Problem Scenario
‘The Commons’
Consider how the arts and contemporary theory structure “the commons” anew: how the commons becomes both a goal and a trope in post-millennial art and cultural theory.’ (Amy J. Elias)
What is the relationship between art and the commons?
Art can affect and change common in an ideal hypothesis. The combination of art and commons facing the challenge to be in the real world. And this refers to two aspects. Firstly, art is always with unstable profit, the investment into art and common fields may not be enough. As Felix(2021) mentioned in the interview, he doesn’t think that inside the art field the concept of the commons can help much. The art system certainly has a class problem, economically, it’s a high-risk field with lots of up-front investment. Secondly, common usually consist of large-scale social project, but the contemporary art system did not give 1The relationship between art and the commons. From my point of view, art can have a positive effect on the commons today. Art can build systems, developing discursive and aesthetic positions, common. First about the definition of common. The word commoning brings to life the essential social element of the commons (Julie, R., 2021). As historian Peter Linebaugh(2008) raised the term “commoning” in his book The Magna Carta Manifesto, he mentioned that the founding document of Anglo-American democracy repeatedly affirms people’s right to use the commons to fulfill their basic needs. Hence the word “commoning” is used to describe people living in close connection to the commons. Linebaugh(2008) said that the reason use the word is he wanted to create a verb for the commons and to portray it as an activity, not just an idea or material resource. The act of commoning draws on a network of relationships made under the expectation that we will each take care of one another and with a shared understanding that some things belong to all of us—which is the essence of the commons itself. The practice of commoning demonstrates a shift in thinking from the prevailing ethic of “you’re on your own” to “we’re in this together.” Also, Julie(2021) defined that commoning represents a new way for everyday citizens to make decisions and take action to shape the future of their communities without being locked into the profit-driven mechanics of the market or being solely dependent on government agencies for funding. However, most folks who make these kinds of decisions probably don’t call their actions “commoning”; instead they may simply think of their actions as “common sense.” As common is to bring social power together, art has the possibility to not only envision or proclaim ideas in theory but also to realize them materially. As Cornelia, S., Felix S. ,and Shusha N, (2021) take examples from a feminist server, an art space located in a public park in North London, a ‘pirate’ library of high cultural value yet dubious legal status, and an art school that emphasizes collectivity. They all exemplified that art can play an essential role in imagining and producing a really quite different from what is currently hegemonic.
What are the limitations and the possibilities of exploring this theme within and through contemporary art practice and theory?
The combination of art and commons facing the challenge to be in the real world. And this refers to two aspects. Firstly, art is always with unstable profit, the investment into art and common fields may not be enough. As Felix(2021) mentioned in the interview, he doesn’t think that inside the art field the concept of the commons can help much. The art system certainly has a class problem, economically, it’s a high-risk field with lots of up-front investment. Secondly, common usually consist of large-scale social project, but the contemporary art system did not give encouragement to collaboration. The art structure has always been bound to the notions of the individual creator and private property. Because certain people receive more attention than others, for example, hierarchies create amongst collaborators over time. This system not only discouraged cooperation but also created lots of problems within existing processes of cooperation. As few amounts of collective projects in the field of art have been sustainable, the common is difficult to implement through art.
On the other hand, there are possibilities to tackle the problem mentioned before. Firstly, from the financial tend, although some art projects lack investment and other support, there is still part of artists who can do what they find relevant and exciting and do not need to worry about surviving this particular attention economy. Cornelia, S (2021) pointed out that, the ones who produce art are also the ones who consume/view art, both are elitist to some extent, which is why it is of interest to look at aesthetic practices that do not have to rely on the narrow demands of the art world. As a result, the commons may help insofar as they are an encouragement to start from what artists recognized the public needs are and try to achieve it instead of thinking about in which way can art survive. The part of artists can carry on their influence through art and common. Secondly, from the theme and collaborative perspective, there are still many examples of cooperation in the art world, and some different logic comes in common. Although most of the time art world shows a small interest in large-scale social change. On the contrary, art’s purpose always has been to foster and celebrate individual freedom of the bourgeois subject and thus provide the basis for capitalist exploitation(Anon 2021). But art is complex and counter-tendencies do exist in parallel, we can encourage cooperation between the artist with some spontaneous institutions. For example, some long traditions of ‘artist-run’ institutions, such as Furtherfield4 in London, are drawing heavily on the notion of the commons and adapting D.I.Y to D.I.W.O: instead of do-it-yourself, do-it-with-others. (Anon 2021)
Reflection
We take Cornelia, S., Felix S., and Shusha N.’s book as a reference, According to their interests in what can be made visible by applying the framework of the commons as a heuristic device. We explore the Glasgow Women’Library as a sample. It’s s study on the subject of women and a trip about feminism in common. Everyone arranges their own part to build commonality with art way. Glasgow Women’Library is the only Accredited Museum dedicated to women’s history in the whole of the UK. With Diverse and rich collections of books, archive materials, and objects (including posters, banners, photographs, artworks, t-shirts, postcards, and badges) from the nineteenth century to the present day. We explore the positive impact of the common in women’s library, like pronto the development of gender equality awareness in parts of the region or in society as a whole. Followed by some advantages and disadvantages, then come to our concept of building an exhibition and club in the library. The exhibition and club consisted of our work based on women.
