Autonomy, authority, authenticity
“All art is committed art, and autonomous art does not exist, anymore than an autonomous view. Everything is related to the world around it, to the reality around it” [1]
“Being taken seriously means missing out on the chance to be frivolous, promiscuous, and irrelevant. The desire to be taken seriously is precisely what compels people to follow the tried and true paths of knowledge production around which I would like to map a few detours. Indeed, terms like serious and rigorous tend to be code words, in academia as well as other context. For disciplinary correctness: they signal a form of training and learning that confirms what is already known according to approved methods of knowing, but they do not allow for visionary insights or flights of fancy.”[2]
‘You can’t isolate art from the surroundings in which it was created, just as much as you can’t isolate the artist out of the world he or she lives in”
"Authenticity is about embracing and appropriating. You can see collaborations as a pure form of authenticity, because the individual idea dissolves. […] I now think: everything belongs to everyone and every work of art is in a sense born of a collaboration. "[3]
“The autonomy of everybody is disappearing […] So, it’s the idea of autonomy which is disappearing”[4]
[1] Volkskrant.
[2] Halberstam
[3] Aukje Dekker
[4] Halsall
(hence autonomy is dead) ?
However, it seems to also take the fun out of art or life I think, it leaves so little space for humour or pleasure.
I have never been in a context in which I am not a student. This means learning.
What happens after you are not a student anymore? What happens to learning. Are you learning when you are failing and can failing be a positive outcome? But then it is not failing anymore.
What is the role of the Other on the whole concept of learning and failing? Do you need others and their reaction or interaction with them in order to learn or fail?
To what extent do I 'arm' myself by 'using' other people in my work and give them the role as an authority? Should I become an authority myself? I think that by definition you are in a vulnerable position when you want something from someone else.
What about context?