904 Institutions and Objections

varying gifts of individuals and groups. THE ORGANIZATION FOR DIRECT

DEMOCRACY THROUGH REFER;ENlDUM is one such group. It seeks to
launch manycOoperation.
World-wide similar work groups or iilfdrmation centres, and strives towards

5 Hans Haacke (b. 1936) Statement

Haacke's early work involved the productidn of selkontained systems, such as the
Process of condensation within a glass box, as part of the international series Ilf breaks
from conventional Modernism which IlccU(rj!d in t~e mid·! 960s. As (he 1960s Pro.
gressed, however, his art be<;ame politicized and his attention turned .from natural to
social systems. Increasingly he hasqevoted his work to (he expOsure of those systems
wherein conservative Political and economic interests may be seen to use cultural
sponsorship as a legitimating screen lor their otheractrvities. The art of t~e museum
has been a recurring focus for him. Originally Published in Art into Society, Society into
Art (op. cit.), p. 63, from Which the pr'esenfiext is taken.

Products which are considered 'works of art' have been singled Out as CUlturally
significant objects by those who at any given time and social stratum \vield the
power to confer the predicate 'work of art" unio them; they cannot elevate
themselves from the host of mimcmade objects simply
inherent qualities. , on the basis of SOme

Today museums and' comparable art institutions, like e.g. the ICA in London,
belong to that group 'of agents hi'a society Who have a sizable, although not an
eXclusive, share, in this cultural power on the level of so-called 'high-art'.
irrespective of the'avant_gard(,' or 'conservative', 'rightist' Or 'leftist' stance
a museUm might take, it is, among other things, a carrier of sOcio-politica!
connotations. By the very struCture of its existence, it is a POlitical institution.
This is as true fot museums in M6scolv or Peking as for a museum in Cologne
or the Guggenheim' Museum. The question of private or public fund,ing of the
institution does no\ affect this axiom. The policies of pUbJi'~!yfinanced institu_
tibns are obviously slibject to the approv:i! of the supervising governmental
agency'. In tum; privately funded institutions naturi'l1y re/Ject the predilections
ahd interests of their supporters. Any public museum'receiving private donations
may find its'e1fiii a con/Jict'of interests. On the other hand the indirect ;ub~fdy
of many ptiiate institutions through exemptib'n' frtim taxes and partial fUriding
of their programs could eq~ally' create ·proble'ms. Often, however, there exists
in fact if not
ideological by design a tolerance or even a congruence of the respective
persuasions.

In principle the decisions of museum officials, ideologically highly determined

Ot • receptive to deviations from thei'norm, foUow the' boundaries. set 'by their
emplbyers. These boundaries needoot. be" expressly stated in order' to 'b.
Operati.ve.Frequently museum officials' have internalized the thinking oEtheir
sUpetiors to a.. degree that it .becomesnnatural ;.for them.ito. make. the 'right)
decisions and a 'eongenial atmosphereireighs betweenempJoyee and employer.
Nevertheless it would besimpJistic to assume that in each case museum offioiirls
 VIle' Political Aspects 905

ate ,faithfully translating'the interests of their superiors 1ntoc'l1uiseumpolicy,

partiClilarly since new cultural manifes~ations.are;not'alway~,recogniiable ,as to iheir
suftability or;:o'p'po'siiion to"the parties concerned. :The potentiai for confus~ion
is increased by the fact that the convictions of an "~rtise are 'n~'tnece~ssarily
reflected in the objective position his/her work takes 00, the socio-politicaJ scale
and that this'l;osition could change' over 'rhe 'years to the 'priiht tif'reversal.
Still,' in 'brae-fro gain some insight into the fdrcb that eley:tte ceita'in products
to the level of 'works of art' it is helpful '" ~moh\i othednve~'tigadons'- 'to look
into the economic and politic~t' underpititiingd\f the 'iiistitiltidns;' 'individuals
and grOups who share in the"control of cultural'paw'er. " " j;, , , ' ,
"'Sttategies iriii#' 'be developed for performing thIs' task in' ways that its
manifestations' arctliable !e....b~~cdrlsidered 'works of art' in tliejr 'own rigHt. Not
surpdsingljl"some"!nuSeumS"dd hot'think they havesu£fident ind'ependence to
exhibit s'uchi a pdttrait bf their own structure and try to dissuade or'eveh- d:hsor
WOIJS ofthi's nafufe, -as h;ts been demonstrated, Fortunately art instinitibns and
other-tuitutal po,ver a'gents do' 'not forma 'monolithiC block, so that 'the public's
accesS''to 'such" works' might be limited but nor totally prevented.'
"Beitolt Biecht'sl934 appraisal ohhe 'Five Difficulties in Writing the Truth'
is Still valid/today. 'they atc' the n~ed' for"the courage' to' write ,the truth,
although;it'is beirig"supptessed;' the 'intelligence to recognize it, although it is
be'i'ng1cov:ere'd up;ithe judgement to' choose those -in whose hands itdbeco'mes
effectiVe;"the cunning to' spread 'it among them.'
There' are 'no 'artists" . hoWeve'f) whti are immune to being affected" and
in/Juenc'ed by the sodo-political value-system of the' sodetyin which they live
and of lI'hieh all cultural:ageneies arc"a part, no matter if they are ignorant of
these contraints or not-(,artist' 'like' ~work of are are put 'in quotation marks
because:'they are predicates with evaluative- connotations deriving' thdr -currency
from ,the 'relative ,ideological frame 'of a' given cultural power group). So-called
'ilvartt-gard'e 'art' is at best \\vorking' dose to the limitations set by its! cilltu-
ral/political environment, but it always' operates within that 'allowance.'-':'II .
. 'Artists"as much as their supporters andith'eir enemies, no matter- of \vhit
ideological coloration, are unwitting partners in the art..;syndrome and relate to
each .other 'dialectically. T.hey participate jointly in the maintenance and/or
development of the ideological make·up of their society. They work wi.hill' that
frame, 'set the frame and are being framed. . i r: '

