excerpt
Foreword
(excerpt, p. 9)
This book examines the relationship between art and the market. Its
central theme is that there is no strict separation between the two,
as is often assumed, but that art and the market are mutually dependent
while also retaining some degree of autonomy. As far as its
method is concerned, it combines critical theory with social analysis,
presenting
empirical data as the starting point for theoretical reflection.
The following chapters show that art and the market are deeply
entangled while constantly pulling away from each other. Their
relationship can thus be characterized more precisely as a dialectical
unity of opposites, an opposition whose poles effectively form a
single unit. Many examples are cited to illustrate this dynamic,
including
the ways in which market requirements actually do influence
artistic practice (at the level of format or production costs, for instance) without totally determining it; to the same degree as artworks
obey external laws, they also possess their own logic. The idea that
numerous market players have of themselves is also examined,
as in
the case of gallerists, artists, and also critics, who tend to banish the
market to an imaginary outside with which they themselves do not
identify. And yet, such rhetorical rejection of the market is often a precondition for the successful marketing of artworks.
Instead of conceiving of “the market” as evil Other, I work from
the premise that we are all, in different ways, bound up in specific market conditions. Consequently, the market is not understood
as a reality detached from society. Rather, after sociologist Lars
Gertenbach, it is conceived of as a net that encloses the entirety of
social conditions. But every net has its holes, holes that can be made
wider, which in theory can cause the entire net to rupture. Being
constrained
by market conditions does not imply that we cannot
reject them. On the contrary, this book advocates questioning market
values precisely in the light of one's own involvement. It is possible
to reflect
on market conditions at the same time as striving for conditions other than those seemingly imposed by consumer capitalism.
(...)
