'From biennials and installations to participatory practices, contemporary art has come to embrace an aesthetic of democratization. Art's capacity for democracy building now defines its contemporary relevance, part of a broader, global glorification of democracy as, it seems, the only legitimate model of politics. Yet numerous artists reject the alignment of art and democracy - in part because democracy has been associated not only with utopian political visions but also with neo-liberal incursions and military interventions. It is just this paradox of democracy that Anthony Gardner explores in Politically Unbecoming, examining work from the 1980s to the 2000s by artists who have challenged democracy as the defining political, critical, and aesthetic frame for their work. In doing so, theses artists also develop alternative artistic politics and practices that can remap the transformations in art and its politics since the end of the Gold War.' - excerpted from flapped page.

Including an index.
Access level

Onsite

Location code
REF.GAA
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2015

No of pages

337

ISBN / ISSN

9780262028530

No of copies

1

Content type

monograph

Chapter headings

Introduction

Assumptions of Democracy and Postsocialist Critique

An Aesthetics of Emptiness

Altered States and Retro Politics

Autonomy, Yes! Democracy, No!

Democracy under Destruction?

Dizzydence and the Archive

Conclusion: The Unbecoming Politics of Postsocialist Aesthetics

Politically Unbecoming: Postsocialist Art against Democracy
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Politically Unbecoming: Postsocialist Art against Democracy