6 Mel Ramsden (b. 1944) from 'On Prac,tice'

Rain~d'en and Ian Surn merged their collabora\ive practice with Art & Langua~e 'ir \
Sy 1975 some thirty people were associated with the name, equally divided between
nO.
England and New York. Three issues of The Fox were published by an Art & Langua'ge
Foundation in New York, with an editorial Doard which included Ramsde'ri and )oseph
Kosufh. The declared 'aim of the'journal was to establish a basis for community practice
through critical address to the contingent conditions of. the New York art world. The
Fox'was instrumental'in the Artists' Meeting for Cultural Change, which formed as a
kind of revival of the Art Workers' Coalitio,n. The title of Ramsden's ,essay makes ironic

•
906 Institutions and Objections
reference ,to, a"pamphlet by Mao Tse·tung, recalling the latter's dictum;:lf you want
~Pil!ledge,:you"m.ust take part in the, practice of changing reality'. First published in
~U~, ,fOX, New York, April, 1975, pp. b6-83, from which the Present opening and
cgnclu\ling
~. .
.. - extracts are taken. -' ," ." . ,.' ,

[. .. ] Co~sider the following: that ~he administrators, dealer~" criti~~, p~ndit~,

~t'f,. ~,Q.o once seemed the neutral serv~pts ?r' art are, now, ,esp<;yi<;\lly in !>Jew
tor.kl' becoming its masters. Ijas a4venturistic,New York art. .of ,the Seventies
(perhaps uncontrollably) become a function of the marketcsysteml.I~n't the way
thi~market vectors human relations. 'n~w a m~~~i'~ecqntroh~.ngf~~t~r the
~p. way
Vie now vector human relations? f. simplified,al'd possibly, ~yen !"is\eading
account of how tile above has c~me ,abouf migh~ sound"s9m~thjng li~e this:
there is prevalent in the New Yorkart 'l'.orld,a,lu,9.ic,0l'~ t1]odelqf the inqividual
in society (I say the New York art worl<\ ,but i~does, )lOld, I.aIJ;\ S,ure, fll~other
places \00, ,1}0 matter ho)l' far-O,~ng, Jhis ;is bep'a~se 1po;t~rt "'~e'!tFs: ..'and
~rt~,school~,(etc.) fall for mO,dernjs\ hegell)onY'~r.tl,tis can,be knowp ~s 'The New
York connection'). This model may be g~neral)y"an<l p;lrti~Hy characterized as
the idealist §eparation of private from poli\ic,~k~acial,1ire; ,s\jch ,a separation has
led to the ce1eqration of indulgent indiyidual,~freedom.:, Thi~: aBpeilrs, \o,me to
have had, twq alarming results: adventuri,sti~ art of the)l~ye"t.ies hasbe,come an
.insu~arHan.~ ,bod,ng ,~'pc,ctacle of fads,. \!l:tox,.ica~ions.;.,d\y;ersiQPs, .inf;1!\tatiQ,fis .and
even the odd pseudo-revolution" all under, tl1Oi:!1\atitu,dinous gµise ofIJ;\assive
cy;den.c~)9f:~cr.~.W1~¥ity.:an~,'artisti~ Jre~dom.;-~(Tbj.&~' 'frec;!\qrn' sqm~',will·,always
p'ersist,~in cit~ng,;;Is _,e,v.idenc;e, ,hat in ,this -society;;t!ui<CJ.xtist sµffers ,·no overt
govermneptal conl"o!s;anod henc~ m,.y, stjU.1;>,~',a;re!1e!,;,'\,rfr~~om ~hiah" Qn the
oth~l';hand, ,o\!)el1l,cjte,as fundamerrta,l,to 'bqµrgeois, ideology: aml"its 'iUusion
oLf(~e!ilom'.) ,'Fie(\, intimately to all. t)lis;,~$"au ~$sentiaL par.t"of.,the.~~m~ 'fQrm
o(.:life,:.,is tq~i.,3.;stoni$hing,increase. jn,al{f-:w,Or-1q., assess4rs:, entrepreneurs~; critics,
curatqr$' galler)' staff" ,ct". 1,0, other ...",or,ds,' bureaucrats. ,:rhes~ .bur~aucrats
administer the ,at,ov;e.,,'I1\:!.nife,st,;J.tions:to('ftee:dom' ·by .alienati:ng: thern,,-itreating
them as. a, ~in4 ofglqss, for,t-l;le,mode o( exist~n~~ of middle-life market"relations.
T.hiJL~S;,a.mQd~".oLexisteIlceAn ,which weib.~CQ.me prices o.n t.he media:-:-market,
in ,\\:)ljch Woebecome c!>!lltI\odlties;; a ,m~de ,-qficxistence,in,which' ,what coun.ts
is the.d~inand for 1/lhiit t'he :tnarkN<'dejines,.a&.'y,OIJr..ta1ents, in .which allre1ation~
.ships have their monetary value, and,it,is, tqeit, ,monetary, v-alue that matters. It
is a mode of existence in which· we become slaves to the 'blind urge' to
production-consu11,lption and,are.,th,us assessed and administered by th~ bureau-
crats only because 'die latt~;-are lci.osH·~;'fO'tlle~Sou'rces of coin:ro'f< (ate -higher in
the market hierarchy). The above may be a, bit VUlgar but under ,these condition~
I ~lil\i.hirko'1r ,attivities~ecottir ~e~~~~i ~~~bfar as,th,ey~~rp~t4at~istabilize tli~
m~t~0\'~ layge1Yarbi U'ilr~.T.he ~e~~.o~.'. tl\~t,the .,~tir~a~c-1atil,",~ ~~,l~~o)ubsu')1e
a,~yth\ng, .e~e;n.,th.e rare cra,n,kY-I\,0,n9~l,astic.,Wo~~".The p.r.<>4uct~may:,~han.ge,
modil'iFatio/ls occur an the tim", (an(f~qless 'SRec,tacl~),,1?.'\\,\,)le .form of, lif~
reIJ;\aiJlsthe same: the ruling mar!;,et P(g,j<\~s th,~,~tandard 0(.iute11igibility,.;,Qne
questiQn to raise about .thi~:standard 'of, intelligibHitj' is,:whether the market-
relations are really separate from ,what' we"do,'"That is.to 's"y;'jtist 'how .fat 'has
 >VIlc<PoliticaHI;Spects 907

market-standing. ,been, internalized? [.' .. }" " .!:

.. • .. ~: <l',..X:(·tr'~( ,~t.

