Category Archives: Essay

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QOQQOON/Various reflections on “artistic” practice and life, or How not to be an artist?
QOQQOON/Various reflections on “artistic” practice and life, or How not to be an artist?Various reflections on “artistic” practice and life, or How not to be an artist?
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10/01/2021
2.0k
#art schoolQOQQOON/tag/art school #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #baudrillardQOQQOON/tag/baudrillard #bullyQOQQOON/tag/bully #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #jouissanceQOQQOON/tag/jouissance #lacanQOQQOON/tag/lacan #realityQOQQOON/tag/reality #sinthomeQOQQOON/tag/sinthome #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Various reflections on “artistic” practice and life, or How not to be an artist?

If I were asked to characterize the present state of affairs, I would describe it as “After the orgy”. The orgy in question was…
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QOQQOON/To Live and Die at Sotheby’s
QOQQOON/To Live and Die at Sotheby’sTo Live and Die at Sotheby’s
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10/01/2021
2.0k
#art and capitalismQOQQOON/tag/art and capitalism #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #baudrillardQOQQOON/tag/baudrillard #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #counterfeitQOQQOON/tag/counterfeit #embezzlementQOQQOON/tag/embezzlement #fraudQOQQOON/tag/fraud #freeportsQOQQOON/tag/freeports #originalityQOQQOON/tag/originality #simulacrumQOQQOON/tag/simulacrum
QOQQOON/To Live and Die at Sotheby’s

Art Under Late Capitalism Regardless of what is written in the public mandates of cultural institutions, art under capitalism tends to function as a…
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QOQQOON/Art: Sensory Alibi or Discursive Argumentation? (Ali Ahadi in Interview with Babak Golkar)
QOQQOON/Art: Sensory Alibi or Discursive Argumentation? (Ali Ahadi in Interview with Babak Golkar)Art: Sensory Alibi or Discursive Argumentation? (Ali Ahadi in Interview with Babak Golkar)
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10/01/2021
7.8k
#alienationQOQQOON/tag/alienation #audienceQOQQOON/tag/audience #conceptual artQOQQOON/tag/conceptual art #eslQOQQOON/tag/esl #languageQOQQOON/tag/language #semioticsQOQQOON/tag/semiotics #spectatorshipQOQQOON/tag/spectatorship #strategyQOQQOON/tag/strategy #visitorQOQQOON/tag/visitor #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Art: Sensory Alibi or Discursive Argumentation? (Ali Ahadi in Interview with Babak Golkar)

BABAK GOLKAR: I want to begin by introducing myself, my name is Babak Golkar and I have the pleasure of introducing Ali who is…
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QOQQOON/Art-making and the Loiter
QOQQOON/Art-making and the LoiterArt-making and the Loiter
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10/01/2021
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#anne boyerQOQQOON/tag/anne boyer #artistic practiceQOQQOON/tag/artistic practice #capitalist hustleQOQQOON/tag/capitalist hustle #legacy russellQOQQOON/tag/legacy russell #loiteringQOQQOON/tag/loitering #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Art-making and the Loiter

Dear R, A while ago I speed-googled the definition of “loiter.” I read: stand or wait idly or without apparent applause. (Loiter [verb]: stand…
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QOQQOON/Untitled (A Brief Exchange Between a Painter and a Black Monochrome Painting)
QOQQOON/Untitled (A Brief Exchange Between a Painter and a Black Monochrome Painting)Untitled (A Brief Exchange Between a Painter and a Black Monochrome Painting)
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10/01/2021
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#communicationQOQQOON/tag/communication #malevichQOQQOON/tag/malevich #obligationQOQQOON/tag/obligation #paintingQOQQOON/tag/painting #reinhardtQOQQOON/tag/reinhardt #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Untitled (A Brief Exchange Between a Painter and a Black Monochrome Painting)

IN RESPONSE TO A CALL FROM QOQQOON WEBZINE ON HOW TO BE AN ARTIST: A BRIEF EXCHANGE BETWEEN A PAINTER AND A BLACK MONOCHROME…
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QOQQOON/The Artist and Choice
QOQQOON/The Artist and ChoiceThe Artist and Choice
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10/01/2021
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#determinationQOQQOON/tag/determination #egoQOQQOON/tag/ego #kantQOQQOON/tag/kant #mediationQOQQOON/tag/mediation #self-analysisQOQQOON/tag/self-analysis #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/The Artist and Choice

One of my favourite quotes is, “If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe,” by Carl…
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QOQQOON/How to be an artist?
QOQQOON/How to be an artist?How to be an artist?
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10/01/2021
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#circulationQOQQOON/tag/circulation #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #consumptionQOQQOON/tag/consumption #content creationQOQQOON/tag/content creation #craftQOQQOON/tag/craft #productionQOQQOON/tag/production #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/How to be an artist?

