ofthis emergence haserystallized into afigure of thought that i radi~ cally enacted in opposition distinctions male on ciiizational and moralistic terme, such a8 “the dash of civilizations, “the axis of evi,” andthe “evil empire,"* During the late 1980s ard carly 1990s the culture wars in the United States were waged on silly reactive terms, ‘which in time cooled the ardor of those institutions tempted to step beyond their scope” [My conception of the postcolonial constellation is an outcome of the upheaval that has resulted from decp political and cultural restructuring since World War I, manifes in the liberation, civil rights. Feminist, gay/lesbian, andl antiracist movements.” The postcolonial ‘constellation isthe ste for the expansion of the definition of what constitutes contemporary culture and its aflistions in other domains of practice; itis the intersection of historical forces signed against the hegemonic imperatives of imperial discourse. In conclusion, I ‘would like to reaffirm the Importance of postcolonkal history and theory for accurate unde standing ofthe socal and cultural temporality of late movderity. IL recommend the post colonial paradigm for illuminating our reading of the fraught historical context from which the discourses of Modemism an contemporary art emerged, it only to aim toward 1 maturity of the understanding of what art history and its supplementary practices can contribute today toward our knowledge of at. The postcolonial constellation seeks to inter- pret a particular historical order, to show the relationships between political, socal, and ccltural realities, artistic spaces and epistemological histories, highlighting not only their ‘contestation but ao their continuous redefinition. Notes An caler version of this chapter appeared in Rear fear Lease 3, no, + (2003), $7-82. 1 SeeFerrand Braudd'sdscusion of the tracturaitrarsforntiono the flow of captal andealare by tinct temporal maifstion, the paradigmatic and dagnostcatinut ofhtarcal events in rl. tion to thei raion, ts Chileon nd Capsatam (re. 5 (New York: Harper and Row, 1984), cop. 317-18 and: chap. 1 2--Mucille Giles Deleuz: and Felix Gastar, is ther we of tua of the rhizome, limant employs the metaphor ofthe prodigious spread ofthe mangrove forest to describe the process of maleic ‘inne and matations that for hi describe the tremor of reolzatin a. force of istrial changes ad roprres brought about by changes in he iperil order. 3) Admitedly the ade of mas cultare has muted the ability of exibition tobe rly seminal in he ‘wider color! vase maf in the conteoreren around the French lon ofthe insert etary, forthe Armory Show of 1917 fy New York. Dads was defined ar anew artic movenet primary ‘through te many exhibitions and happenings. Recent art world minicandls such ae the wait boaght against dhe Contemporary Are Center of Cincnnatt upon is exits of Robert ‘Nappictnrpshomoerot: photographsin199D,or the controversy strounding Chris Ofi'spunting fof Monn, hich sed elepiant dng fr one afer bret, in the Brooks Museum's exon “Scmaiat in 1999 ndcate de dlegre to which exibition ofa rea clan gba 4 TheNobeleconomist Amartya Sen ar recnly given many exampesofthe crass pliation of eas Iberwecs cuurer—paricalrly in language, mathemaccs, apd the sioner hick ha continued suahated fortwo mallenna, Se his “Cilzaionalimprsenmens. 5. SceMarchs Raskirk ard Mignon Nison, Tae Dechonp Ef (Cambri, MA: MIT Press, 1996): and ‘Bexjamin “Tae Work of Artin the Age of Mecanizal Reprshcton. 