disobedience in byelorussia: self-interrogation on research-based art by sean snyder

8/7/2019 Disobedience in Byelorussia: Self-Interrogation on Research-Based Art by Sean Snyder

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Sean Snyder

Disobedience inByelorussia:

Self-Interrogation onÒResearch-Based ArtÓ

Good evening, I'm in charge of security for El

Al, do you speak Hebrew?

In the art world, people don't entirely know whatthey are talking about. They ask a lot ofquestions. It's not that people don't know whatthey already know, but rather that they want toknow something more in order to do the next

thing Ð and somehow get it right. That's enoughof a reminder that you might have something tosay, and that at some point it might make sense.It is in fact those who ask questions who makethe entire mechanism function.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThe single most interesting discussion Ihave had about art was not with an artist,curator, critic, or the like, but with an El Alsecurity officer a few years ago when I wasdetained and subsequently escorted onto a flightto Tel Aviv. I really messed up when I mentionedthat I never intended to be an artist. As it turned

out, the interrogator was himself an artist, or,more precisely, a cartoonist.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊDuring the flight, I was separated from mylaptop. When asked, I didn't think to mentionthat it contained a folder of al-Qaeda videosclearly marked as such. Only later did I considerthe possible consequences of my curiosities,which would have been more than difficult tojustify as Òartistic research.Ó

Are these your only bags? Do you have any

weapons or sharp items in your luggage? Is

this laptop yours? If I were to look at your

laptop, what would I find on it?

I know what I said because I immediatelytranscribed what I remembered from the seriesof interrogations as soon as I arrived at my hotel.I have since tried to figure out why I said what Isaid, which I will try to clarify here in the presenttense by returning to the original questions in theform of self-interrogation. Although I wasfamiliar with El Al's procedures Ð another redflag for the interrogator Ð I suppose that whatstruck me most was that I became annoyed at

having the same ritualistic conversations youend up having when participating in artexhibitions.

Where do you live? What sort of art do you

make? What are you trying to say?

I have often placed myself in precarioussituations in order to access information andimages for my work. I have been thrown out ofplaces, been arrested, had cameras confiscated,have faked journalist credentials, paid bribes,

and so on. A compulsion? A Òresearch-based artpracticeÓ? Well, more the former, supported by

e-flux journal #5 Ñ april 2009 Ê Sean Snyder

Disobedience in B

yelorussia: Self-Interrogation on ÒResearch-Based ArtÓ

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Mass Wedding Ceremony, Unification Church, South Korea, 2000.

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the notion of the latter.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊArt is facilitated by responsiblepractitioners that frame art. And artists are oftenbound to their own caricature. The stereotypesare well known: savant, creative, hysteric,convoluted, contradictory, and so on. However,the institution also has its connotations: mentalfacility, the state, government, social order, andso forth.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAs I write, I will not assume the role of theartist, but more that of a cartoonist. I will enter astate of psychosis for a few days in an attempt toexplicate in the form of satire and caricature thenotion of ÒcontextÓ and its relation to art,occasionally fluctuating between scientific andclinical terminology (applied arbitrarily).

Disobedience in Byelorussia, Soviet Life Magazine, November 1988.

What do you mean you've been invited to

participate in a conference? I thought you

said you're an artist

As an artist, I generally don't like to involvemyself in discussions about art. More often thannot, they exemplify what not to do rather thanwhat to do. They often reveal the way art isinstrumentalized. However, in this case I will

make an exception and write something.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAs I understand it, the format of e-flux

journal is intended to generate a new form ofdiscourse. I am always optimistic when I readthese sorts of formulations. e-flux itself is areflection of the art world in which the entirespectrum of production is laid bare. Itsorganizational structure is based on the simplenecessity of disseminating information and isinterestingly not bound to contextual framing Ðconflicts of interest, party affiliations, artmagazines, et cetera Ð and, unlike most of the

