New Historical Poetics in Art Biennials. Art and Social Action

Abstract

We live in complex and contradictory times. This article analyzes the manifestation of that complexity in social action art, focusing on a core element, namely, time. First, the article presents the main models of temporality applied to our society. The first model refers to our everyday experience of time; the second, to historical temporality; and the third, to models of overarching trends in our society. To organize this topography, I have followed the scheme used by Ricoeur in Time and Narrative. Ricoeur argues that the different models of time are not compatible but complementary. In this article I transfer Ricoeur’s analysis to art. I claim that contemporary art manifests the [prevailing??] contradictory views of time and the related social tensions, without reconciling them. To develop this idea further, I analyse the temporal structure of artistic forms such as appropriation, performance and participation. These forms appear in the two artistic projects I analyse at the end of the article as representative examples from documenta 14 in Kassel: The Mill of Blood and The society of friends of Halit. Though very different in themselves, these projects have two things in common: they both unfold temporal aporía and in so doing throw social and historical conflicts into relief; and they both break new ground by seeking a pragmatic solution to those conflicts.