23 Jan 2017

Call for Papers: Kunstlicht: Journal for Art, Visual Culture & Architecture

In this time of tumultuous politics, the upcoming issue of Kunstlicht will consider the strategies and methods by which artists engage with subversion to unveil, resist, or transform structures of power.

Writing on the activities of the Situationist International in 1957, Guy Debord argued that subversive ideas were forbidden access to public discourse as a result of the 'rigged game of official culture'. Yet subversive ideas, by means of pure suppression, may only grow in influence. In order to disempower them, Debord argues, '[t]he ruling ideology arranges the trivialization of subversive discoveries, and widely circulates them after sterilization'. This recuperation of subversion into spectacle is a reality with which critical artistic practice must contend.

As philosopher Chantal Mouffe has noted, today 'artistic critique has become an important element of capitalist productivity'. As such, art is implicated in regimes of social control and the consolidation of capital. But (how) can it be called upon to subvert these regimes? Artists like Martha Rosler, with works that combine disparate images such as 'House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home' (1967-72, 2004-08) and 'If It's Too Bad to be True, It Could be Disinformation' (1985), or Elizabeth Sisco, Louis Hock, and David Avalos who collaborate on public projects such as 'Welcome to America's Finest Tourist Plantation' (1988) or 'Art Rebate' (1993) that engage directly with media to shape the discourse they generate, continue to devise strategies to generate critical reflection despite the treacherous nature of the terrain.

Kunstlicht invites contributions that focus on specific case studies (past or present), as well as theory-based discussions on subversion in art. How can art be subversive and what does it effectively subvert? How do historic, cultural, or socioeconomic circumstances influence approaches to subversion, and how does the controversy it generates effect its potential? Is the subversive quality of an artwork intrinsically connected to its context, or is it possible for a work to continue to be subversive, or to become subversive, in new contexts? With such questions in mind, this issue seeks to explore subversion in relation to artistic practice, and the factors that must be considered when making an artwork that may threaten reigning hegemonies.

Proposals (200-300 words) with attached résumés can be submitted to redactie@tijdschriftkunstlicht.nl. Selected authors will be invited to write a 2,000-3,000 word paper (excluding notes). Papers may be written either in English or in Dutch.

Authors who publish in Kunstlicht will receive three complementary copies. Kunstlicht does not provide an author's honorarium. Two years following publication, papers will be submitted to the freely accessible online archive. This issue will appear in print, and additionally a selection of articles published online.