art junk mail that somehow ends up in my inbox,I don't automatically delete it. I read some of it.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAs e-flux journal has begun to establishsome general parameters, broadly concernedwith issues surrounding the institution, I wouldlike to mention the immediately relevantquestions posed by Tom Holert in regard to theproduction of knowledge in art that correspondto the growing discussion about Òresearch-basedÓ art practice and its institutionalization.1 Ialso agree with Irit Rogoff's comments on the

occasional circular patterns in regard toÒcontext.Ó2

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI have recently produced two works thatreflexively, if obliquely, address issues related tohow I see current art practice, works thatunexpectedly border on some oblique form ofÒinstitutional critique.Ó It's certainly not acategory or designation I would want to end with,but something that simply happened, and Iwould like to attempt to identify the short circuit.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊConcrete thinking has led me to believe that

the recently applied designation Òresearch-basedÓ artist is possibly appropriate. The next ina series of terms applied to my practice. Ofcourse, such terms are necessary to rationalizeart; typically, however, when such terms areapplied I try and circumvent them and dosomething else.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI recently conducted a form of research onÒresearch-based practiceÓ Ð my own Ð andwould like to explain the hypothesis and outlinesome subsequent results so they can be held upas a specimen for analysis. I will try and explainin plain language, not the language that getsconfused in the real world, the sort of wordsautomatically corrected by Microsoft Word. Theword I got tangled up in was Òcontext.Ó I willexplain how it happened.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhat I will attempt to underline shouldserve as something of a potential warning todesignations such as Òresearch-based practice.ÓÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI am curious myself. Does it giveammunition to the notion that research-basedpractice should be institutionalized? That Ishould be institutionalized? Or re-

institutionalized? After all, isn't the artist asincoherent psychotic generally the mostacceptable practice? More seriously, the practiceof art is not confined to finality. It is centered onquestioning rather than illustrating, self-reflexive without guarantee, and, as any materialpractice, open to the possible consequences.

Why do you do it? What are you trying to

say?

I was late sending the signed documents to the

institution. The art institution. But I did have anexcuse this time. The Fed Ex plane crashed at


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Harvest Festival, Korea Monthly Magazine, DPRK, 1986.

Narita this morning.3 That is an unfortunate fact.It was very windy last night. I was not expectinganything. But other people were expectingsomething from me. And it will be delayed.Because plane accidents are more importantthan discussions about art. Than anything I do.And I can talk about plane accidents. I can talkabout the different models and types of planes,which airlines, the dates. But it's up to

journalists to check facts.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThen there are art journalists. And theyunderstand what they understand. And that'sgood. But sometimes they try and explain thingsthey don't really understand because sometimesthey speak about politics. And they confuseother journalists.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhile I am writing this text, I am listening toconservative American talk radio online. Notbecause I like it, but because it is annoying.People talk. And talk and talk. And it presentsitself for what it is. But sometimes the host has

something funny to say. For example, ÒEven ablind squirrel can occasionally find a nut.ÓÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAs art has an increasing interest in otherdisciplines, it seems to attract people who havelittle more to say than to insist on their imaginaryroles in the institution. They just talk, telling uswho said this about what, and so on. And theyhave increasingly more to say. Based on whatothers have to say. And will keep talking. Untilyou remember. Demanding more discipline or theBologna Process. Because anyone can get awaywith anything in art, if one is insistent enough.And it's precisely this sort of ÒdiscourseÓ thatoften leads me to question the discourse itself.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊHere in admission of my own gullibility, I'lldiffuse some of my comments.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAs a kid I spent hours a day listening toshort-wave radio. Particularly the English-language broadcasts from socialist countries.One host named Vladimir Posner, who spoke witha perfect American accent, was particularlyconvincing. I also had a subscription to amagazine called Soviet Life. I found everythingvery impressive, so much so that when I wasthirteen I went to the Soviet Union in a student

exchange. I remember being in Leningrad, sittingin two groups, drinking bottled lemonade anddiscussing politics with well-versed Sovietstudents who were intent on convincing us thattheir system was better than ours. Afterexplaining the capitalist system to us, theyinvited themselves to visit us in the UnitedStates. It was a bit unexpected. When we left thebuilding where the conference was held theythrew a dead pigeon out the window at us.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊMuch the same confusion predominates inthe art world, whose idealism wouldn't exist

without a basis.