Doingwithotit th",object .". seemed:aLfirst and most ob'viously,to grow from

questions raise.d.,by the,Minimalism, of'Judd,et al,: op,the ·niid-sixties; The need
for us all ,to go-on afte.' their utilizationof,objects in,<;, .. as the,cam'goes) an
extr.emely robust \'literlaP~;way, -:pr6duced, ..an art-form which. 'didn't, 'in th,e
conventional. sense) appear to need objecrs;.at' all .....,. again ;:in··,the' conventional
sense:,Now,suppose ,I: pursue this line,df 'argument: it could:,b", said ,that 'trying
to refine and extend the Modern Art tradition after M'inirrialisJrillpl;()duced,'-in I,: I

the form of Conceptual Art, a contradiction. This seems okay. It seems to lead
on to noring that in the Marxist sense, a contradiction is a process wherein the
normal operaV?R_ qr~, <;t., ~soG~al.prSl)lt~r.a! sY,s~em'):?ro~~c~~:..a ~~np"ifi~t;lj.,!,hic~
"
1,1'
tends to undermme normal operation Itself. Hence ,change comes to take place
I
because the system creates, through its own internaftt-orttradidi()h~~' thk cbndi- ;I
tio,ns for, its own breakdo~vn. Such a chaTacterizat,io": of revolutionary change
'!'I
, i

is, i~ter~c~iiii~ly ,~noiigh; al~of~rly consis!ent' j\ii~~' r;S: .Killip'~:p~ra<!igrn

~)

shi(t~\ :i system breaks down when ,'anomalies')n o,ne pa.railtg!'1 model,force

new;P~ra<!l~!l!~ J<l ':mpe into existence .. Thus)n,both"di~le,eticaJ$ociiV ~nalys,i,s
(Marxism) and ~n ,extremely fashionaple :segmeiltof co\,te!"porary,Phil</$ophy
of Scien<;e,'revoloti.on' js, con$ider,ed ,$ufficien~\x'eharac~c<,ized ,as: a dia~ec((c~l
ffiQvement',Qut-from."a ,set of entrenched 'Porms'; "So; it seemed,:: < whereas'ftne
AWC had 'been disarmed by:an, essentially inadequate reform program,' Concep:-
tual Art might 'indeed be such a 'revolutiuh.' It"wasil!f, au'd -there' were reaSbns:
First of all it wasn't even a contradiction because it was basically limited to
insular-tautological·,lipectacle'. It wasn~t enough; it i was ,a diversification, not'::1
contradiction because· this is the way,the institutions, make -things work: today.
That is; today,institutions have- become autonomous'."They .constitute a bureau-
craticty<anny,'which' 'brooks no opposition. They are i" other words logically
separate 'rom (om) practice. This implies that the just"doin~-my-job" artist~S'Tole
also severs the ties with social :I'ractice insofar' as it, is. ,bureaucratic. TO',put all
this 'another way: it may b~ that the range 'Of maneuvers' now 'avairable"lto: us
under Modern Art are simply ,out nf phase with the ,institutional' conditions
inherent under'llate-capitalism. Hence, if 'our 'labor and means ,oLproduc~ion
seem' to· be our own free possessions to do .'with as' we ,please" 'fFeely'-' so ;to
speak, it's 'only because we naively operate according to aµ .outmoded'model of
competitive capitalism. And this is just, out of phase today, given ftheJ.kutlst ·star
media-life which easily and greedily coerces (our) practice, 'Yh"'inabillty to really
bring about! change, Conceptual Art notwithstanding, is:becauS'e' bur ,mode of
operation ;is 'professionalized', specialized, autonomous, and':esseht.ia:l-Iy quaintly
harmless ,(but essential) to the mode of operation of the'mar1<et-structures. The
basis of (cont-rol of such a market is its role, structut:,ing,and the artist as
a-willing-{)f-not..:conscious"'or"notiefficient economit unit. Of course· we've all
moralistically refused to see these problems as' an'ything other than'incidental,
or, at best, somebody else~s business. The situatiorr:beeoIhes, -to me, even more
vain as, ,we'ourse-lves'finally become our own..'ehtrepr'enetir:s-pundits, 'the middle-
life 'of the market OUr. sole reality. 'To i increase.- the· frenzi'ed -manipulation ·of
 908 Institutions and Objections

spectacle is absolutely fundamental to New York Adventurism. The Cultural

imperialism unwittingly exported everywhere by this adventurism is heinous and
alienating - finaHy even to those who produce the exportst'The bureaucracy
will-'subsume even the niost persistent iconoclasm unless we begin- to'act on the
realization that its real SOurce of control lies in our very'concept of OUf own
'private', .individual selves. The far-out and the outHmdish' is .dec"ply rooted in
the US as ,evidence of freedom and of the truly moral ~,it is the lack of
examination of such a ·concept that makes niost present fday -radical-art radical-
daft instead of radical-fundamental.,

