Collaboration as Liberation from Neoliberal Capitalism?

• In Event: Liberating the Former East: Reassessing Collaborative Art Practices from East to West

Abstract

Following the so-called ‘collaborative turn’ in the 1990s, a number of artists in East-Central Europe started working in collaborative, socially engaged art practices. This paper will focus on a selection of artists who chose to work with members of the general public on projects that aimed to tackle the economic challenges faced by many in the new free market economy. While socially engaged art offered a new way of working for contemporary artists, this paper asks the question: for whom are these projects liberating, if at all? I will explore the methods used by each artist or artistic group and probe the ethics of these participatory art projects.

Author

• Amy Bryzgel, Northeastern U