Kenosis: A New Challenge For Contemporary Art Activism.

Kenosis​ : A New Challenge For Contemporary Art Activism. By Alix Camacho.

Since 2010, and the ​ Arab Spring​ , something seems to be different in the world. While the social, economical and political struggles are not a new fact, the actions demanded by our reality appear to be different and more direct. ​ Arab Spring​ , is one of the historical moments that offers evidence of the increasingly urgent need to transform the conditions in which we are living today. The particularity of this movement is reflected by its repeated presence in the media. This repetition alerted the world to Arab demands and inspired other mobilizations. Additional movements, that reflect the urgency of transformation of our time were ​ Occupy Wall Street​ (2011) in the United States of America and the ​ Indignants Movement​ (2011) in Spain, which at the same time inspired other occupations and Indignant movements round the world. The remained feeling after these events is, in some manner, that the change should be generated by ourselves. An example of this feeling, might be ​ Podemos, ​ a Spanish political party created in 2014 by professors, artists, journalists, unionists, lawyers, activists, students, among others. After two years of the Spanish social mobilization, also known as 15M, ​ Podemos​ was created with the intention to “transform the indignation into a political change.”1 This party is an example of the

Translated by me. Quotation taken from Podemos' manifest “​ Mover ficha: convertir la indignación en cambio político​ ”. 1

direct action2 that our reality is demanding. It reflects how the distrust in our governments and institutions is forcing us to create our own alternatives.

Metanoia ​ as the basis of the art activism.

In the case of art, specifically in the field of art activism, the energy of this decade appears to have generated some variations. In “​ On Art Activism”, ​ a text published in 2014, Boris Groys speaks about a new phenomenon of art activism and points out some of its characteristics. “​ [Contemporary] art activists do not want to merely criticize the art system or the general political and social conditions under which this system functions. Rather, they want to change these conditions by means of art—not so much inside the art system but outside it, in reality itself (Groys, 2014).” Although this new phenomenon, mentioned by Groys, does not appears to be new, the question regarding what could be consider different in the contemporary art activism of our time, is very striking.

The brazilian theorist and researcher, André Mesquita, states in “La conciencia colectiva en el Siglo XX” (​ The Collective Consciousness in the 20th Century​ ) that the commitment of the artist with social struggles dates back to the middle of the 19th Century. One of the cases, studied by Mesquita, is the British Arts and Crafts movement. Due to the social and economical changes generated by the Industrial Revolution, some movements arose to reject the new economic model that

Understood as self-organized actions to generate social transformation. This self-organized actions are in contrast to indirect actions, which involve be represented politically by others. 2

affected community life. In that order of ideas, Arts and Crafts was created to promote alternative working methods based on cooperative logic and craftwork. This movement sought to reject industrial production and new market laws. This example, taken from Mesquita's text, helps to highlight how modern artists tried to influence the world, and change social and political conditions. Beyond particular objects or an artistic style, Arts and Crafts was promoting a lifestyle, based on socialist ideals. The energy of the modern artist, committed to social issues, was to stop the individualism promoted by capitalism. In this line, the socialist values represented a real alternative. Another example is Gustave Courbet, who participated actively in the Paris Commune, created by parisian proletariat in 1871. As Karl Marx described, the Paris Commune was “the cry of “Social Republic,” with which the revolution of February was ushered in by the Paris proletariat. (...) The Commune was the positive form of the Republic (Marx, 2005).” Arts and Crafts and Gustave Courbet, represent what is known in philosophy as a ​ Metanoia​ , that means to look at the past in order to change the course and halt progress. This intention to stop and change direction, could be considered the fundamental basis of the art activism of all time. In the case of the activism of the twentieth century, we see how in the 1960s “the antiwar, free speech, and environmental movements were born, as were movements for sexual, racial, and ethnic liberation (Felshin, 1995).” Also, we see how the 60s influenced the art activism of the 70s, 80s and 90s. For instance, Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies (Youth International Party), founded in 1967, influenced the subsequent art activism. Even if it was not considered an artistic movement, their aesthetic creativity and symbolic actions were elements inherited to the new generations. The heritage of the 60s encouraged the artists to be connected with social and political movements. This

connection, in turn, provoked an art whose aim was to promote changes into the world. The need to look at the past and change the course of history (​ Metanoia)​ , was the vital impulse of the art activism of both centuries. Of course, what is being said is not that the art activism of the 19th century is equal to the art activism of the 20th century. Clearly, the modes of action and the historical context are different. The point here, is that the ​ Metanoia ​ could be consider the basis of the art activism of both times.

