Biting the hand that feeds. Vandalism and violence in Russian art of the ‘nineties.

Throughout its history Modernism has been marked by significant moments of self-doubt. Leftist critiques of utopian or redemptive pretensions have emanated from a diversity of sources (Adorno, Hadjinicolau,  Laing, Basani). It is therefore not surprising that Bourriaud’s proposal that the art world serve as a kind of experimental laboratory for the rehearsal of equitable and generous models of social exchange has been accompanied by a rival inclination to counter such ‘spurious reconciliation’ with aggressively acrimonious art and action.

The Russian artists Alexander Brener and Oleg Kulik have developed practices premised on the need to maintain a sceptical distance from the sanctified spaces in which they work. They are thus obliged to deal with the fact that they are dependent on the very institutional structures that they oppose. It is this tension that lends their art its restless and unsettled character.
 
Dr David McNeill, School of Art History and Theory, UNSW.