7 lap. Burn (b. 1939) 'The Art Market: Aff1iienc~

a,nd Degradalion' " ,,
. '; . . ."-
Burn was rnvolved in the earl~ development of Conceptual Art arid.'co.founded the
Socieiy for Theoretical Art and Analyses with Roger Cutforth and Mel Ram~den in New
York in 1969. iHe worked in New York with Ramsden 'and subsequenily' as a member
01 Art'.!ila~guage before reiJrriing to his native Australia in 1976. His e$say cOntributed
to that"critical"engagement with th'e conditions of the New York art' world which
developed' within the 'American wing of' Art & language. It was not' published in either
of the, group's own journals, however, but in the,mainstream publication Artforum, in
April,I975,.'PP,.34-7,·'from which the present text is,laken, The.essay-was reprinted
in the, Art/orum Aothology, New York, 1984" " '" '
'-",

Impending"eco"omic crisis has forced many deeply, lurkipg 'problems into the
open: Ar:t· -sale~are .dedining and- there .is an air of pessimism. i The sense of
opulence ofthe.1960s has gone to dust. As 'artists, we have·,tended to';understand
,
1
the-.ar! market only. in its. reward capacity;1 preferring' to ignore the 'dismal
I,
science' of econornics.·.Bul· no longer; it ,seems.- WhiJe ,it may-once ha.ve seemed
'i
a'n eX;:Jggeration of 'economic :determinism 'to'negard works, of art as' "merely.~
commodities in .an economic exchange, it is now pretty; plain that our. entire
tJ
A
lives-'havc. become' so exterisively constituted in these'terms that we: eannot an:v
c,
longer pretend otherwise, Not only do works of art end up as commodities, bui
there is also an over\\~helming sense in which works ~ofarts/art 'off as' commoditie~
c,
la
1.lFaced-:with this. impasse, we 'need alternate historical perspectives ,in order ~
throw light. on ,some ,of the most basic of social relations, to perc~h!e'the lacuna
I,
blotween what we, think we ,do and, what we 'actually' dointhe' world, Tho
'n
of
historical relations ,df 'up-to-date modern art are the mar~et, ,relations 061.
of
capitalist society. That much I believe is, obvious to everyone., ,What '.we ha~o"
ob
seen mone recently is the 'power of market values-tb dis\ort.,all other' valuesri.~
a,l
even, the concept of what is and is not acceptable as 'wotk',';s defined first, "n~i
lor
fundam£ntally"by the market and ,'onlY'secondly, by'.'creative urges! (etl'.~/F.lJI.:
sp<
]jas'deen the price of internalising an intensely capitalistic mode 'ofprdductioill
'; ~Gi¥en ,th~s; shouldn~t'we:, be scrutinizing certain,-historicaJly;mni.que, -aspeats;oI: "1
'.pc
out market:relations! How. have 'these, wroughtifundamentah,hanges, in,the fa.1f:
a r
pvoduced! I, know, many' of us,)are 'grateful berieficiaries of this ,market< NonV(
wh'
 "VIle;, Political Aspects 911
comes Qv-er',as sO"ffiuch,libeial c1apmap) What use·..is;>3 sOrt of..'freedom'. which i

can' ,have ,tto"other .effect than·,r.einfor.cing cthe s~atus;'quol" [ ... J ,,'

• n.. ;.. ,'J ..... -11 :.\ '~·'i' ,t"" > "'"I, ',(.. t; P I.'

Whatever; we are;table to accomplish now" my. 'POiQtjsithat transform~ng olIr

reality is no longer a question 'of juSt making more!art·",;,,;it'.i~a:iI1atter of-realizing
the enormous' 'social. vectoring pf the;pr.oblem; and :oPPQ>lurli,ticaIly" taking
advantage of what social. tools we have,OLoneth.ing+arii1cer.taim a~ything we
might Gal! radical theor,y in the arts will have:to"be solidljl'construeled'in,all
its social dimens-ionsnBut eyeo, then-it may,mot be:'a Jquestion of."how .much.'we.
might.:acc;omplish\ sin<;e' ,it, might 'take', something,t3S catastii'ophic·'3S. a' collapse
in the economic ,structure of: this' society tOj,have'.-anYJmbstmtiaJ :effect on -the
careen-ing superstrUtlture. of -modern' A'merica-n. a:rt.' I,' .": ;:~ , .~'~,'
,i r;, .:: !

:,j, ~, , ; i !1
I This point can also be made concerning the contradictions apparent in looking at an produced
"~~ fe1pini~~, :,ni~f~' bfa,d, ~rtisJ,~an~ vari~u;s ur?eJJ?Ii\'!I,~ed: groups,:,;".;~i!~,
~ey, social ~hi~k,i;n~
is' radlcal,' fertil~ and engaging, wha,t we see of Jhe art ,proquced is ~oO often as embarrassinl!~
dutl, urllfo'nn'~:nd'bPJre~:u:cratic'as e~erYdne "el~ejs, " I' ,'-:' "/:'-' !;; :' . "' .' f·. ' !e' ,:1

".-:1,.[;-! I'; -" .~':;':?'$;.j I,., r;:,: ,'I "pO) ',:,.

