Peter Riley asked, responding to David Kennedy:
>b) "Forward" is exclusively conceived within the parameters set by the
>European artistic avant-garde of circa 1914. Can you think of anything
>discussed or presented at the conference which sought any other sense of
>direction?
>
And David Kennedy had said:
"Steve Mac Caffrey and Karen Mac Cormack both described how they are
increasingly turning to architectural theory for ways to push their work
forward. This topic seemed to provoke the liveliest set of questions and was
referred back to by other speakers on several occasions."
The "architectural-theory" direction is very interesting. I may be jumping
to conclusions, but little doubt, I'd bet, that this "new turn" is
consistent with the "avant-garde's" inherited and generalized desire to
build futuristic poetry skyscrapers that will last until the asteroid hits.
To this, the Russians (since we've been talking aobut them) have a sort of
riposte that is little-known in the West, and it would be an example of the
"another sense of direction" Peter asks for: The Paper Architecture school,
which arose in the 1980's and produced (sometimes three-dimensional) visual
text-works unlike anything ever seen. There was some important
cross-fetilization between this group and Moscow poetry Conceptualism.
But the after-wash of Language is much more ambitious: The neo-liberal drive
is to make World Trade Center Towers in college towns; building nomadic
cities of huts is for losers.
Kent
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