"News of the World," North Korean State Television, January 2009.

I thought you said your work includes

photography. Why don't you have camera

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equipment with you? There are many

interesting things to photograph in Israel.

ÒAll works of art are objects and should betreated as such, but these objects are not endsin themselves: They are tools with which toinfluence spectatorsÓ (Asger Jorn).ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊTopicality creates the expectation thattheory and politics can be enforced through art.

But art is not propaganda.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊLet me give an example of the arbitrarynature of what might be misconstrued aspolitics. Imagine that you are watchingtelevision. And you are following the capture ofSaddam Hussein. Not actually following SaddamHussein, but watching it on television andreading about it on the Internet. You are curious.Incidentally, you notice near the television a bookwith the title The Dictatorship of the Viewer . Andyou, the ÒirrationalÓ artist, invert it. Viewer of theDictatorship. Knowing you exhibit in the art

world. And it will be inverted again. Viewer of theArtist viewing the Dictatorship. And you the artistare aware of the implications.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊA few years later it finally happens. Youcause the media to speak to itself. Nonsense.Feedback. And it tells you what not to do next.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI recognized the journalist. He was fromCNN. He had a lot of makeup on. More than Irealized he had to wear on television. He was inmy exhibition in the institution. He wants to talkabout my exhibition. I tell him I want to talkabout the show. I mean his show. I tell him Iwatch his show. But he is talking about myexhibition. I tell him I can talk about the subjectof what's in the exhibition but it will take a while.But I would rather talk about the subject of hisshow. But he wants to talk about journalism.Then I tell him, so let's talk about his show. Buthe still wants to talk about my exhibition.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhile preparing for the camera he asked:what is the purpose of your work, again?ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI had to come clean and explain my intent.The exhibition is an attempt to collapse allmeaning of the subject, it is about the futility ofrepresentation. To make you think about the

subject you see. About what you already know. Tolook again in the real world. Nothing more.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThe consequences were productive. I'm notexactly talking about ethics, but I realizedeverything had come full circle. For a moment Iwas able to use art to cause distortion in themedia. To occupied space. But I also knew therewas something wrong.

So where can I see your work? In

international media, do you mean like

magazines? Do you have examples of your

work with you?

Dictated by new formats, there is amnesia thatart exists in a particular time and space. Theoften archaic processes of the art world areunable to articulate the practice. Unable to keepup with cutting and pasting itself into thepresent, the Internet is a quick reference tool forart professionals, giving the illusion that art canbe comprehended without seeing it.

Evening News, North Korean State Television, February 2009.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI can talk about ÒdematerializedÓ art

because I have seen it in books. But I neverexperienced it. Conceptual art wascommunicated by means of postcards, faxes,and magazines before I was born, and I readabout it years after it was made.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThe mechanisms and conventions on whichthe art system relies are in fact real. There areinstitutions, galleries, critics, publications, andso on. A lot of wasted paper and thought goesinto the mechanization of cultural production,providing evidence that ideas were exchanged,and often the illusion that they werecommunicated.

What do you mean? What is the myth of

Bauhaus in Tel Aviv about? Why is it a myth?

How can art negotiate its own means ofmediation? How does the physical art spacerelate to the quick dissemination of information?How much of that discourse is nonsense? Youcan hope that at least the facts of the subject ofresearch are checked.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊNot an accusation, but an admittance ofoperating on the wrong frequency. Which can go

nearly undetected. The slight incisions into thecultural fabric are more evidence of what not todo. My temporary conclusion has been not toupdate information about production. Ignore itand let it reside in a system that generates itself.Let meaning disintegrate until it collapses andcan be made into a subject of its own.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊTo let information operate parallel to art inorder to let me know something about thesubject. Something I don't already know.

