Hito Steyerl's 'Duty Free Art' critiques art's role in global crises and digital capitalism
In her 2017 work, 'Duty Free Art: Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War,' Hito Steyerl explores the intersections of art with surveillance, financial systems, and technological control. She depicts a connected world grappling with civil unrest and AI encroachment, positing that art frequently acts as a jester for neoliberalism. Steyerl critiques the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the dominance of Web 2.0, blurring the lines between images and reality. Through essays such as 'Is the Internet Dead?' and 'Proxy Politics,' she examines the impact of algorithms on identity, merging humans with machines. Critics highlight her inclination to diminish human agency, raising concerns about passivity toward capital and technology. The book challenges art's commodification and has shaped discussions on post-Internet politics, exposing the flaws in echo-chamber thinking.
Key facts
- Hito Steyerl published 'Duty Free Art: Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War' in 2017
- The book includes essays and public talks critiquing art's role in global surveillance and financialization
- Steyerl references her earlier films 'November' (2004) and 'Lovely Andrea' (2007)
- She analyzes Google's AI machine-learning experiments and algorithmic image production
- Essays like 'Is the Internet Dead?' and 'Proxy Politics' explore human-algorithm interactions
- Steyerl uses Walter Benjamin's 1940 text on the 'Angel of History' in her arguments
- The book discusses art fairs, global megamuseums, and freeport art storage as financialization tools
- Critics note Steyerl's denigration of human agency and lack of future-oriented proposals
Entities
Artists
- Hito Steyerl
- Walter Benjamin
Institutions
- ArtReview