Head over to your Instagram account and tap Edit Profile. At the bottom choose Switch to Professional Account, pick an account type (Creator or…
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QOQQOON/Not-all artists are idiots! (Or, hell hath no fury…)
QOQQOON/Not-all artists are idiots! (Or, hell hath no fury…)Not-all artists are idiots! (Or, hell hath no fury…)
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10/01/2021
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#castrationQOQQOON/tag/castration #femininityQOQQOON/tag/femininity #idiocyQOQQOON/tag/idiocy #lacanQOQQOON/tag/lacan #masculinityQOQQOON/tag/masculinity #othernessQOQQOON/tag/otherness #phallusQOQQOON/tag/phallus #pleasureQOQQOON/tag/pleasure #semioticsQOQQOON/tag/semiotics #surplus enjoymentQOQQOON/tag/surplus enjoyment
QOQQOON/Not-all artists are idiots! (Or, hell hath no fury…)

This statement sounds trite, or worse, mean-spirited. But if we consider the Lacanian concept of the idiot, we may not be able to dismiss…
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QOQQOON/Return to Baluchistan: Nominalising the Bourgeois Aesthetics
QOQQOON/Return to Baluchistan: Nominalising the Bourgeois AestheticsReturn to Baluchistan: Nominalising the Bourgeois Aesthetics
QOQQOON/Return to Baluchistan: Nominalising the Bourgeois Aesthetics.pdfPDF
12/01/2001
8.0k
#architectureQOQQOON/tag/architecture #art criticismQOQQOON/tag/art criticism #art economyQOQQOON/tag/art economy #conceptual artQOQQOON/tag/conceptual art #eurocentrismQOQQOON/tag/eurocentrism #land artQOQQOON/tag/land art #nominalismQOQQOON/tag/nominalism #third worldQOQQOON/tag/third world #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Return to Baluchistan: Nominalising the Bourgeois Aesthetics

During the early 1980s, or maybe late 1970s, I was travelling in Southern Baluchistan, one of the most dry and arid areas of Pakistan.…
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QOQQOON/Video Temporality and Hindsight Evidence
QOQQOON/Video Temporality and Hindsight EvidenceVideo Temporality and Hindsight Evidence
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02/23/2017
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#digital camerasQOQQOON/tag/digital cameras #hindsightQOQQOON/tag/hindsight #image economyQOQQOON/tag/image economy #image materialityQOQQOON/tag/image materiality #perceptionQOQQOON/tag/perception #real timeQOQQOON/tag/real time #video evidenceQOQQOON/tag/video evidence #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists #written recordQOQQOON/tag/written record
QOQQOON/Video Temporality and Hindsight Evidence

Since 1991, when Rodney King’s beating was captured on video by a civilian named George Holliday, the medium’s use as legal evidence has increased…
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QOQQOON/Slippages
QOQQOON/SlippagesSlippages
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01/01/2002
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#anthropologyQOQQOON/tag/anthropology #art and theoryQOQQOON/tag/art and theory #art criticismQOQQOON/tag/art criticism #colonial encountersQOQQOON/tag/colonial encounters #contact zoneQOQQOON/tag/contact zone #cultural productionQOQQOON/tag/cultural production #geneoalogyQOQQOON/tag/geneoalogy #hal fosterQOQQOON/tag/hal foster #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Slippages

Every artistic excursion and theoretical venture requires that boundaries be ceaselessly called to question, undermined, modified, and reinscribed. By its politics of transformation, critical…
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QOQQOON/A Talk Without Image Objects
QOQQOON/A Talk Without Image ObjectsA Talk Without Image Objects
QOQQOON/A Talk Without Image Objects.pdfPDF
03/01/2012
3.2k
#art economyQOQQOON/tag/art economy #artist-subjectQOQQOON/tag/artist-subject #artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #cultural producerQOQQOON/tag/cultural producer #fetishQOQQOON/tag/fetish #politics of artQOQQOON/tag/politics of art #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/A Talk Without Image Objects