;::(':HJ ·t' ,",;, ',.!, ;11" ~'.".:,,':L.i! .., ",'."'~ 11"",,, I;

S",Nictor Burgin, (b.,,194I.) fnom'$ocia:list,'Pormalism'" .;:
," "I!" i' '':',1'' " ! 1',:",,;:;' ,.'i'j.',li;~ , 'Ii ,i ;.;:,' "','

In ,\he early 1970s Burgin's..work became,incr~asjngly politicized;.and he"turped.~ar"

ticularly to the critical use of advertising lechniques: offsetting photo,gr:apl)~;a~g!te~.ts.
of spcial~~~:~Wty'~1Hnlf'lQic(i,on_s;b,e/litldm~if~q~9g\of
\0, P,p'int:up },he p~"sis.t!?1~,ed
th~,~onyentlp~aii\d¥~~tls.ement.,For~4rgIHa!o(!ngaDR)p,th)~( fWm§ pf,I(O,~.ar,t ~rC!ij
tIS~~,under,~h,e,rubn,c,ptt~e 'auionorny pf,~rt' ..~~~a.m~>c8'nphclt!~JJi~ ,e,~P'~M\'Vje,
sOCI)lI'structuleWhiCh-HIS, prInCIpallyphotographiC,art was now concerned~o·unrnM~.
In'his attempt to gain' 2ritical purchase'on l~e'expl~ssive' protbtciis'bf'MbB~r~i~i\il in
art(he invoked the practicallraditron df RU$sia'riCbnslriJdiViSni;and t1i~'~~e8ret1cal
legacy of 'Iinguislic semiology. The present essay'ivasJirst 'pOblished'ji!,StIJdjo' Ihwri~.
tiona/, vol. 191, ·no.,980,.London, March/April 1976','fromiwhiclYth'e presen! extraets
are taken. ',.1'1 "",t,.!':,: -'-:;<i:

While,oontemporary ,\Vest-ern art pr'"Clctice,is currentl:y· polarizedlbetwe-en;:Mod~

ernism and': .lconceptualism'. ,both ·are 'being" viewed:' in;, ferm~', diva, ilYloderfiist! I

po.litiquel ....-in terms. of a Modernist aesthetics 'and a Moder:nist ,yerSinl1,0§,historYI

The, inability':of most: critics; to deal,.wjth conceptualism ,on::anything: ;but"an ad
hoc ibasis;stemsctrom ,this fundamental categorx error, as dnes, 't'he:.'f:itlupe' OfJffiosf
conceptualist,s to found their, practice in anything other tfran(J!ais,sez-+j"aire sub-
jectivism. The consolidation of conceptualist practices alon,g thClsodalist Hnes
w-hfch ·havei ·been. im'plicit, from their inception demands· '<1>1 reading' of, formalist
aesthetics; of history, and of current priorities, differ.ent from ~that now pre-
dominating;-ojn, the Western 'art community,
'Conceptualism administered, a rebuff to the ,Modernist demand for aesthetic
confections and for formal 'novelty for its ,own'sake. h disregard,ed the arbitrary
and fetishistk restrictions which 'Art"placea on technology ,-,the anachronistic
daubing of wov.en' fabrics with coloured mud~' ;nhe,:chipping apart of rocks and
the sticking together of pipes - all in ,the iJ13me of timeless ,aes'thetic values.
 912 Institutions and Objections

However, once beyond the official enclosures-'af _~Iegitimate' art practice many
found that they had exchanged theit prison for' a desert. They learned that there
is nothing to be made of a conceptualism, dermed in opposition to Modernism.
other than an 'official opposition'; and that there is nothing. to be made of
l\.1odernist art history other than a history of Modernism.
My remarks here, very far from being'comprehensivCi are intended to point
off the highroad ,of Western bourgeois aesthetics to areas where conceptualism
may be better grounded for the, completion of its metamorphosis from an
essentially Modernist. avant--garde"to, a socialist art ,practice. They will concern
Russian art in the decade following the October,revolution', normally presented
as-a story of the arbitrary suppres'sion of modern. art by.philistine communism;
and (representing a general concern with 'mass ,media~) advertising, normally
not presented at all in an art context.

