Pedigree
Jody Korbach and Robert Olawuyi
Opening: Oct 06, 2022, 7:00 pm
Duration: Oct 07, 2022 – Nov 06, 2022
Photos: Johannes Bendzulla
An exhibition on art and class.
Robert Olawuyi will give a lecture on the new academicism and the old capitalism. His hypothesis: Contemporary art is academic. The abolition of the aesthetic judgment is a necessary consequence of its academic character and its relation to capitalism.
Jody Korbach will show posters and give-aways. Her hypothesis: Nothing helps.
Therefore, all that is left to do is to act and campaign, gamble and bite.
The word “pedigree” connects Olawuyi and Korbachs works, as do the following questions: How are class affiliation and social identity linked to the capitalist system or anti capitalist social movements? How does this work within the art industry?
An academic lecture and its reenactment encounter agitating and soliciting posters.
“I don't want to philosophize over the aesthetic of resistance, I just don't want to ever be poor again. A house, a husband and a dog. Call me a traitor, I can't hear you from up here anyway. The climb was hard enough, I won't allow it all to be de-valued.
How does one find the right tone in a class war? Through language and humor my work attempts to process my own class ascension. One I did not choose and was not aware I needed.
Self pity is hard work.”
Jody Korbach
“Arts academies belong to the western institutions of contemporary art industry. Despite this, we view academic art as a historic phenomenon belonging to the past. The emphasis on a formal description of the academicism of the 19th century overshadows its institutional and social aspects. For this reason, academic art of the 19th century seems to differ from the results of contemporary art production. However, if one looks closely at academicism as an institutional system, there are few differences between the academicism of the 19th century and the system of contemporary art production. This contribution serves to examine the two versions of academicism by means of their structural components. Through comparative analysis we shall identify the systems core components and define the relationship between these component parts as a system of reciprocal confirmation. The results conclude that contemporary art is academic and that the abolition of aesthetic judgment (taste) is a necessary consequence of its academic character and its relation to capitalism."
Robert Olawuyi
