1st Edition

An Anthropology of Contemporary Art Practices, Markets, and Collectors

Edited By Thomas Fillitz, Paul van der Grijp Copyright 2018
    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    266 Pages
    by Routledge

    Drawing on the exciting developments that have occurred in the anthropology of art over the last twenty years, this study uses ethnographic methods to explore shifts in the art market and global contemporary art. Recognizing that the huge diversity of global phenomena requires research on the ground, An Anthropology of Contemporary Art examines the local art markets, biennials, networks of collectors, curators, artists, patrons, auction houses, and museums that constitute the global art world.Divided into four parts – Picture and Medium; World Art Studies and Global Art; Art Markets, Maecenas and Collectors; Participatory Art and Collaboration – chapters go beyond the standard emphasis on Europe and North America to present first-hand fieldwork from a wide range of areas, including Brazil, Turkey, and Asia and the Pacific.With contributions from distinguished anthropologists such as Philippe Descola and Roger Sansi Roca, this book provides a fresh approach to key topics in the discipline. A model for demonstrating how contemporary art can be studied ethnographically, this is a vital read for students in anthropology of art, visual anthropology, visual culture, and related fields.

    List of Illustrations Contributors Acknowledgments Notes on Texts Introduction (Paul Van der Grijp and Thomas Fillitz) PART 1. PICTURE AND MEDIUM1.1. The Making of Images (Philippe Descola, Collège de France, France)1.2. To Swallow or to Get Swallowed, This is the Question: On Viewing, Viewers and Frames in the Context of ‘New’ Images (Paolo S. H. Favero, University of Antwerp, Belgium) PART 2. WORLD ART STUDIES AND GLOBAL ART2.1. The Design of Pictorial Ontologies: From Unstitched Imaginaries to Stitched Images (Leyla Belkaïd-Neri, Parsons Paris, France) 2.2. How Global Art Came to Istanbul: The Context of the Istanbul Bienal (Danila Mayer, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, Austria)2.3. Concepts of ‘Art World’ and the Particularity of the Biennale of Dakar (Thomas Fillitz, University of Vienna, Austria) PART 3. ART MARKETS, MAECENAS AND COLLECTORS3.1. Contemporary Art in a Renaissance Setting: The Local Art System in Florence, Italy (Stuart Plattner, USA)3.2. Brazil’s Booming Art Market: Calculations, Images, and the Promotionof a Market of Contemporary Art(Dayana Zdebsky de Cordova, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil)3.3.Awkward Art and Difficult Heritage: Nazi Collectors and Postcolonial Archives (Jonas Tinius, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)3.4. Collecting Art in Asia and the Pacific (Paul Van der Grijp, Institut d’Asie Orientale, France) PART 4. PARTICIPATORY ART AND COLLABORATION4.1. Trespassing Borders: Encounters and Resistances in Performance Art (Alicja Khatchikian, University of Vienna, Austria) 4.2. Contemporary Art in the Global South: Occupation // Participation // Knowledge (Alex Flynn, Durham University, UK)4.3. The Idle Goddess: Notes about Post-Relational Anthropology and Art (Roger Sansi University of Barcelona, Spain) INDEX

    Biography

    Thomas Fillitz is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria.Paul van der Grijp is Professor of Social Anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon-2, France.

    "This collection, itself impressively curated by its editors, is the best source yet on how 'amateurs', which ethnographers of any topic most cogently are, bypass professionals and experts, and provide the most profound and ironic insights on high status but suspect arenas of valuing objects. Especially strong are views of how value and collectibility are created in nontangible works. The volume captures well the surreal quality of creating value and desire in Images, objects, and performances. - George Marcus, University of California, USA This is cutting edge anthropology about cutting edge art, across the globe. Thomas Fillitz and Paul van der Grijp have edited a remarkably rich and vigorous volume. - Helena Wulff, Stockholm University, Sweden From post-relational anthropology of art to booming art markets and new kinds of museums, this exciting collection confronts the “umbrella” construct of a Global North and South through the exploding biennial phenomenon and the promoting of what was once an artworld periphery to a centerless image industry. - Sidney Kasfir, Emory University, USA This volume charts new territories, asking new questions and initiating dialogue with the neighbouring fields of the philosophy and theory of art. - Wilfried van Damme, Leiden University, The Netherlands"