The Western assessment o('the' 'importance' 'of Malevich' all\ontst modern

Russian artists is readily understood: 'hi~_:""Q,rk,hi's· c~µcer'n, fo~ "the spiritual in
art', is easily accommodated within the western tradition of Romantic formalism.
This movement of accommodation disengages all Russian art of the revolutionary
period from its' real .lhistoHcal:(Cdntext·;in dider:~ to' hlsert it 'I'd the.' familiar,
spuriously historical, sequence 'from Cubism to Modernism' which in fact is an
ahti-history/an ideologYi! It ai,,)' ,ignores the di!Teren'" between Western and
Rll\ssian' fortifalism.
"Moder~ism 'is typically def1ned 'in~jJpositlon!o Realis'l'.:Iri classit Realism
tn,~,~~}$.a~sUllned an unmedi~t~d.pre~~Qiat19ii or.~he iffe~enf:ih;o:~gh the sign
(~~:n,~d~~l~<l}~at I~ save for .. ~'1~lS~', ~n ~le .phY~Ic,~1cha~ne', of c'lrmumcatlOn
-~F<QbleO)s,of med"~JOn m.Re~hsm lep;d,JnI',t.o,/Jeconw confused WIth qu~stJOns
of te~hn.i.qu~;ex~rcised in ..~~ei(imer~s~s, of :~nforrpi~y tQ, ~µqte prevailing model,
of .~~litY)!,/l.ealism~sprim~r!ily!'abou!', content an,d rn~jo",Qebates wi,thin ,Realism
COl).c~m sllbject-matterc alone: (witness ,the·· recurring. 'crisis'~·6f oont~,nt' in nine,.
teenth-century painting).
With the hindsight granted us by Saussure we can today see that classic
Realism· restsupon'·a :mistaken··cOnGepLOf'signification: the sign ;is':.assumcd to
be' "transparenf, allowing unpr-oblematical access to the·,referent .. Gt:lbism we can:
see as constituting a· radical critique. of·this concep.t, a: practic,e\'compatible with.
a recognition of the disjUnction'fof signifier', and signified, wi~hiJljthe sigm
Post.,.cubist Modernisni~ however, did,not develop as, a'scit-ntific .aesthetics based,
upon a critique of the sign, but rather 'as a normative aesthetics bnsed, upon,,,,
notion.·of <territoriality. .;, "::,~;, I';' ",',
The brand of formalism propounded'by. Gteenberg and :Fried isln',direct line
of ,q,escent from the attempt. by Bell and, Fry:, to ·~freehart from concerns"not.
'peculiarly its own'. In the earlier of these two periods';·of 'fortnalist.:criticisml,l
particularly with Bell, recourse is made't6 a Kantian-:ontology (a noumenai',wo.ld
'behind' mere" appearances).' in order' to justify abstraction'l-American Modernism
ostensibly sees the art object as justified, $oLely as an end in' itself, but-itrema'inSl
determined by the earlier,., English version in that in the same ·.mo\,.ment,;jJlJ
which 'it .sheds' idealism it ,loses ,the, last vestige, of; any concern,.with: contenO,l '~:
.. ' }~
j 'VIle Political Aspects 913
II
II (The ghost of idealism ,haunts.Modernism' to this day- it was minimal'sculpture
"
II whic~. ,came Closest ro, ,'3; maferialist .abstractionisll}.)
::·,.10 Russia-the move to'wards th.e immanent·modes of analysis '.of -formalism !I,
was fiI:St accomplished b.y the Symbolist philologistsPotebnya and V-eselovsky.
Their ;emphasis ,on the' distinction between poetic and' prosaic' language isolated
language itself,'as the 'primary object of literary, studies'! The Formalist critics
of·OJ.>OYAZ (Society.for the Study of 'Poetic Language) and,the Moscow "i
Linguistic Gircle retained :this distinction, ,}akobson; -.in :a'-jwell-known dictum,
,
declaring the proper object of literary studies to'be not Iiterature'by \literariness'
(fireraturno't). ' "i ",ri ."., ,
;·\The Russian Formalists, however, re.jeeted. the' Symbolist notion of a ,~h:igher .'i'
,ealiW· They also rejected the Symbolist,. notion of form',in'which''form, the
perceivable','"was, 'conc'eiv:ed in oppos'i~jon fto ,i,coll'teot, \I;the inteUig·ible."They
I
~il{t.ended the notion of form to aover aU. aspects;of.>a'\work>,.i1Jodorov;;WIFites:'
H'" ..the Symbolists tended to divide the Iiter"ry"produetrinto form, (i.e. sound),
which was' vital and"content (i-.e. ideas); which was·,externa'1' to 'art.,}TIhe Formalist
approach was completely opposed to,thk aesthetic, ippreciatiOl"of, 'pureform1,
TheY' no longer saw form ,as opposed to some,other,<!nternill,element',of,,. wo,k
of. ar,t(normally .its content); and began. tdtonceive it as the totalitJ"of,the work's
various. components~ Thus!every- element in's'ide a work :0£ artjs, accordin'g ito
the exact measure of its appropriateness to it, a formal part of the whole' ... ,.
This\makes it essential to,realise"'that'the 'form' of a work. is not' its' only'Jormal
element: its content 'may_ equally beiformal.'2 Russian Formalis'm was therefore
substantially ad'vanced beyond its Western 'contemporary; the formalism of Fry
a·nd Bell, in which-,consider-ations of content were arbitrarily banished 'in a
quasi-legal ruling .
•. ,:IIt :lit .1
"iFhe period from 1917 ,to 1932 does notipresentthe simple story' of suppression
preferlied in the West. Decisions on aesth'etk'questi6ns.werej:entiiely avoided
by the par,ty until 1925. The notion that a fully formed state'aesthetic policy
,was desirable did not emerge until thethirties",By J920', however", ~Iaboratory
artt ,Constructivism had already been condemned by; the constructivist ,artists
t-hemselves as· an ·anachronistic perpetuation.'ofbourgeois vested interests. Ifhese
productivists. went on to dev.elop, in industry and, in mass media, practices
compatible w~th theiF revolutionary socialist· politics. Insonie respects: they: were
'o~ertaken on the left' by Proletkult, bub'botb,factions eventually foundered
against,the growing influence' of conservatisr;n.after NEP .;:..:that1inoment depicted
in~some accounts as an,'improvement in post-revolutionary cultural conditions,
but which the artists and critics of Lejrecognized as a betrayal of the revolution.

We may integ.at<Hhe concerns of Russian Formalism and Factography'within

a,modern Western art problematic: .the first :requirement of"3.socialist' art practice
is· that it should :engage those codes and contents which are- in the public~,domain.
These present themselves, and· thus ideology, as natural and whole; a socialist
art practiee aims .to. deconstruct these codes, to unpick, the. apparently, seamless
ideological sur-face they p,esent,
914 Institutions and Objections

'f.he propaganda messa.ge is ineffective' to' the;extent -thahir: endorses the very
~cedes which frame the ideology itc,would oppose;"it'is these:which appropriate
it; as 'mere propaganda'. Anthony ,Wilden jputs:jt: '~'... :l'he response ,to the
indifference of the system ,oannot-'simply be, a strident 'dogmatism ... the first
line (of defe,nce. against the violeno~m the rhetork lof ,the; establishment is to
learn something about rhetoric. ,And that mean,s "'to: learn something -about
communication. But a line of defence lis not, enough: -tne victims· must take the
offensive: What is required·,.."dlt.ltl'lis, admittedly minimal; level "",'is a guerrilla
rhetoric. Arid for 3· guerriUa·,rhetoricj'l¥oo n:lUst ,klnow,what yoµr ,enemy knows,
why and how he knows it, and how to contest him on any ground,.'3
Wilden is speaking, here of..rhe': rhetOric of- the academic establishment in
which: 'The necessary' isolation Ofi13i system from' its :context·.in order that it
may be studied ... is,geneully used, 'impliGir,ly ... to justify the'isolation 'of the
researcher from his contexf:- from-"his past, from h,is social: and academic pdsition,
frbm .his future expectati"ons','from: his economic. status: in ,a hierallchical system
of privilege, 'from his consciousl.oT tiriconscious.:positive or negative commitinent
to '.. se~ of ideological, anll political views,-all: 'o(:,which,! one·.m ..y expec~ to
discover in ,variOuslltr:ansformitions"in his ·work:d ,WHaen's remarks, how~ver,
may be extended,to altHhe forms of discourse which collectively .constitute ,the
sy.mbolic represent:ationA of·"our 'official cult:ure;-.notably,· those·rwbichi aue en-
countered in' the· mass' m-edia. l. ,. . ;" ,>,1;.' ,.,