Subject to Object and Vice Versa In the last few years the status of a work of art has risen beyond that of mere…
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QOQQOON/Alternative Space: Artists’ Periodicals
QOQQOON/Alternative Space: Artists’ PeriodicalsAlternative Space: Artists’ Periodicals
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09/01/1977
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#alternative spaceQOQQOON/tag/alternative space #circulationQOQQOON/tag/circulation #DIYQOQQOON/tag/DIY #historical avant-gardeQOQQOON/tag/historical avant-garde #politics of artQOQQOON/tag/politics of art #self-initiatedQOQQOON/tag/self-initiated #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/Alternative Space: Artists’ Periodicals

The energetic emergence of the artists’ periodical as an important noncommercial alternative space has compelled me to construct a chronology of artists’ periodicals since…
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QOQQOON/A nutter essay (peership)
QOQQOON/A nutter essay (peership)A nutter essay (peership)
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03/01/2021
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#ali ahadiQOQQOON/tag/ali ahadi #blake rayneQOQQOON/tag/blake rayne #gareth jamesQOQQOON/tag/gareth james #kathryn alderQOQQOON/tag/kathryn alder #lacanQOQQOON/tag/lacan #matt browningQOQQOON/tag/matt browning #psychoanalysisQOQQOON/tag/psychoanalysis #trash-artQOQQOON/tag/trash-art
QOQQOON/A nutter essay (peership)

In Lacanian psychoanalysis, art is taken up as having something to teach psychoanalysis about the unconscious and the historical structures of discourse. Art becomes…
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QOQQOON/What is an online art experience?
QOQQOON/What is an online art experience?What is an online art experience?
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03/01/2021
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#2faQOQQOON/tag/2fa #artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #contextualizationQOQQOON/tag/contextualization #online artQOQQOON/tag/online art #viewershipQOQQOON/tag/viewership
QOQQOON/What is an online art experience?

Contemporary art tends to function according to a two-factor authentication (2FA) process. When any array of objects or actions can be deemed art, and…
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QOQQOON/Performer/Spectator Relationships: A Dynamic of Equilibrium
QOQQOON/Performer/Spectator Relationships: A Dynamic of EquilibriumPerformer/Spectator Relationships: A Dynamic of Equilibrium
QOQQOON/Performer/Spectator Relationships: A Dynamic of Equilibrium.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
1.6k
#audience/artist relationshipsQOQQOON/tag/audience/artist relationships #dominanceQOQQOON/tag/dominance #movementQOQQOON/tag/movement #NEO- CRAFTQOQQOON/tag/NEO- CRAFT #performanceQOQQOON/tag/performance #power dynamicsQOQQOON/tag/power dynamics #shared humannessQOQQOON/tag/shared humanness #spectatorshipQOQQOON/tag/spectatorship #speechQOQQOON/tag/speech #transformationQOQQOON/tag/transformation
QOQQOON/Performer/Spectator Relationships: A Dynamic of Equilibrium

The relationship between performer and spectator is predicated on physical, temporal, and psychological boundaries—a dynamic of mutual tension, dependency, and consent rooted in the…
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QOQQOON/On Absences
QOQQOON/On AbsencesOn Absences
QOQQOON/On Absences.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
1.7k
#alice b. toklasQOQQOON/tag/alice b. toklas #artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #expertiseQOQQOON/tag/expertise #gertrude steinQOQQOON/tag/gertrude stein #ideal observerQOQQOON/tag/ideal observer #jealousyQOQQOON/tag/jealousy #romantic relationshipsQOQQOON/tag/romantic relationships
QOQQOON/On Absences

In Gertrude Stein’s published version of Stanzas in Meditations, there are no instances of the word ‘may’. There are no months of May or maybes,…
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QOQQOON/Broadcasting as compromise: radio atelier and research art on air
QOQQOON/Broadcasting as compromise: radio atelier and research art on airBroadcasting as compromise: radio atelier and research art on air
QOQQOON/Broadcasting as compromise: radio atelier and research art on air.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
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#artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #artistic paroleQOQQOON/tag/artistic parole #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #broadcastingQOQQOON/tag/broadcasting #cbc/radio-canadaQOQQOON/tag/cbc/radio-canada #communicationQOQQOON/tag/communication #community buildingQOQQOON/tag/community building #community radioQOQQOON/tag/community radio #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #interviewsQOQQOON/tag/interviews #mediaQOQQOON/tag/media #precarityQOQQOON/tag/precarity #public fundingQOQQOON/tag/public funding #radio atelierQOQQOON/tag/radio atelier #research artQOQQOON/tag/research art
QOQQOON/Broadcasting as compromise: radio atelier and research art on air

