Expropriation as Art Practice

After Enlightenment philosopher John Locke referred to the human psyche as a "white paper, void of all characters" in 1689, he made an analogous argument for his natural history of property, in which labor effected upon the blank tablet of a world gifted by God to all men was what granted...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Esse 2019-10, Vol.97, p.42-49
Main Author: Flores, David AJ Murrieta
Format: Article
Language:eng ; fre
Subjects:
Art exhibits
Art history
Husni-Bey, Adelita
Visual artists
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:After Enlightenment philosopher John Locke referred to the human psyche as a "white paper, void of all characters" in 1689, he made an analogous argument for his natural history of property, in which labor effected upon the blank tablet of a world gifted by God to all men was what granted any individual the right to a land and its fruits. Thus, what Adelita Husni-Bey is mobilizing in this series of works is fundamentally connected to appropriation, although the concept has often been used to mean, more generally, "reproduction," sometimes reduced through the art-historical lens to "an art-world movement, a style, or a strategy. Here, Flores shares how to make a possible outline for the exploration of appropriation as an art-historical concept that cannot be dissociated from its economic and political background with regard to property.
ISSN:0831-859X
1929-3577