Critical Grounding
Jagiellonian University
Experimental Pedagogies: The Art and Politics of the Danish Experimenting Art School (1961-1972) View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Wylie Schwartz
The 1960s in Denmark were a rich, experimental period, exemplified in the radical approaches to art education at Copenhagen’s Experimental Art School, or Ex-School, an “anti-academy” created in response to a context of political, social, and cultural change. Established by art historian Troels Andersen and artist Poul Gernes, the School had no teachers, the work was largely meant to be ephemeral, and collective creation was valued over individual works of art. Yet, for practitioners of the school, whatever form their work may have taken – above all else, it had to have a social function. My paper considers the various phases of artistic development within the Ex-School’s temporal framework - spanning roughly 1961 to 1972. What began with a rhetoric of artistic experimentation that drew from surrealism, Constructivism and the Bauhaus, later gives way to more radical notions of collaboration, performance, and protest. I argue that these shifts in visual production were driven by the intense social and political climate of the period, operating along the lines of what Herbert Marcuse theorized to be the revolutionary potential for art to counteract the repressive societal forces that inhibit liberation. In doing so, my research aims to reposition the work taken up by the Ex-School within the ideological context of its production to demonstrate that these artists were taking more nuanced approaches towards revolutionary art than what is currently written.
"Infrastructure of Dissent": Socially Engaged and Critical Art Practices in the Hungarian Diaspora After 2010 View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Zsuzsanna Zsuró
In the Hungarian contemporary cultural field dominated by nationalistic ideology and close control of the governing Hungarian Civic Alliance party, repression of artistic freedom has been present since the party’s election in 2010. Tackling a hostile and exclusionary ideology, a persistent dissent towards the state among art workers has formulated in the last thirteen years. Parallel to the “official”, socially engaged and critical art practices arose in order to give voice to ostracised communities and reintegrate critical thinking into the discipline. As labour migration in European countries have increased significantly since 2004, this research has a special focus on Hungarian art professionals living in the European diaspora. Being a not yet debated subject, the paper scrutinises the “infrastructure of dissent”: the loose network of socially engaged and critical art practices initiated by Hungarians after 2010. The paper has two main methodological aspects. Whilst it aims to raise awareness on socially engaged and critical art practices through case studies, it is equally vital to create a solid theoretical background to its topic. A precursor of a dissertation research, the paper focuses on results of the latter. On one hand, it engages with the ideas of political theorists in a wider context of neoliberalism. On the other hand, leaving behind the East-West dichotomy, the research applies theories taken from the academic disciplines of decolonialism and horizontal art history. The research on the notions behind contemporary civil art practices add to a global understanding of a more democratic cultural future.
The Final Word is Female: The Value of Remembering Simone de Beauvoir as her own Entity in the Face of Jean Paul Sartre View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alexandra Ramsland
As the nineteenth-century intellectual "power couple," Alfred de Musset's career rose to soaring heights due to his turbulent and passionate relationship with his muse, George Sand. The nature of their relationship thrived off of intellectual stimulation, infidelity, and convoluted emotional and physical ties. During the twentieth century, two new thinkers emerged as the "new" Musset and Sand- Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. The two lived as writers, philosophers, and lovers- much like their 19th-century counterparts. However, unlike Sand, Beauvoir resolved to set her course employing her femininity to her advantage without taking the backseat to men in her field. In the wake of Musset's relationship with Sand and seen through the lens of second-wave feminism, this paper delves into the overshadowing of Simone de Beauvoir by her on-and-off lover, Jean-Paul Sartre as an example of how women scholars in the early 20th century often found their ideas and writings accredited to or in the shadow of men. However, in reality, women brought innovative, lasting perspectives to the scholarly dialogues of their time. While much of the research into Beauvoir concentrates on her writings in reaction to Jean-Paul Sartre, Beauvoir pioneered the modern feminist movement with an enduring mark beyond that of Sartre. By inspecting Beauvoir's writings as unique, radical, and unremitting pieces, this argument sheds light on the ingenuity of Beauvoir found in her ability to remain distinctive, modern, and pertinent in an ever-changing society almost four decades after her death in a way that Sartre cannot.