6 See Mary-Louise Prati, “Art of the Cantact Zone." 7 Peter Birger, Thor fhe Avant Gande, tas. Vichel Shaw (Minneapolis Univers of Minne, 1994), 38,568 0 B 4 2 % 2 OKWUI ENWEZOR ejay “The Work of Ar in the Age Decal Reproduction” 24 S24 eileen Ofeleene Ce yan pring, 200? purty heron enacts, 20 22 Se-Gibs Dette and Px Gta, Acai (Manes University f Mins, 1983), Jumes Cir Th Pome of ohne (Cae, Ma rad Unies Presy 1083), 198 Fora thorough acinar anno sar, Tica Golconda ex Titi catage lick Mae ew Yor: Whitey ones, 1999). Nig hai, “The Oxher Quote Te Icon of Chee York Rode 199) The nm hls ra foro mers of contenporyotimarope andthe Une Sas have then fnnd caro tow sntnpory collins em nl Sena, eect ef cy ince the cum olewed, The src epetion ttn wy, cf ed chrome logy in borhmsces and priate clectos sald ake costersls enue aoa th indeee- tov otis jen Snmecton with tw eins wh my ot uy ogee Inge of iy. Se Jaren Heras, The Ppl Dior Maloy Combe Polity Pr, 1957). or a cals eee ths Moris cf emake ly el konto, cos Nectenion ae trate nl eet cry. Inthe Goter"Nolertys Comconane oT an Bs Ned ot EtResmarne” he draws anton Ma Weber's frtenen tn the sane af rey ron ofa pce Outlet randan® Caos ss, New Geogr Ctr, staenea ona sr scempaning.srsotpeic seni ergy Basu he Jorge anger Natal ier, Booow es Arg, or Ha Fer, Reding Seale, WA Bay Pr. 1985), 19 Foner, Reads 139. Sine of emt active stem ce ercgn ple trues the gen ome. Thee ince tim Br Cowal (Unked King), Auton Fougsie # Aen Arig ans), ‘anit Conemporsy Ar (Denna iat fir Aulandinexhungen (Gran, Moca Foundation Th Nehru th apn Tounon, Thy cmpoy te export fat ad ‘cso cine ol of ctrl dilmy, ote erste pectin ‘Same, fn ss fr one pros, pr canna whe trata ce, snore of fom terial elect ter parte word jana Da “igus of Aunty, Cer of egress in Ban Wali 8), fer olemim( ee York Nee Museu, 1564) 2. “he Canes Pompe, Pa gd hy Rind Rogers ad Ronayne the Cage “scsi, Seige by Park Grey an he Mle Art nu by Satya srcesampls of tiscomncton, Yet cer manu ahieer ht faso nt Horougy ae weh Sh edi hvrl peace x Deel Libis Josh Man Brin Seen c ‘tural mate forts and compe tayo ogee su oti ko tn acter goed tur coe whch the experonce of th plas away tte bythe enger saa of het Secures aera, The Str! Teoma ofthe Pai phn (Lodon: oy res, 1952) ore Bonde, Tel Cobol Pre Ses Yorks Co every rss, 193), 4 My Hes of fel! of rainy ecptlwcr Bours own sneer (n The Fd of Clara Fin ofthe artic phere sore ces» Bl aces whch “orow ets od Foon ersclibrtnonwrcpene tof tos tt dca, ev, mcd ‘Ea reformaate ara and methods waa tel of cota Foncath "Des Travan i sare ns Callard, 198), 4167, quoted by Pal bin brat: Th try ef Stoma of Thong m Miche oan ee Hag Fear Pol Rabin (New ork. New Pre 1997) lexi Repel, anno Th lah ren ol he Rolin of rd Ot Coorg W. Ba, Sat ofthe Uion Ate onary 2, 200, nicht oti asa inthn trees a tht blag tthe mor nvr fhe ce [wer nde ery, eps a, inl Noh oven, who heat en plo lark andr motte by nese ie the peel, cred wor et the US. pret Ronald Reagan Gara the Sona ge ne a oe Cats, fe 182 re rite maha iho Keancry Al Hor; al otis made oer of any cr feemorcnropt ao ret torre be dvi gare and epee ah oe rt ‘Westra waon wth» atl nigh ht deat ro tee f the Weer en Fommoderim, elt pte hey ere the ny ote oh tha te snp of ‘nti se es el er be exe ch th he mot set Hoga om”28 CONTEMPORARY ART IN PERMANENT TRANSITION 569 sracs, Pot sbjestvty or soil swarenes of the dimension of mally Inany creative work set not rly seen front bt alan at Wester, The cane sears deere any vestige of sent within the nellecal Ge and expened the weknewes ofthe liberal academy. Part of the ‘ervble kpiey of ths clzationl diccurse sa renzm to consensual oppsiion esweea the Left ta the Right, each pitched ints own hutovid bivouae, Today, to speaks meane of rath about fur ma conmadcs the ree bck ato rampant academic ls ndeed a dangerous, yt cup sion arr Elaboratein Ow Enmore, “Th Blak Uo,” in Dosomens H1— Pla 5 (Ostibern- Rui: Hae (Cant Publsters, 2002).