Gabriel Kuri
Publicists, Manifesto Pushers, Propagandists | What Happened to the Avant-Garde?
Gabriel Kuri
It’s commonplace to note that sociopolitical upheaval and artistic experimentation often flourish side by side. But today — despite an alleged “polycrisis” — new modes of cultural production don’t seem to be emerging. Three years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent George Floyd rebellion, the arts seem stagnant and stubbornly centralized: franchise fare dominates at the box office; literary output is hampered by monopolized publishers; even...
Aesthetics in Purgatory
Gabriel Kuri
It is pretty difficult to say something about the necessity and possibility of radicality — the kind that fueled the avant-garde — that doesn’t sound either scripted or pessimistic. But it cannot be understated that the sustained cohesion necessary to build vanguard movements feels increasingly unlikely; today, the menace of instantaneous visibility seems to promptly unravel artistic intent. The period of germination for anything that thrives on ambiguity, contradiction, or...