Where did you study? What did you study?

The art world sometimes seems more like school


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Unsung Heroes, North Korean Film Series, DPRK, 1981.

than school itself. So it's logical that thediscussion about education arises. I havebasically gone from one institution to another,that is, from art school to institutionalizedprofessional art practice. I have long takenexhibition thematics as serious propositions withpotential. And when the subject is based on asecondary or non-existent notion, I make it intothe subject itself. In some cases I have produced

work simply to see what happens, then Idetermine its function and go from there. When Ican't detect what the intent of the exhibition is,it's an opportunity to try something, toexperiment.

Have you ever visited a synagogue?

The rituals of participation can be prettygrotesque. They can be worse than school everwas. You don't want to go to the art bar. You wantto go to a real bar. You have to go to the same

fucking Italian restaurant the second night in arow because one artist is vegetarian, and a badartist. A slobbering artist can't concentrateanymore on your conversation because animportant curator walks in the door of theexhibition. You get introduced to someone you'veknown for ten years because the person wantsthem to know that they know you.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊMore artists stealing the banners, slogans,and balloons from protesters until there is no

longer protest. And disciplinarians speak aboutprotest, because art allows them to. And artistsdo it, because they were told to do it. Anotherwhining artist waiting for a crate with his art toarrive. He opens it and it's another neon. It lookslike the neon in the last exhibition but it sayssomething slightly different. Another sloganabout non-conformity. He's talking about how hegot the idea from Deleuze while eating a cone of

pistachio ice cream. Another moron does someÒsocial designÓ that everyone is forced to sit in.Otherwise you have to stand all night and look atit.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAn artist from a country where you went todo a project asks you to give an interview for hismagazine. You say sure, but you tell him to firstread a text. Where you got the idea to start theproject. The text was written by an architect. Atheorist. The artist doesn't write back. Hepublishes the article with the photograph youtook to illustrate the text. Uncredited. The same

artist goes to the same place you did the project.And does the same thing, in a different way. Hisversion. There's a monument to the country heimmigrated to in his own country. So he makes avideo of the monument of the country heimmigrated to in his own country. It's a betterproject.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊA curator shoving a card in another curator'sface interrupts your discussion. Talking abouther plans to do an exhibition of Hungarian artists

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in Turkey. You ask if the title of the show will beHungary Turkey. You are serious. She thinksyou're a lunatic. Why not? Her card is from anAmerican-supported foundation. Because youread it and know who taught her to shove cardsin people's faces. And you somehow feelresponsible, but not really.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊYou should exploit your background.Scandalize and provoke. Politely.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊRecently an art historian proposed that VanGogh did not cut off his own ear, that it was likelythe result of a fight with Gauguin, who threw aglass at him. This came from a researcherlooking carefully through existing criminaldocuments. They have been there for more thana hundred years, while the fictions have beenmade.4

Where did you meet? How long have you

known each other?

But experience goes along with it. There areinteresting people in between, so it's worthwhile.Like school. And then you get institutionalized, inart institutions. So you have differentresponsibilities. You have to talk. A lot. Aboutyourself. And they send you a press package withwhat they have to say, and you read it becauseyour work is about media and you're curiousabout what the media writes about your work. ÒIsinterested in this . . .Ó ÒExamines that . . .Ó Youread it and you think, what the hell? That's notwhat you were thinking Ð at least not what youthought you were thinking. And the facts are allwrong.

Do you have any Jewish relations or has

anyone in your family immigrated to Israel?

