de duve
When Form has become Attitude - and Beyond
- Thierry de Duve
In his text: “ When Form has Become Attitude and Beyond” Thierry de Duve presents his argument on the relationship between competing ideologies in art schools and a comprehensive overview of this competition delicately alluded to through his headings for each section; ‘Talent vs. Creativity’, ‘Metier vs. Medium’, ‘Imitation vs. Invention’ etc.
Published in 1994, De Duve strives to create a feeling of combat with which have been now differentiated as very different subject areas; the smashing together of these ideologies which may now present an argument feeling like the planting of dogs in a cattery. These things can be attributed to as ‘Contemporary Art’ and ‘Whatever the hell everyone else is doing.’
In his essay he heads a section “Talent and Creativity vs. Attitude,” this refers to the rise of Attitude as “- what had started as an ideological alternative to both talent and creativity, called ‘critical attitude’, became just that, an attitude, a stance, a pose, a contrivance.” Harsh. This statement cuts deep, not just with it’s contriving sense of adjective. It shows us something important that is inherent to modern ‘current art’ (everybody else?), a term raised by Liam Gillick, who himself heralds the personification of counter argument of a great many of de Duve’s assumptions of dismay and disbelief in the future of art institutions. I am not discounting de Duve entirely, I found his reading interesting and informative, though I believe it to be somewhat cranky.
Gillick was born in 1964 and graduated Goldsmith’s in 1987, the same Goldsmiths that along with Cal Arts and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design formed the idea of ‘Critical Attitude’ sometime in the late 70s to 80s.(pg27). Liam Gillick’s essay ‘Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place.’ (eflux journal:21, 2010) presents a much more cohesive and current version of the understanding of the movement and time of which we inhabit. “Duchamp is the grandfather—the ultimate contemporary artist, forefronting questions of how much to produce and when rather than what to produce, while secretly producing what could easily have been made public. This has led to an endlessly produced white noise of semi-newness linked to a general withholding of work, which is seen as an affirmative neurotic leisure.”
Gillick was born in 1964 and graduated Goldsmith’s in 1987, the same Goldsmiths that along with Cal Arts and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design formed the idea of ‘Critical Attitude’ sometime in the late 70s to 80s.(pg27). Liam Gillick’s essay ‘Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place.’ (eflux journal:21, 2010) presents a much more cohesive and current version of the understanding of the movement and time of which we inhabit. “Duchamp is the grandfather—the ultimate contemporary artist, forefronting questions of how much to produce and when rather than what to produce, while secretly producing what could easily have been made public. This has led to an endlessly produced white noise of semi-newness linked to a general withholding of work, which is seen as an affirmative neurotic leisure.”
This open relationship with information and production that current art school students have with the outside world of influence and theory is in my mind the strongest and more stringent attitude that one could take in any attempt to make sense of Contemporary Art in any sort of progressive means. The opportunity of open learning and consistent abstract competition is perfect for creating exactly the type of neurotic vessels of contemporary/current culture that the world so needs.
Thierry de Duve “When Form Has Become Attitude-And Beyond”(1994), Theory in contemporary art since 1945, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005, pp.19-31.
Gillick, Liam. “Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place” E-Flux Journal Number 21. December 2010.
http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/192
Thierry de Duve “When Form Has Become Attitude-And Beyond”(1994), Theory in contemporary art since 1945, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005, pp.19-31.
Gillick, Liam. “Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place” E-Flux Journal Number 21. December 2010.
http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/192