Fortini quotes a cedainIcommunist'

i sp'okes:tnan: .·'eontimi.'e,as writers' .. We do'
no~' wartt toj,make ..a:~toriporil- of; a .than !(whose· voice can ,move; an army~; anti:
then icomm'ents· thaf1 f .;.~jdu:.~wr,iter..,whose ''''yoke ',can ,move an' a,tmy" is in -fact
the11bureauor:at of: lettetsj, the, specialist, in propagandaf ,integrated in niystifica ...
tion.'s It is such specialists as these who today compose commeFdal publicity>,
Without doubt advertising- constitutes one of the most massive ideological
inter-v.entions( in!':oor --c4Ituraldlife:· ..Wi~y;:then(;do·es "it 'receive such !a<dispropbr-
tionately -smaiL amOU1lt:!o6f~s'er)ipus~'atten..tion" compared say I\\ritli 'cineina?~'_One
answer tot'hiSJquestion,ls'~cultur.li Bri~ish intellectuals tehd'to have'afl IEnglish
Lit?, background ~ahd th'e 'ilnalyi>is,o.f:(what ·they. take' to' be) animated ['rooks' suits
them very welh Anotherrre,asotrjis'-:pnen@menologi'cabwhJere:as the !Cinema readily.
constitutes itself as\ an' objeet;· adv'ertising is, ~ec~iv:ed'asr'an·.environment: and' as"
such tends td'pass unremarke<t(li,ke, ideology itself};Ne'Vertheless it is advertising
which is;closest ,to that mass-corisu,med:artrform,' the product;oflanrarion.yqrdus
collective, which cinema, becoineSdri the! irn'aglnation of 'left' film commentators'
when they take time'off from wfiting"t1.out-'films' by famous wen:' In, is as much
an' autonomous 'category ;of, Icommun~cation as' is the cinema, and· -should ~b-e

.....
studied as such. {";'.~rt~Il.,

In ..a:1934 essay· the Prague,dinguisi and':aosthetieian"jan

.. ~:.':!.'~

Mukarovsky referred(
11'." .':(

in,passing, to, the tri~d 'of theorie~,whioh evemtodliystill, fr~m.:.the'thinkingroC'

our. Western aNi';community; .-He·,war:nedb;fMlithout.--semioI9gical i6tie-ntat·ioni .the'
art' theorist will always be open to,the :temptatioh,'to treaMhe'\vdrk,of ',art as'a
purelyl'forrnal construction or else aSilanj,-initnediate:-renex" of:the'Tmental or
physiological moods of the author or of the dist'inot reality'expressed'byali,;
 VIle, PolilicaLAspecls 91i5
WOrkll1viZ,r;the' ideologic.ak"cconomiq. !socialand cultural.rSituation of the, coo-
tempdrary'_mi1ieu.'~;, "';J .'1 .. i''',! , '"".1 :.,

Th.ese, .. e the, points'between, which well"worn path~ ar.e 'stiU.being:trodden

tIlday :~. Formalism,: expression theory, Realism, 'Only,th.e semiOlogicaLview:-
poihf; Mu:katdvs~y contiil,lles, 'allows thedrists~;te "grasp; theiautonomous,,~ist"r'
enCe and, fUlldawenlaI, <hynamics of tbe' artistic: structure'· and." to Lgrasp the
development! ot"ar.t a$.' , an ,imitJaneat. movement :,which lOilso.l.,has:a:iconstant
dialectical relation to the development of the'oth.er .dom~ins:;of,cuJture'. '
Russian art of the twenties represents an exemplary attempt to deal with that
interdependence' of form, and ideology f0r which'Alekseii,Gan,",in rConstructivism
(1922l.,coinedthe tetm 'tecto'nic': 'Painting, "sculpt\l're;' thea\re, these are the
m~tt#al'f?rITJs?f ,the pdu~\1~ois cal'!,tali$t ~bstlietic c~ltMre ~~l~~~~t!iSfies ,
tpe ~'$",iritual" :del11ands o( ,the, consµmer of a cjisorganise~t$Ocial"order .,.. The , ,

