
Berlin : Sternberg Press ; Amsterdam : Sandberg Instituut, 2019, 250p. ill. en noir. 21 x 14cm, eng/dut
ISBN : 9783956795138. _ 15,00 €
Sous la dir. de Martijn de Rijk, Thomas Spijkerman
Texte intégral
1The first thing that the reader will realise is that the book solved the dichotomy between languages and matter well beyond Noam Chomsky’s approach. It is possible to read it in Dutch or in English, just by flipping it. It is also possible to start it by visualising Art proposals by opening the book in half. The main message of the editors is thus evident in a physical way: Art is accessible by simple mechanisms. The introduction gives us a glimpse of the origins of this volume, the homonym master. And this view is enticing with actions like a performance at the taxation office or the creation of a museum of Bad Art; a museum that would surely amuse Neil Gaiman considering his “Make good art” statement to younger generations. The master starts the flow, and the following contents are as natural as a conversation with no linear script. Contents develop an exchange that it is first shared by editors and then enhanced by Martijn de Rijk’s discussion of the place of Art in daily life. For the editor, philosophy is the basis for Art’s agency to change life as art can be autonomous and less restricted by predetermined contexts and places. His discussion also seeks for grounding the permanent effect of Art in society, its own presence despite (or against or inside) space, rules and relations with proposals of autonomy that remind those of the tactical urbanism. As from his discourse, the reader will be compelled to wonder if Art smells and breathes. After this dissertation, Thomas Spijkerman opens the floor to other experts by a return letter approach where he opens up a discussion and Heske ten Cate, Lara Staal and Lucas De Man reply (or not) to the pitch. The exercise shows that correspondence is still alive and may have a double function as art (a literature genre) and as a way for art critics. It also connects the reader with the emotions of the book, those of the master and those of its experts. But the main result of the letters is a strong call for action symbolised by Rebecca Solnit’s fungal network concept recalled by Staal (p. 76)–everybody has a role to play in society change and for the artists, it is not minor. Finally, editors close the written part of the book as it started, chatting. Theirs is a profound conclusion on the links between art, reality and time but given to the reader as s/he was part of the conversation. Reinventing Daily Life is the way out of the mirror, the code to hack the system.
Pour citer cet article
Référence électronique
Tamara Espiñeira, « Reinventing Daily Life », Critique d’art [En ligne], Toutes les notes de lecture en ligne, mis en ligne le 30 novembre 2021, consulté le 09 février 2025. URL : http://0-journals-openedition-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/critiquedart/68333 ; DOI : https://0-doi-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/10.4000/critiquedart.68333
Haut de pageDroits d’auteur
Le texte et les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés), sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
Haut de page