Activism in contemporary art

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When is art ‘political’? Can it redefine the world around it?

This Is Not Art: Activism and Other 'Not-Art' by Alana Jelinek

In recent years contemporary artists and art practices that are supported by funding bodies must prove their social usefulness as well as their artistic merit.  As a result of this, art practices that call themselves ‘activist’ have become part of the same system of neoliberal values as those funding bodies and institutions.  This is one of the key points that Alana Jelinek makes in her overview of activism in contemporary art. 

Jelinek looks at art that is – or claims to be – political. She offers both an analysis and a contemporary perspective on these practices by looking at how art and art practices have been not only been affected by economics but also, crucially, are part of economics.  The 'field' that Jelinek observes is quite a specific one and has an admittedly contemporary 'London bias', whose preoccupations the book aims to reflect.  Given this limitation, This Is Not Art provides a timely critique of the neoliberal values that have become a normal part the contemporary art world, and particularly those art practices that claim to be opposed to ‘traditional’ forms of art.

Jelinek describes how contemporary art mimics the economic structures of privatization, the latter’s values equally affecting both small education projects and large public art projects.  Alongside this, there has been vast growth in Art Fairs and Biennials – which have become a trade in the knowledge economy, excluding any work that is radical or disruptive.  Jelinek goes on to examine the twin legacies of 20th-century art history that have led to ‘life like art’ being seen to be good and ‘artlike art’ being seen as bad – and makes an argument for a more nuanced understanding of these.  In conclusion Jelinek proposes that art is seen as a knowledge-forming discipline, one that is celebrated for what it ‘actually does’, having the possibility to both redefine itself and the world around it.

Jelinek is an artist, writer and academic and many of her concerns come from and support her own approach to art practice.  Whilst this is not a work of survey, and the points of reference are limited those that support Jelinek's argument, this book does outline current debate and thinking on the topic. This is useful, as a prompt to the discussion 'if this is not art, what can art be’? Neither is this a scholarly work in the traditional sense – there is no index or bibliography – but it does form a kind of polemic and is a singular view of the topic, and one which can both provoke and contribute to informed discussion on it.

This Is Not Art: Activism and Other 'Not-Art'  by Alana Jelinek, is published by I.B. Tauris. ISBN: 978 1 84885 857 2 (paperback).