Marina Vishmidt Analyzes Labour's 'Second Appearance' in Art via Jeff Wall, Allan Sekula, and Yvonne Rainer
In her 2008 essay featured in Afterall Journal 19, Marina Vishmidt examines the resurgence of labor in contemporary art, referring to it as a 'second appearance,' a concept introduced by Jeff Wall during his 2006 Hermes Lecture in 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Wall posits that art can reflect social institutions, thereby broadening artistic practices. Vishmidt connects this idea to the diminishing visibility of labor, scrutinizing Allan Sekula's 2007 documenta 12 piece 'Shipwreck and Workers' in Kassel, Germany, alongside Mika Rottenberg's 2006 video 'Dough.' She also mentions exhibitions such as 'WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution' and 'Global Feminisms,' while discussing the nominalism in conceptual art and referencing theorists like Karl Marx. The essay contends that the interaction between art and labor highlights the conflict between commodification and critique.
Key facts
- Jeff Wall delivered the Hermes Lecture 'Depiction, Object, Event' in 's Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands on October 29, 2006.
- Allan Sekula's 'Shipwreck and Workers' was exhibited at documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany in 2007.
- Mika Rottenberg created the video installation 'Dough' in 2006.
- Yvonne Rainer developed the 'task' in choreography, notably in 'Trio A' from 1966.
- Marina Vishmidt's essay was published in Afterall Journal 19 on May 12, 2008.
- Exhibitions like 'WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution' occurred at Los Angeles MOCA and P.S.1, New York in 2007.
- Rachel Baker's 'Art of Work: Temporary Recruitment Agency for Artists' took place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London in 1999.
- Jens Haaning's 'Middelburg Summer' transplanted a textile factory into an art centre in 1996.
Entities
Artists
- Marina Vishmidt
- Jeff Wall
- Allan Sekula
- Mika Rottenberg
- Yvonne Rainer
- Andy Warhol
- Thierry de Duve
- Constantin Meunier
- Mary Kelly
- Kay Hunt
- Margaret Harrison
- Martha Rosler
- Mierle Laderman Ukeles
- Rachel Baker
- Rachel Koolen
- Tatiana Trouvé
- Jens Haaning
- Charlie Chaplin
- Rube Goldberg
- Peter Fischli
- David Weiss
- Daniel Buren
- John Latham
- Barbara Steveni
- Fredric Jameson
- Giorgio Agamben
- Paolo Virno
- Mario Tronti
- Jean-François Lyotard
- Theodor W. Adorno
- Walter Benjamin
- Karl Marx
- Clement Greenberg
- Michael Fried
- Helen Molesworth
- Alejandra Riera
- Catherine Wood
- Lucille Ball
- Antonio Negri
- Jacques Rancière
Institutions
- Afterall
- Hermes Lecture
- documenta
- Los Angeles MOCA
- P.S.1
- Brooklyn Museum of Art
- Van Abbemuseum
- Fundació Antoni Tàpies
- Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
- South London Gallery
- Artist Placement Group
- Studio International
- MIT Press
- Verso
- Generali Foundation
- Lukas & Sternberg
- Semiotext(e)
- University of Minnesota Press
- Afterall Books
- Santa Barbara Museum of Art
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt
- Radical Philosophy
- Radical America
- Inventory
- dark matters
- October
- Mute
- Old Boys Network
Locations
- 's Hertogenbosch
- Netherlands
- Kassel
- Germany
- Los Angeles
- United States
- New York
- Eindhoven
- Barcelona
- Spain
- London
- United Kingdom
- Paris
- France
- Middelburg
- Frankfurt
- Hamburg
- Santa Barbara
- Cambridge
- Vienna
- Austria
- Minneapolis
Sources
- Afterall —