Issue #3


http://www.artagainstart.com/p/store.html#!/Issue-3-Winter-2016-7/p/78148347/category=0


Editorial


If a cultural “renaissance” would hypothetically take place, it would require each and every artist to subjectively fight their own decay – opting out of the easy options that contribute to it. Regressive accelerationism, idleness, non-participation, the transformation of the self into geography, the consolidation of a speculative form of branding, conformity, normalization, parasitical absorption of information without surplus on it, speculative mass production, opportunism, self design rather than social design, emphasis on passive free flows, arto-biography without entitlement, reactionary comfort-seeking, unnecessary self indulgence, tautological mirrorings of the market in place of relevance, trolling, rubbish, depression, herd justification of stasis – in terms of game theory, the probability of each and every single artist avoiding any of these modes of participation (which have been offering them traction in varying degrees) – seems to be a long shot. The only way one can collectively encourage “renaissance” is by rewarding negentropy and providing personal merit to the artists who create it.

Of course in game theory, if each individual pursues their private interests, the collective outcome is always worse than if the individual agreed upon a common collective value as true. At best there is a personal advantage in an art world fit for no-one rendering it a solitary place, at worst there is a social darwinism that eventually takes hold of every individual as victim one by one in order of rank. This kind of fierce survival of the fittest system is not actually sustainable as Hobbesians or speculators rely on a majority quotient of Kantians to exist in order to gain an advantage. This means that those who rely on others to produce art (or intellectual ideas or progress for them) are dependent on growth produced by others to sustain themselves. Without growth from somewhere, there is nothing to grab. Without traction, one will see the stagnation of ideas that we are already witnessing, which will embed itself further into our culture.

The danger is... [buy]

The Editors


Contents



p. 8...........................Editorial

p. 12.........................Mitchell Algus – The Culture of Consensus

p. 16.........................Elizabeth Sandifer – Haunt the Future

p. 22.........................Image spread by Roy Ascott

p. 32.........................Patricia MacCormack – Art: Inhuman Ecstasy

p. 43.........................Image spread by Justin Shoulder

p. 50.........................Manuel Gnam – What to do with Ambiguity in Art when the Poles Shift

p. 55.........................Iain Spence – The Quest for Wholeness Within Atavistic Pop Culture

p. 64.........................Artist edition by Matthew Langan-Peck


Mitchell Algus

The Culture of Consensus

This is not a great moment for democracy. Hopefully, the culture will benefit. We might start with consensus and criticism; less of the former and more of the latter.

The art world is a hot house of populations occupying a habitat of art fairs, museums, galleries and social media, with an elaborate ecosystem of celebrity curators, art con- sultants, publicity agents, and collectors who want to be owners, players, coaches and talent scouts; predators occupying all trophic levels. A natural ecosystem structured in this manner cannot sustain itself... [buy]


Iain Spence

The Quest for Wholeness Within Atavistic Pop Culture

‘Mythological motifs frequently appear, but clothed in modern dress...’ - Carl Jung


In this article we’ll compare different pop trends to the four moods known as the ‘Life Positions’. Social trends – especially those of an atavistic or ‘animal’ nature – can be analysed using the following four main scripts:

Pessimistic Strength
Optimistic Strength
Pessimistic Weakness
Optimistic Weakness

We’ll also look into the origins of the Life Positions within human infancy and ask if pop cultural trends describe a recapitulation of childlike behaviour within a social, adult setting.

Youth trends pre-date modern pop culture. For example Germany saw the emergence of... [buy]