Summary
Claire Bishop’s *Artificial Hells* argues that the widely held belief that participatory art, also called "social practice" in the US, automatically fosters emancipatory social relations is flawed. She critiques the political and aesthetic ambitions of this art form, which gained traction from the 1990s onward, and challenges the primarily ethical criteria often used to evaluate it.
The book offers a historical and theoretical overview of socially engaged art, tracing its development through key moments in 20th-century art history, including Futurism, Dada, the Situationist International, Happenings, the Community Arts Movement, and the Artists Placement Group. Bishop examines contemporary projects by artists like Thomas Hirschhorn and Tania Bruguera, advocating for a more nuanced approach to art and politics that encourages bolder, more compelling, and perhaps troubling, forms of participatory art and criticism.
Key concepts
- Socially engaged participatory art — A form of art that involves the audience taking part, often championed for its potential to promote emancipatory social relations.
- Social practice — The term used in the US for socially engaged participatory art.
- Emancipatory social relations — The idea that participatory art can create new and liberating social connections.
- Political ambitions of participatory art — The goals and aims associated with using art to enact political change.
- Ethical criteria for artworks — Standards used to judge art based on its moral implications rather than purely artistic merit.
- Participatory aesthetic — The characteristic qualities and visual elements of art that involves audience participation.
From the book
Description: This searing critique of participatory art—from its development to its political ambitions—is “an essential title for contemporary art history scholars and students as well as anyone who has . . . thought, ‘Now that’s art!’ or ‘That’s art?’” (Library Journal) Since the 1990s, critics and curators have broadly accepted the notion that participatory art is the ultimate political art: that by encouraging an audience to take part an artist can promote new emancipatory social relations. Around the world, the champions of this form of expression are numerous, ranging from art historians such as Grant Kester, curators such as Nicolas Bourriaud and Nato Thompson, to performance theorists such as Shannon Jackson. Artificial Hells is the first historical and theoretical overview of…
Snippet: Artificial Hells is the first historical and theoretical overview of socially engaged participatory art, known in the US as “social practice.” Claire Bishop follows the trajectory of twentieth-century art and examines key moments in the ...