I'd rather speak Japanese to someone who mightunderstand the second or third time I repeatwhat I'm saying, than with someone who simplywill never understand what the hell I'm talkingabout with art. But if they are not involved in theart world, I try to explain.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊLast year I went through the process of

Japanese immigration. Japanese immigration isvery strict. There are twenty-sevenclassifications for visas. I gave them too manydocuments and they were confused. They wereunsure whether I was applying for culturalpurposes, humanities, or what. It was kind of asurprise when the immigration officer said, ÒButyour last visa was from an institution. It says youare an artist. Can you prove that?Ó On atechnicality I qualify for permanent residency.5 Isuddenly was reminded I'm an artist.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊSay you decide to start a center in Ukraine

together with some academics in the university.There was a Soros center, but now they complain

about funding for art and that's understandable.But when they get it they don't always use it forart. And that's understandable too. You don'twant to start another art scene, you just want todo something with what you know because thereis no contemporary art, at least as youunderstand it. There is a new private museum,with animals behind glass. I mean the art. It'spart of a shopping mall. It's decadent and

amusing. At least people get more interested inart.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThen you talk with someone you know in theart world who is also interested. He is the editorof a magazine. A real magazine you read in artschool. He had a similar idea and you realize youmight be able to do something together. A lot ofpeople get interested in the idea. Suppose theUniversity has a film archive with more than 500016mm films and they belong to the center youstarted. They would have been thrown out if youhadn't organized them and put them on shelves

so they can be screened and edited. You knowyou can't watch them all. You don't want to do anart project with the films. You just want to watchthem. And invite other artists to make artprojects.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊYou know that all the formatting problemsof the art world you've encountered for years canbe solved with one cheap media player that ismade in China that you can get on the market forseventy dollars. It plays everything. You're inUkraine and there is no formatting, as you knowit. You can get new pirated software as soon asit's on the market, the black market, wherethere's no formatting.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊYou end up speaking with people aboutÒcontextÓ and they don't know what you'retalking about. So you have to explain and explain,and in the process it starts to make sense,maybe not to you, but to them. It soundsconvincing, and then maybe you can make somemeaning out of that for yourself. So you try anddo something with what you have learned Ð whatyou always understood as Òcontext.Ó It might fail,but so what?

How long have you had it? Has it been inyour possession all the time?

Back to the art world. I have had interestingdiscussions with other artists who have alsoworked with the same subject and I have spokenwith art journalists who don't know thedifference between North and South Korea. Butthe journalists like the idea of North Korea.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI could use North Korea as a sort ofmetaphor for the art world. Not the politics andhorrific conditions that exist in the country. They

are real. Not to bring ÒawarenessÓ to the artworld. These things I can't change. I am not


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Detail from DPRK publication, Volvo 144s, 1989.

delusional. Let me be clear here, not to soundirresponsible. I am referring to the circulation ofinformation. I am thinking of the insularity of thecountry. This is a metaphor. Or concrete thinking.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊFor example, you can take someone'sstatement, de-contextualize and reframe it sothat it might sound as if it applies to the BolognaProcess:

It has trained a large number ofrevolutionary talents in the crucible of thearduous revolutionary struggle, thussuccessfully playing a pivotal role incarrying out the policy of training nativecadres and the policy of intellectualizing allmembers of the society, and activelyconducted scientific researches, making agreat contribution to the development ofthe nation's science and technology.

But it's not. It's from the other day. Kim Jong-Il

visiting a new swimming pool at a University.6

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊA short anecdote, related to Liam Gillick'sresearch on the experimental factory.7 I amreminded of an incident that speaks to the fateof all good intentions: in the 1970s, Sweden'sSocial Democratic government sent a fewthousand Volvos to North Korea on the trust of

the Swedes. The North Koreans just ripped themoff and never paid for the cars. They are still onthe streets in Pyongyang.8 An importantconsideration here is where the production endsup. Who accumulates the knowledge? Who isproducing what for whom? Will you get back whatyou give?ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊOnce again, my interest is nothing new.When I was a teenager I listened to Radio

Pyongyang. It was again the interestinglycontorted language. Propaganda. North KoreanState Television edits the outside world into asurrealistic and alien spectacle with consistentthemes: war, accidents, natural disasters,intimidating technology, worldwide protest,extreme physical activity and endurance, and soon. Appearing once a week towards the end ofthe news report, following the perfunctory fifteento twenty minutes of praise of Kim Jong-Il andreports on his daily activities, the program iscalled ÒNews of The World.Ó