Children ask questions, amazed by the world; philosophers ask questions, inviting one to develop ideas; police ask questions, framing realities. Questions are never neutral:…
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QOQQOON/Season 1
QOQQOON/Season 1Season 1
QOQQOON/Season 1.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
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#bodiesQOQQOON/tag/bodies #collaborative practiceQOQQOON/tag/collaborative practice #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #narrative threadsQOQQOON/tag/narrative threads #nonhumanQOQQOON/tag/nonhuman #television scriptsQOQQOON/tag/television scripts #truth proceduresQOQQOON/tag/truth procedures #unknownQOQQOON/tag/unknown #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists #xfilesQOQQOON/tag/xfiles
QOQQOON/Season 1

1. Horse jockey painting They called it conduit, and asked her, “Do you know about trout fishing?” God, it’s just like it was before.…
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QOQQOON/Blended Marks
QOQQOON/Blended MarksBlended Marks
QOQQOON/Blended Marks.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
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#art educationQOQQOON/tag/art education #bertolt brechtQOQQOON/tag/bertolt brecht #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #distantiationQOQQOON/tag/distantiation #image-breakerQOQQOON/tag/image-breaker #languageQOQQOON/tag/language #negationQOQQOON/tag/negation #negative markQOQQOON/tag/negative mark
QOQQOON/Blended Marks

From then on, the struggle is, as it were, on the very ground of representation—on the very ground the interpellations of the subject in…
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QOQQOON/Artistic compromise
QOQQOON/Artistic compromiseArtistic compromise
QOQQOON/Artistic compromise.pdfPDF
07/01/2020
4.2k
#adrian piperQOQQOON/tag/adrian piper #andrea fraserQOQQOON/tag/andrea fraser #art economyQOQQOON/tag/art economy #compromiseQOQQOON/tag/compromise #political artQOQQOON/tag/political art
QOQQOON/Artistic compromise

What is selling out? The idea that an artist could betray their own principles, or perhaps abandon something intrinsic to art itself, is an…
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QOQQOON/4 forms of political art
QOQQOON/4 forms of political art4 forms of political art
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01/01/2020
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#adrian piperQOQQOON/tag/adrian piper #aestheticsQOQQOON/tag/aesthetics #allan sekulaQOQQOON/tag/allan sekula #andrea bowersQOQQOON/tag/andrea bowers #andrea fraserQOQQOON/tag/andrea fraser #cameron rowlandQOQQOON/tag/cameron rowland #charles gainesQOQQOON/tag/charles gaines #claire fontaineQOQQOON/tag/claire fontaine #deanna bowenQOQQOON/tag/deanna bowen #ellen lesperanceQOQQOON/tag/ellen lesperance #fred wilsonQOQQOON/tag/fred wilson #joshua schwebelQOQQOON/tag/joshua schwebel #lee lozanoQOQQOON/tag/lee lozano #metaphorQOQQOON/tag/metaphor #metonymyQOQQOON/tag/metonymy #mierle laderman ukelesQOQQOON/tag/mierle laderman ukeles #nadia myreQOQQOON/tag/nadia myre #political artQOQQOON/tag/political art #santiago sierraQOQQOON/tag/santiago sierra #supports/surfacesQOQQOON/tag/supports/surfaces #tehching hsiehQOQQOON/tag/tehching hsieh #teresa margollesQOQQOON/tag/teresa margolles
QOQQOON/4 forms of political art

How does political art achieve political effect? In a moment where artistic activity is overwhelmingly dependent upon financial speculation and algorithmic optimization, the art…
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QOQQOON/In support of meta-art
QOQQOON/In support of meta-artIn support of meta-art
QOQQOON/In support of meta-art.pdfPDF
10/01/1973
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#adrian piperQOQQOON/tag/adrian piper #aestheticsQOQQOON/tag/aesthetics #artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #meta-artQOQQOON/tag/meta-art #subjectivityQOQQOON/tag/subjectivity #writing by artistsQOQQOON/tag/writing by artists
QOQQOON/In support of meta-art

I would like to make a case for a new occupation for artists. This occupation might exist as part of, alongside, or instead of…
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QOQQOON/Art as semiological fact
QOQQOON/Art as semiological factArt as semiological fact
QOQQOON/Art as semiological fact.pdfPDF
01/01/1934
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#aestheticsQOQQOON/tag/aesthetics #artistic paroleQOQQOON/tag/artistic parole #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #communicationQOQQOON/tag/communication #linguisticsQOQQOON/tag/linguistics #semioticsQOQQOON/tag/semiotics
QOQQOON/Art as semiological fact

