Sven Lütticken on Social Art Practice and (In)Visibility
In a 2015 essay for Afterall, Sven Lütticken examines contemporary social art practice as an expanded form of institutional critique that creates alter-institutional and para-institutional organizations. He discusses projects like Ahmet Öğüt's Bakunin's Barricade (2014) at the Van Abbemuseum, Jonas Staal's New World Summit and New World Academy, Renzo Martens's Institute for Human Activities, Tania Bruguera's Immigrant Movement International, and The Silent University. Lütticken argues these practices navigate between art and activism, using media and pedagogy to address issues of visibility and invisibility. He critiques Martens's IHA for glossing over contradictions, while praising Staal's 2015 exhibition at Centraal Museum for articulating the tension between visibility and algorithmic opacity. The essay connects these practices to the 2015 Maagdenhuis occupation in Amsterdam, where protesters requested Öğüt's barricade. Lütticken draws on theorists from Marx to Rancière, emphasizing that aesthetic practice thrives on the ambiguity between political promise and artistic autonomy.
Key facts
- Essay published on 23 September 2015 by Afterall
- Written by Sven Lütticken
- Discusses Ahmet Öğüt's Bakunin's Barricade (2014) at Van Abbemuseum
- References Jonas Staal's New World Summit and New World Academy
- Mentions Renzo Martens's Institute for Human Activities
- References Tania Bruguera's Immigrant Movement International
- Discusses The Silent University by Ahmet Öğüt
- Mentions the 2015 Maagdenhuis occupation in Amsterdam
- References Saskia Sassen's lecture 'How to Be Seen' (2015)
- Discusses Hito Steyerl's video How Not to Be Seen (2013)
- References the We Are Here group and We Are Here Academy
- Mentions the Centraal Museum exhibition of New World Academy (2015)
- References the work of artists Trevor Paglen and James Bridle
- Discusses the use of human microphone at Occupy Wall Street and Maagdenhuis
- References the media theory collective Bilwet (ADILKNO)
- Discusses the Ideological Guide to the Venice Biennale (2013) by Staal
- References the MayDay Rooms in London
- Discusses the Institute for Human Activities' conference in DRC with Richard Florida via Skype
- References the work of Andreas Siekmann with domestic workers
- Discusses the concept of 'invisible' in relation to migrants and refugees
Entities
Artists
- Sven Lütticken
- Ahmet Öğüt
- Mikhail Bakunin
- Guy Debord
- Jonas Staal
- Renzo Martens
- Tania Bruguera
- Fernando García-Dory
- Annette Krauss
- Elke Uitentuis
- Ernst van den Hemel
- Marion von Osten
- Hans Haacke
- Hito Steyerl
- Trevor Paglen
- James Bridle
- Andreas Siekmann
- Richard Florida
- Saskia Sassen
- Jacques Rancière
- David Graeber
- Nicolas Bourriaud
- Friedrich Schiller
- Charles Fourier
- August von Cieszkowski
- Ludwig Feuerbach
- Karl Marx
- Bertolt Brecht
- Walter Benjamin
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger
- Félix Guattari
- Raymond Williams
- Alexander Galloway
- Georges Didi-Huberman
- Bernard Stiegler
- Jean Baudrillard
- Upton Sinclair
- Joseph Beuys
- Rudi Dutschke
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Vilém Flusser
Institutions
- Afterall
- Van Abbemuseum
- New World Summit
- New World Academy
- Institute for Human Activities
- Immigrant Movement International
- The Silent University
- We Are Here Academy
- Centraal Museum
- BAK (Utrecht)
- Casco – Office for Art, Design and Theory
- 16 Beaver
- MayDay Rooms
- L'Internationale
- Cluster
- ruangrupa
- CAMP (Mumbai)
- Guggenheim
- Gulf Labor
- Occupy Wall Street
- University of Amsterdam
- VU University Amsterdam
- Middlesex University
- National Security Agency
- Pirate Party
- Zentrum für Politische Schönheit
- Barry Callebaut
- Unilever
- Skype
Locations
- Eindhoven
- Netherlands
- Dresden
- Germany
- Caracas
- Venezuela
- Jakarta
- Indonesia
- Mumbai
- India
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Utrecht
- Amsterdam
- Venice
- Italy
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Abu Dhabi
- United Arab Emirates
- Syria
- Philippines
- Azawad
- Mali
Sources
- Afterall —