CONTEMPORARY ART IN GLOBALIZATION CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS: ANTAGONISM AND TEMPORALITY

Abstract

This article considers the strategies of art conceptualization in theoretical explorations of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is proposed to critically review the concepts of postmodernism and metamodernism as those that are devoid of heuristic potential and no longer correspond to current theoretical demands. One of the main shortcomings of postmodern theories of art is their lack of understanding of the antagonisms that determine the cultural and political-economic processes of the early 21st century. To break a deadlock of postmodern theories, it is suggested to consider art within theories of modernity and globalization transformations.

Philosophical understanding of globalization is possible if to spatially and temporally clarify its meaning. World concepts are critically reviewed in the modern philosophy of A. Badiou, J.-L. Nancy, E. Glissant and in the art curatorial practices of J.-H.Martin, H.-U.Obrist It is important to distinguish between the understanding of the world as Mondus, which in the historical tradition is connected with finitude, and the geometric interpretation of the world as Globus, which denotes perfection and infinity. Mondialization is accordingly opposed to globalization, as the polyphony of unification. While another approach determines the dependence of globalization on postmodern theories and emphasizes the relevance of the very concept of globalization, which is considered in the temporal dimension.

An alternative to postmodern and metamodern concepts of art can be formed on the basis of the philosophical explorations of P. Osborne and K. Bishop. They define contemporary as the temporality of globalization. Art becomes contemporary when it reproduces the antagonisms between the globality of totalization and the locality of subjective positions, between historical time and the multiplicity of temporalities. As an example of modern art of "double coding", the projects of the fictional art association Atlas Group are considered. Particular attention is paid to curatorial practices within the concept of dialectical contemporaneity by K. Bishop. The researcher opposes the coexistence of multiple temporalities and "presentism", fixation on the present time. It is substantiated that modern art not only represents antagonisms but also performs a prognostic function and constructs a political imaginary.