1st Edition

The Politics of Contemporary Art Biennials Spectacles of Critique, Theory and Art

By Panos Kompatsiaris Copyright 2017
206 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

206 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

206 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Contemporary art biennials are sites of prestige, innovation and experimentation, where the category of art is meant to be in perpetual motion, rearranged and redefined, opening itself to the world and its contradictions. They are sites of a seemingly peaceful cohabitation between the elitist and the popular, where the likes of Jeff Koons encounter the likes of Guy Debord, where Angela Davis and... Read more

1. Introduction: Biennials, Politics, Resistance

2. Histories, Values and Subjectivities

3. The Biennial-Form, Social Visions and Curatorial Authorship

4. Gaps between Words and Deeds, Social Movements and Legitimacy Crisis

5. 7th Berlin Biennale: Enacting Dissent, Forget Fear and Occupy

6. 3rd Athens Biennale: Reflective Indeterminacy, MONODROME and the Failure of the Nation

7. Conclusion: On Being Contemporary

Biography

Panos Kompatsiaris is Assistant Professor of Art and Media at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. He holds a PhD in art theory from the University of Edinburgh (2015) and has contributed to journals and edited volumes with texts on art and media theory, ethnography and cultural studies.