At first glance, ‘Everything Is True – Nothing Is Permitted’, curated by Kendell Geers at Brutus in Rotterdam, is a star-studded lineup of artistic heavyweights, many of whom might now be considered the pinnacle of market success. Among them are icons like Guy Debord, Marlene Dumas, Marcel Broodthaers, Gilbert & George, Martha Rosler, Andres Serrano, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Alfredo Jaar, Arthur Jafa, Kara Walker, and Geers himself. The point is that these artists initially created works as radical gestures that were relatively resistant to commodification. They could not have foreseen a world where social media converts radical symbolic gestures into viral content or where art funding structurally rewards practices framed in activist rhetoric. On the train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, I wondered: aren’t activism, dissent, and rebellion now inextricably tied to the market and the insatiable attention economy we’re all part of?
As a small act of defiance, I stopped at a nearby KFC for a meal deal. I needed to purge my preconceptions by getting back into my body. Mid-bite, I realised that against the odds, I still believe in art’s power to speak to the fundamental aspects of human existence.
Geers’ timing felt apt. The current art market is dull and offers little space for works that defy conventions and traditional media. I think we need to celebrate art that is ‘useless’ to the market. Instead, currencies of surprise and provocation should be welcomed in an era where our tastes are becoming algorithmically refined.
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