tectonic as,a, discipline should. lead' the -Constructivist in practice .to "3 s-ynthesis
of a- new content and the new form. He must be a marxist-educated· man' who
I:
has once 'and for all oUtlived~art and reaHy advanced on'indusiriahnateriaL 'the
tectonic is his guiding star, the brain of experimental and practical activi,ty .. ,
the tectonic unites the ideological and the formaL') [see lIfD7] ,
The Left front's advance on industrial ,materials led them into direct' ~ngage-
ment with 'mass commJ~ication codes and practices. T~-d~y' such' im'~$,s
Ptedia'
~pnstitute en bloc,a pop,'I!'II"t\.rr. We took the example of adx~rtis~ing: a4vertising
is ,anl,·'art',.form,.in that it constitutes' ~n autonomous genre .Df aesthetically
dimensioned ·message'.structl1res(which although they may,.be analysed in"tetms
of other structures are not reducible to 'them) - devices wh'ose (contingent)
function is to renew our perteptio'n of, a'nd enthusiasm for, consumer' vah.ies~
Advertising is 'popular' in the sense that its codes are commonly understood:
assuming literacy, advertisements yield more or less non-aberrant de-eodings
within most social: 'Sub'~groups-., \ ,. .
Although we cannot currently affect the publicity messages emitted, we may
subvert ,the" m-essages:: recei¥ed. A 'task for socialist art is' to ,'i'nmask "'the
fuystificaiions of~d\lrgeois 'culture by :laying bare its codes, by ~xposirigl'he
Oeviees through' which' i('~onstructs its ~elr-iinage: Anorher lob' fod6cia1Ist'?ft
~:H~
is '~_~,~xp~se c9ri'tr~'d!cii?ln~ :id~qu~.tta~s. s9~iety,' to, shh~_~rRl wha~:4:b~,~.I~~t~irl~
~h~t~' i~ ~?t'
i~' ·sec~rijl.-~al1,i~~.:.' ~~jto~~I~~*~
~u~ift.~a ti9nsfqr'i~h~~.nr.stjo~, :i~~cI~~~:·,;J:
of serµ,lOtlcs;,quahfic,atlons ,for tlie seconp ~.qbJQclude ,a.:!ftJO\~I~ageof HPI/i'~s
and,~copomi<;~:As we 0'1ly knp,w"spGiety t~rough :its r""pre~entaiions, thenbq\6
jobs wijj haye,to be done by:the sjlll'e ma'1.'(The inmj\t~s of art edu<;ational
iQst.itutiqns generally receive only C04)!SeS,in ,connoisseurship; on their rel~ase~
their progress towards self-reeducation is a difficult one.)
To date there is little evidence that the self-professing left of our art
community; has grasped Gan's .'~'tectonic~principle' in its application within our
own ,media-dominated .<;ulture.'Seemingly. oblivious to the formal aspects of
ideolog~, they addre~s each other; in a shop,wmn rhetoric long, ago appropriated
by bourgeois ideology. as 'leftist' dogma'. 'thus they obligingly fill the benches
which bourgeois- culttire·~lfucates"to the-'official opposit,ion", endorsing the
existing structure of soc~al'lrelations.
916 Institutions and Objections
John Berger has- observed: lpublicity turns consumption into- a 'substitute for
democracy. The choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of
significant political choice.)8. Vanguard ism in art has_ become just another way
of offering the consumer a choice. Body art or art-language, the ingredients
disappear behind the packaging and a mindless loyalty to the label is rapidly
established and just as rapidly lost. There is therefore nothing more contradic-
tory at this present historical juncture than a left avant-garde, and nothing more
depressing than attempts to invent one.

References to literatuo: are unavoidable when discussing the visual arts in Russia at the beginning
of the present centurx. In, addition)o the early. lead taken by Formalist literary criticism the
political framework. of art tended to be discussed primarily in terms of literature; party decjsions
on the arts were made first in
respect of literature with other arts following suit. To make such
literary references~ 'however,' is' not to misrepresent the thc'oretical context of the visual arts, as
contacts between the' various arts wcre extensive both before the October revolution and into the
, late twenties.
Tzvetan Todorov, ·S0l\l.~ ~pproa~hes to Russian Formalism', 20th Century Studies, December 1972~
p. 10. , '
Anthony Wilden" System 4,nJ Struc~~re, Tavislock, 1972, p. xxvi.
Ibid., p. xxii, '- ,,' .
S Frarlc'o :Fortirii, 'T'he Writer~' M'a~(late and the End of Anti-Fascism', Screen, voL 15;-no. 1,
'1974, pp'. 42-3~ f,.~.l' -

Q Jan 'Mularovsly, "CAW oomme' fait s&niologique ...· Acter Ju huitiim(' congr;s in'ternation'ale dt
philosophir. Ii Prague:2"-,1 septtmbre; /934, Prague, 1936, (unpublished translation, 8FI, Londonr
7 ,Aleksei Gan, CoftStrudivism;11922. (signed 1920) in Camilla 'Gray, The Great Experiment: RUSfjan
, Art 1~6}-!92?,.:;r;~ilm~s.~ ,l!~dson, ,~962,p. 285.
s .]a,h.n.. B~~gf;~,.,Wa~s ofS.eei~g",!3BC a~,~P,enguil)., 1972, p. 149.
,
")
9 Art & Langua,ge: Editorial to Art-Language :r
;\--" ';,,., .-\ j:( -;.' .\'- ;,,',
If,the,Conceptual ArtllJovement remained .unpopular with the artma*et throughoutthe
197qs., by tl1e middle ,9.1th~ d~pad.~ certain form" of Conceptual Art ha,d achie~ed
re~peptability in th<?se i~te,lIe9tua!~!r~I,e~ll\'herethe)n~th9<:JSof:s~miolo~y h;J,dbe9.QiI)~
vi,\ually'q~.rigueur. As some, Conceptµal artists, BWgin among them, \u,r,neqto ~emi9'
IQgj'c~1'meiliods in tt\eircritiqu~ 6.1 line. art Art ~,Language was' io't(irn Jiai!lting~ to
Wifh,i\nradition~1 depth lanc/'OP~Citr~,~s.~.f.ormofresi~ta,~c~ to.lhea,Gild~,mic lppr:9:
pnatlon of Plctures·and·texts." TH.epOlen'ilc of thiS edltonal IS drrectedagalns!'the
plivileging of cultuial and artisticilvalil·gardism through' forms of' academic 'specialiSm:
Originally printed on the cover and firSt inside page of Aft·Language, vaf. 3: no.},
Banbury, June 1976. (The ellipses in·the pr.esenttext are original and do not· denote
editorial excisions.) ',. .

" . THE TIMELESS LUMPENNESS OF;A.RADICAL CULTlJRAI:.·LfRE;

the gangrenous, excrescence, 'styI'ishly. :exposed: in the.'quietsalons); Til'" market
for the' dry delicacies of pretentious'gentilit¥, the ove.~fed opiriion, :the cOI;piIlehi
"". choice,. the' le.isurc:;,d'appropriation, 'soo.ety":artd-1soaiety'·i'n'harmony, are an
objective condition of-the, c1assslruggle, The·privifeged,low"lifeoof.high, clilttire
is the massification of the people, is the enemyO'e£ iriquir.y" is.anJinsult '~ov3nd