It is becoming increasingly clear that the framework of the individual consciousness is determined, even in its most intimate levels, by contents which belong…
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QOQQOON/Some key terms: Postconceptualism, the Supplicative Discourse, and Conceptual Materialism
QOQQOON/Some key terms: Postconceptualism, the Supplicative Discourse, and Conceptual MaterialismSome key terms: Postconceptualism, the Supplicative Discourse, and Conceptual Materialism
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01/01/2020
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#conceptual materialismQOQQOON/tag/conceptual materialism #postconceptualismQOQQOON/tag/postconceptualism #supplicative discourseQOQQOON/tag/supplicative discourse
QOQQOON/Some key terms: Postconceptualism, the Supplicative Discourse, and Conceptual Materialism

Postconceptualism As the point at which various artistic movements blur and collapse in service of a global, interconnected art market, postconceptualism can be understood…
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QOQQOON/Metaphoric Exchange and the Discursive Commodity
QOQQOON/Metaphoric Exchange and the Discursive CommodityMetaphoric Exchange and the Discursive Commodity
QOQQOON/Metaphoric Exchange and the Discursive Commodity.pdfPDF
05/01/2019
9.2k
#artistic discourseQOQQOON/tag/artistic discourse #conceptual materialismQOQQOON/tag/conceptual materialism #contiguityQOQQOON/tag/contiguity #exchange-valueQOQQOON/tag/exchange-value #metaphorQOQQOON/tag/metaphor #realismQOQQOON/tag/realism #semioticsQOQQOON/tag/semiotics #speculationQOQQOON/tag/speculation #use-valueQOQQOON/tag/use-value
QOQQOON/Metaphoric Exchange and the Discursive Commodity

1. Supplication and Speculation Because art after conceptualism comprises a mode of production wherein an artwork is nominated rather than crafted—that is, it is…
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QOQQOON/A Delay in the Tangle
QOQQOON/A Delay in the TangleA Delay in the Tangle
QOQQOON/A Delay in the Tangle.pdfPDF
05/01/2019
2.7k
#foldQOQQOON/tag/fold #iconoclasmQOQQOON/tag/iconoclasm #imageQOQQOON/tag/image #representationQOQQOON/tag/representation #transparencyQOQQOON/tag/transparency
QOQQOON/A Delay in the Tangle

Human body, with its capacity for memory, dream, and imagination, [is] as a living medium for images. –Hans Belting, An Anthropology of Images, 2001 In…
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QOQQOON/On Autonomy
QOQQOON/On AutonomyOn Autonomy
QOQQOON/On Autonomy.pdfPDF
05/01/2019
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#asceticismQOQQOON/tag/asceticism #autonomyQOQQOON/tag/autonomy #hegemonyQOQQOON/tag/hegemony #marxQOQQOON/tag/marx #positive libertiesQOQQOON/tag/positive liberties #spinozaQOQQOON/tag/spinoza #trainingQOQQOON/tag/training
QOQQOON/On Autonomy

Autonomy is typically conceptualized as a freedom from external control or influence, a closed, self-perpetuating system operating solely on its own terms. This conception…
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QOQQOON/On Realism in Art
QOQQOON/On Realism in ArtOn Realism in Art
QOQQOON/On Realism in Art.pdfPDF
01/01/1921
3.6k
#condensationQOQQOON/tag/condensation #estrangementQOQQOON/tag/estrangement #legibilityQOQQOON/tag/legibility #realismQOQQOON/tag/realism #russian formalismQOQQOON/tag/russian formalism
QOQQOON/On Realism in Art

Until recently, the history of art, particularly that of literature, has had more in common with causerie than with scholarship. It obeyed all the…
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QOQQOON/A Conversation about Conceptual Art, Subjectivity and the Post-Partum Document
QOQQOON/A Conversation about Conceptual Art, Subjectivity and the Post-Partum DocumentA Conversation about Conceptual Art, Subjectivity and the Post-Partum Document
QOQQOON/A Conversation about Conceptual Art, Subjectivity and the Post-Partum Document.pdfPDF
03/10/1995
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#conceptual artQOQQOON/tag/conceptual art #feminismQOQQOON/tag/feminism #lacanQOQQOON/tag/lacan #metadiscursivityQOQQOON/tag/metadiscursivity #motheringQOQQOON/tag/mothering #procedural workQOQQOON/tag/procedural work
QOQQOON/A Conversation about Conceptual Art, Subjectivity and the Post-Partum Document

Terry Smith: There are very few artists still practicing now whose work, however transformed, remains shaped—in its basic parameters, perhaps—by that moment in the…