Art, Globalisation and the Exhibition Form

The Art of Social Reproduction

“…Ironically, given the initial efforts of The Hackney Flashers to forge alternative formats and circuits of display for their project, one striking conclusion is that the exhibition of art is in many ways dramatically unchanged from its 18th-century roots (Dimitrakaki, 2012). Thus, the display of Who’s Holding the Baby?…”

Art Across Borders: Dislocating Artistic and Curatorial Practices in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region

“…As such, Diaspora successfully negotiates some of the ambivalences caused by an embedding of biennials in a global post-Fordist economy criticized by for instance Dimitrakaki (2012) or Kompatsiaris (2014), and emerges as what Paglen and Gach (2003) term a "positioned work" that is "self-reflexive about" the conditions of its own production and reception and that "incorporates those conditions […] into the form of the work itself".…”

“…As such, in often facilitating consumption rather than contemplation, biennials and art fairs take part in the "co-optation and manipulation of esthetic regimes and cultural symbols" (76) to mold both artists and spectators into docile subjects implicitly reproducing the very economic structures and relations of power they attempt to challenge and subvert through their artistic practices. Dimitrakaki (2012) launches a similar criticism as does Kompatsiaris. Critically commenting upon an article by De Duve (2007), who suggests a return to classical notions of aesthetics and aesthetic judgment to make art more than "the name of a certain category of cultural commodities" (683), Dimitrakaki (2012) counters claims regarding an inclusive, participatory, and dialogical nature of contemporary art exhibitions and asserts a fundamental ambivalence regarding the political impact and socio-cultural effects of art shows.…”

“…Dimitrakaki (2012) launches a similar criticism as does Kompatsiaris. Critically commenting upon an article by De Duve (2007), who suggests a return to classical notions of aesthetics and aesthetic judgment to make art more than "the name of a certain category of cultural commodities" (683), Dimitrakaki (2012) counters claims regarding an inclusive, participatory, and dialogical nature of contemporary art exhibitions and asserts a fundamental ambivalence regarding the political impact and socio-cultural effects of art shows. She argues that…”

“…Given its location and size, and the moderate international attention it attracted, an economically inspired criticism such as the one launched by Dimitrakaki (2012) and Kompatsiaris (2014) appears unjustified when applied to the curatorial practices behind the X-Border Art biennial. Most of the artworks exhibited in Luleå, Rovaniemi, and Severomorsk were large-scale installations often with a significant performative dimension that were unsuitable for sale.…”