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWithout realizing that you have nearlybecome a thematically programmed productionzombie, you start to listen to yourself repeatingyourself. Cynically. You realize this when you aretalking to students about how to do the same.You sound convincing because it's what studentsexpect. Because you have experience. And then

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you have to catch yourself and tell them what youare thinking. Because that's more useful.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊIn another city for yet another reason, I raninto Stephan Dillemuth by coincidence, in yetanother academy with yet more students. Butthese students were different. The same fantasyI had in school of the art world. I felt like I wasfinally back in the real art world. The art world ofthe Akademie that I read about in art school. The

illusionary, bohemian, delusional, real art worldof art. Where everyone reads faked scripts,wears costumes, and talks incoherently. I haverecently found myself wandering around the artsupply store looking at paint materials.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAt the end of the night I had to leave and goback to the institution. The art institution.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAnyway, here is where I would start toidentify the short circuit. I often found that thenotion of ÒcontextÓ doesn't necessarily translate.The further off and more ÒperipheralÓ the places Iexhibited, the less knowledge there was about

Òcontext.Ó But I could still discuss the subject ofthe research. And then I might attempt to explainÒcontextÓ and its considerations.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊOr maybe it's simply a disorder. I am, in fact,a savant. I have Asperger's syndrome. And I canremember a lot of information. I can archive. Andit can be a fucking intricate mess. And I canpresent it as art.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊNot that the subject of archiving is notinteresting. I just can't read another conceptbased on another concept for yet anotherexhibition about archiving. It gives me aheadache. And the idea of more curatorsarchiving concepts of other curators archivingartists to archive the notion of the archive isannoying. So is the idea of more and more artistsdigging through more and more archives asanother pretext for another exhibition.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊTo try and understand what the hell I amdoing I look at Walter Benjamin. Not in hisarchive, but in a book. By someone whoresearched his archive, and edited it. His list ofseemingly meaningless pictures and notes isjustification. The mistakes, what is crossed out,misspellings, diagrams, notes in the margin.

Constant revisions. Editing. Something moreidiotic than the last thing I have archived forwhatever reason.

ÒThe knowledge of truth does not exist. Fortruth is the death of inventionÓ.

Ð Walter Benjamin

Architecture is not politics. A photograph of abuilding is not politics, but it can generatereadings. I have never attempted to make

political art. I have made art informed by politicsin terms of the narratives and visual surfaces

ideology produces. I have never inferred thenotion of truth. In fact, I have worked withdistortion, played with presentation implyingtruth. I passed through a matrix of contradictoryforms that imitate authority, and alluded to theproblems and failures of representation.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊArtistic experimentation, whetherpresented as research or not, precludes anoutcome Ð a conclusion or a statement. It is

entirely reliant on the dismantling and framing ofa given subject matter.

Walter Benajamin Archive.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThis situation of self-correction remindedme of the regime I was once seduced by. I caughtmyself going all the way back to when I wasabout sixteen. On the premise of producing anart project, I bought the issues of Soviet Life thatI had received with my subscription at that time.When the magazines arrived, I realized I actuallyjust wanted to re-read them and see what I couldremember. One article in particular has aninteresting series of images. They contradict thecurrent situation in Byelorussia. It is evenoptimistic in a twisted way. And I remember thephoto from when I was sixteen years old.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊConcrete thinking makes me consider theart world though metaphors in order to make itseem rational so I don't have to spend all my

time in the institution. I mean the art institution.So I can exist in the real world. I learned in schoolthat you can always walk out of class when youdon't like it.

So is it your main profession? Who sells your

artwork? Who buys the artwork?

