Hal Foster's 'What Comes After the Farce?' Examines Art in the Trump Era and Brazilian Parallels

Hal Foster's 2023 book 'What Comes After the Farce?' uses Karl Marx's observation about history repeating as tragedy then farce to analyze the final years of Donald Trump's U.S. presidency. While not addressing the pandemic or Trump's 2020 defeat, the publication explores implications for art and criticism. Foster identifies #MeToo (2017), Black Lives Matter (2013), and Occupy Wall Street (2011) as essential movements for rethinking art systems, arguing cultural institutions must insist on ethical codes. He discusses the concept of 'cynical reason,' developed by Peter Sloterdijk and likened to support for Trump and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro. The book examines funding sources, citing Nan Goldin's P.A.I.N. campaign against Sackler family patronage, and proposes an 'ethical aesthetic' for institutional conduct. Foster highlights a shift from deconstruction to reconstruction in art, citing Forensic Architecture, Harun Farocki, and Hito Steyerl. The text, though focused on the U.S.-Europe axis, invites transposition to Brazil, questioning the credibility of institutions like the São Paulo Biennale when its president's bank, Credit Suisse, hosts pro-Bolsonaro events. The conclusion asserts 'nothing is guaranteed; everything is struggle.'