Kenosis​ in the contemporary art activism.

Returning to the question on what could be considered new in contemporary art activism, specifically after 2010, and understanding that ​ Metanoia​ is not a new fact of art activism. I would like to introduce the concept of​ Kenosis​ . This concept that in the Christian tradition implicates “self-emptying”, it is described by Boris Groys, as a vertical metanoia, as “the reversal of upward mobility.” This upward mobility, in the words of Groys, is related with “the logics of talent, effort, and competition on which the current market economy is based (Groys, 2014).” In other words, if ​ Metanoia implies to look at our history in a horizontal way, ​ Kenosis ​ implies to review our life with regard to the economic logics that surrounds us. It implies that contemporary art activists have a double challenge, to generate transformation into the world and to transform the conditions of art. In some manner, ​ Kenosis​ is a new element in the art activism after 2010. In contrast to the Institutional Critique that pretends to challenge the artistic institutions, ​ Kenosis​ proposes to examine the field of art in an expanded form. The characteristic feature of this decade, is that the power of the art

field is overflowed the artistic institutions, and became part of our everyday life. For instance, during Occupy Wall Street, under slogans as “we are the 99%”, the fact that the United States' wealth is concentrated in the 1% of the population, was widely discussed. Andrea Fraser, in ​ There’s No Place Like Home, ​ points out “(...) that the contemporary art world has been a direct beneficiary of the inequality of which the outsized rewards of Wall Street.” This means, that the contemporary art field is an essential part of the problems that beset our world. In other words, the challenges of the contemporary art activists appear to be not just to promote changes into the world, but also, to transform themselves and their own field. In this way, what could be considered new in the art activism of our time is the challenge to practice ​ Kenosis​ . As happened with the political party ​ Podemos, ​ everything seems to indicate that the art activist need to transform the indignation in changes. The market logics that today govern contemporary art, are the same logics that govern our lives. For that reason, if the aim of the art activism still being to generate transformation into the world, it could not happen without transforming the everyday life and the art field. For example, the gentrification problem is progressively closer to the contemporary art, not just because artists are the producers of the art that is commercialized in the galleries and museums at gentrified areas, but also, because artist are consumers of the economic environment generated to gentrify those areas e.g., bars, cafes, restaurants, shops and etcetera. In conclusion, if the contemporary art is part of the ills that affect the world, a point of departure to transform the world could be transforming the logics of the contemporary art. Even more specific, the point of departure could be, the transformation of the modes of production and consumption of the art activists themselves. Of course, practice ​ Kenosis ​ is not easy to do, as Andrea

Fraser points out “ it is less painful to resolve (...) conflicts symbolically, in artistic, intellectual, and even political gestures and position-takings, than to resolve them materially—to the marginal extent that it is within our power to do so in our own lives—with choices that would entail sacrifices and renunciations (Fraser, 2012).” But even the difficulties to practice ​ Kenosis, ​ it seems to be an engaging challenge and an opportunity for the art activism of our time.

References.

■ Felshin, Nina, ed. "​ But Is It Art?: The Spirit of Art as Activism​ ." Seattle: Bay, 1995. Print. ■ Fraser, Andrea. "​ There’s No Place like Home​ ." Whitney Museum of American Art, 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2015. ■ Groys, Boris. "​ On Art Activism​ ." E-flux, 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2015. ■ Marx, Karl. "​ The Paris Commune​ ." Socialist Labor Party of America, 2005. Web. ■ Mesquita, André. "​ La conciencia colectiva en el Siglo XX​ ." Estudios Empíricos Radicales. Vol 1. July 2014. Web. ■ Podemos. "​ Mover Ficha: Convertir La Indignación En Cambio Político.​ " Tratarde.org. 2014. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.