The art market boom of the last few years triggered a series of pressing questions before the initial signs of the global financial crisis threatened to spill over into this sphere. These interrogations seem to lead us beyond purely economic considerations, not merely in terms of the cult and fetishistic character of artistic commodities, but also taking into account art’s increasingly comprehensive range of functions. How can it be, for example, that nowadays art and the production of culture are viewed as a veritable panacea in many spheres of life and social interaction? How does it come to pass that art not only assumes the role of purportedly being nothing but a disinterested instrument used simply for decorative purposes, in both the private and the public sphere, whilst at the same time its critical potential is also increasingly exposed to utilitarian interests? What ultimately distinguishes modernism’s traditional clients – museums, exhibition centres, biennales, art societies – from the oligarchic structures that are acquiring an ever-stronger foothold in the art business nowadays?
»Art on Demand« examines the diverse structures of vested interests underpinning the ubiquitous validation of art that we can observe these days. The notion of freedom continues to play a central role in this context, with reference to the processes of creation and dissemination and indeed critical reception. In her essay Beti Zerovc conducts a critical analysis of the concept of the freedom that is manifest (or presumed) in the aesthetic, concentrating too on the question of how this ideologeme, which appears to be actively involved even in the most »critical« works, plays into the hands of global capitalism in its current prevailing form. Alessandro Ludovico takes a similar starting point for his considerations on aspects of the market, value and price, although today the idea of a trading place free of constraints is still a key prerequisite for art to develop freely, whilst production »beyond the reach of market considerations« is hard to imagine.
In this context the spotlight is turned on two geographic areas in particular, namely Africa and Asia. In her comparative study on the biennales in Gwangju and Shanghai, both held last year, Anna Schneider explores the different forms of contextualisation in the two major events and considers how they are embedded in the world of politics in the wake of the Asian biennale boom. Coming at the question from somewhat different angles that neatly complement each other, Khwezi Gule and Sharlene Khan explore the notorious problem of hoisting art from African countries onto a global stage without succumbing to excessively »Westernising« tendencies in the process. The pitfalls in connection with what is dubbed »supermarket curatorship« and a »gatekeeping mentality« (be it intentional or unintentional) put validation of the art affected by these phenomena firmly in its place, contained within the bounds of ongoing representation by the Other. An on-the-spot report from the increasingly lively art scene in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, offers insights into the ways in which budding production is constrained by local demands and situation-specific conditions, which often leaves the Western gaze hanging in a void or turns it back upon its own blind spots.
However, over and above these issues, »Art on Demand« also explores the possibilities of non-instrumentalised structures of distribution and critical reception. The situation facing »non-collectable« art, in this case an Australian project critiquing the art market, is voiced along with the rediscovered oeuvre – equally difficult to collect – of Polish artist Pawel Freisler. His central works circle around non-repeatable actions, the genesis of fabricated legends and undocumented activities running a gallery, and demonstrate emphatically the contingent circumstances that generally impinge on art when it does not seek to respond to »demand«.