After our presentation, we gained some advice from our tutor and peers. The most important is that we could spend more time on building the structure of the art in common, indeed we do ignore this part. Like the idea in concept, the relation, physical sources, organizational and performative important theory basic for us to build the common. We need to pay more attention to some essential references and theoretical structures to support our project next time.
We did explorations and presentations on this amazing trip, and each member allocate one part.
We post our artwork about femininity to construct the common in Glasgow women’s library.
Reference
Anon Aesthetics, Commons and the Production of the Subject: An Interview with Cornelia Sollfrank and Felix Stalder. [Online] 16 (1), 2021. .https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_c325412659574af5832f2ea77f3b3bbb&context=PC&vid=44UOE_INST:44UOE_VU2&lang=en&search_scope=UoE&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Aesthetics%20of%20the%20Commons&offset=0
Linebaugh, Peter. The Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and Commons for All. 1st ed. University of California Press, 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pp4q2.
Cornelia Sollfrank, Felix Stalder, and Shusha Niederberger. Aesthetics of the Commons.University of Chicago Press,2021. https://www.diaphanes.net/titel/aesthetics-of-the-commons-6419
Julie Ristau. What is Commoning, Anyway? [Online] ,2011.https://www.onthecommons.org/work/what-commoning-anyway
18th November 2022 at 6:08 pm
Your submission shows an engagement with some of the key texts explored as part of your work during this sprint and it is good to see you bringing more of the theoretical material into your work.
However, there is a significant issue with how you are using this work in this post. This is really important to address for two main reasons:
The first is that as it is currently presented, this submission would be understood as plagiarism which is a form of academic misconduct. Although you have included references to some of the sources you have looked at, it is not clear that most of your writing is actually a large passage from this; rather it presents as your own writing. Anytime you quote directly – copy the words as they are written in your source material – you have to use quotation marks to indicate to the reader that this is not your writing. There is more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it in on pgs. 21-23 of the course handbook (https://uoe.sharepoint.com/sites/hss/eca/handbook/Shared%20Documents/Forms/Grouped%20by%20category.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2Fhss%2Feca%2Fhandbook%2FShared%20Documents%2FContemporary%20Art%20Theory%20MA%20Programme%20Handbook%202022%2D23%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2Fhss%2Feca%2Fhandbook%2FShared%20Documents). There is also some good guidance on referencing provided by the Institute for Academic Development here (https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/undergraduate/good-practice/referencing).
The second reason that this is an issue is because by not including any of your own writing or thinking you are not demonstrating the skills of reflection and critical analysis which are central to what you are graded on. The Reflector’s Toolkit is a good guide to critical reflection which you may find useful (https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit).
Before you submit your portfolio for assessment you should address these issues. The two resources you have drawn on here are good but you should work on engaging with the ideas in them critically. Drawing on your field trip would also be interesting. How did your experience of visiting the Womens’ Library relate to these ideas? Can you apply the concept of commoning to this organisation? If so, how?
24th November 2022 at 7:49 pm
The blogger responded positively to the relationship between art and the commons and the limitations of exploring the subject of the commons, and backed up your points with some quotes from the literature. You concluded with a reflection on the content of your basho group’s research. However, I felt that the reflection section could have been more specific, such as why you wanted to think about the commons from a women’s perspective, what the connections are, and what the limitations are for the future development of women’s libraries.
29th November 2022 at 12:26 pm
i like how you have situated much research into the art economy and how cycles of approval and acclaim are set by institutions to deem what is worthy of being within a gallery space. the big use of examples and references are spoken of in a way that creates an argument for your own ideas of the Commons of the Commons more generally. it would be interesting to know if visiting Glasgow Womens Library changed your thoughts around this or how it fits into your research. you have highlighted the difficulty of working collaboratively or creating a Commons within the art/gallery world which would be a reason for it being all the more important to research and create.
6th December 2022 at 5:30 pm
The author’s perspective is very original is a dimension I had never considered before. Art not only conceives or announces ideas theoretically, but can realize them materially. Collective projects in the field of art are rarely sustainable and difficult to implement through art. It is pointed out that the people who create art are also the ones who consume the art that is viewed.
11th December 2022 at 6:24 pm
The author describes his own interpretation and understanding of the problem scenario, and it is worthwhile for me to see a record of a practical trip to the field for this purpose, with a rational division of labour and reflection by each group member.