There is not one instance in which I have beenturned away from approaching another disciplinefor source material. Occasionally I have beenaltogether stopped, and probably for good

reason. Yes, much of the language of ÒcontextÓremains largely untranslatable for a broader


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society (depending on where you are), but peopledo know what art is. First there is skepticism, asmost people have preconceptions. Followed byexplanation. At the end, when they see what youhave done with what they entrusted you with, itoften comes as a surprise. The result informstheir discipline. In these cases it is successful.But that's the point where it's often useless inthe art context.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhat is often forgotten in discussions aboutÒresearch-basedÓ art practice is that it cannotsimply be reduced to research. To do so is toforget what art can do and what research can't.Art makes the form the site of knowledge.Without rejecting the content. It is art itself thatdelineates its own borders.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊHere again, I see possibilities for the notionof hijacking art. If you can convince someonethat art is intangible, it can act as a stand-in forsomething else. And then maybe you can getsomething done with it, inside or outside any

discipline if that is in fact what you want.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊI first learned this a few years ago from twoEl Al interrogators and a curator. Who works in aninstitution. An art institution. One of theinterrogators was skeptical about whether I wasan artist when he called the curator on thetelephone. The curator later told me that theinterrogator was also a cartoonist.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ×A Chinese translation of this text has been published in issue#6 of Contemporary Art & Investment.

本文的中文版发表在《当代艺术与投资》第六期上 .

Sean Snyder is an artist who lives in Kyiv and Tokyo. Heis represented by Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris;Lisson Gallery, London; and Galerie Neu, Berlin.


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ÊÊÊÊÊÊ1ÒI am particularly interested inhow issues concerning theactual situations and meaningsof art, artistic practice, and artproduction relate to questionstouching on the particular kindof knowledge that can beproduced within the artisticrealm (or the artistic field, asPierre Bourdieu prefers it) by thepractitioners or actors whooperate in its various places andspaces. The multifarious

combinations of artists,teachers, students, critics,curators, editors, educators,funders, policymakers,technicians, historians, dealers,auctioneers, caterers, galleryassistants, and so on, embodyspecific skills and competences,highly unique ways and styles ofknowing and operating in theflexibilized, networked sphere ofproduction and consumption.This variety and diversity has tobe taken into account in orderfor these epistemes to berecognized as such and to obtainat least a slim notion of what isat stake when one speaks ofknowledge in relation to art Ð an

idea that is, in the best of cases,more nuanced and differentiatedthan the usual accounts of thisrelation.Ó Tom Holert, ÒArt in theKnowledge-based Polis,Ó e-flux journal, no. 3 (February 2009),http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/40.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ2ÒAnd so the art world becamethe site of extensive talking Ðtalking emerged as a practice, asa mode of gathering, as a way ofgetting access to someknowledge and to somequestions, as networking andorganizing and articulating somenecessary questions. But did we

put any value on what wasactually being said? Or, did weprivilege the coming-together ofpeople in space and trust thatformats and substances wouldemerge from these?Ó Irit Rogoff,ÒTurning,Ó e-flux journal, no. 0(November 2008), http://www.e-flux.com/journa l/view/18.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ3See ÒDeadly plane crash atTokyo airport,Ó CNN.com, March23, 2009,http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/22/japan.planecrash.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ4See BŠrbel KŸster, ÒWir mŸsseneinen Schnitt machen,ÓSŸddeutsche Zeitung, February24, 2009,http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/833/459475/text/.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ5See ÒGuidelines for Contributionto Japan,Ó Immigration Bureau ofJapan, http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/zairyuu/contribution.pdf.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ6See ÒKim Jong Il Provides On-the-Spot Guidance to Newly

Built Swimming Complex at KimIl Sung University,Ó Korea News

Services, March 19, 2009,http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200903/news19/20090319-1 2ee.html.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ7Liam Gillick, ÒMaybe it would bebetter if we worked in groups ofthree? Part 2 of 2: TheExperimental Factory,Ó e-flux journal, no. 3 (February 2009),http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/41.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ8See Volvo Car Corporation, Ò75Years of Volvo Taxis,Ó pressrelease, 11 March 2005,http://www.volvocars.com/intl/corporation/NewsEvents/News/Pages/default.aspx?item=58 .


Disobedience in B


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disobedience in byelorussia: self-interrogation on research-based art by sean snyder

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