The historical, political, cultural, and sociological frameworks of the regions we inhabit vary significantly. Especially when considering countries individually, forms of belonging, educational systems, and identity elements come into play.
Today’s art audiences’ habits have evolved within the open work concept but behaves as if they have visited the exhibition to make fortune telling performances, rather than understanding the artwork, according to their outdated artwork—reading habits. Issues of underestimation and overestimation of the work arise when surrounding factors are ignored. A red dot seen on the floor in an art studio may make you think of a paint splash, whereas the same dot seen in an uninhabited area of a high—crime city might evoke associations with blood and a crime scene. Context is everything.
While the general dynamics of the art world are more inclined to capture a universal visual language — due to sales volumes and collector habits—, the attributions of artworks are crucial elements that complement the physical existence of the work in contemporary, conceptual, and even abstract art. Here, attribution means not only the title, artist, year, and materials of the work but also the context in which it was created.
In the international conjuncture, political elements [conservative, liberal, socialist, nationalist, or innovative ideas] occupy vastly different positions within the socio—cultural and socio—political landscapes of the USA, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Artists exhibited in international events are often subjected to social media and press cancellation within the context of today’s increasingly sensitive language and political correctness trends. The inclusion of the zeitgeist in the world at the time the work was created and/or the meaning embedded by the artist in the attribution, without the need for gossip, artist talks or interviews; plays a vital role in art’s being accessible after the 1800s.
Accessibility not only concerns the physical dimension but also has a significant impact on capturing the meaning and completing the viewer’s experience. When this need is not met, it inevitably leads to increased instances of ‘cancel culture’ at international exhibitions/fairs.
The cancellation of secular or Christian artists as Islamophobic, European white artists as racist, protest artists as disrespectful, human rights activists as insensitive, male artists as misogynistic, Westerners as colonialists; largely stems from the intolerance brought about by the inability to convey this information. Without the artwork info/tag, the piece cannot be understood or interpreted. Remember, the artist does not have to be raised - or know the historical context that you find some concepts offensive - in the same culture as you.
At the level of curators and critics, the different reflections of the same problem have not yet been resolved yet. Interpreting the work solely based on its physical existence, without curiosity about its background and trying to combine it with your—imagination —is—the—best—like invalid methods serves to perpetuate the gap between meaning and the artwork. The reflections of outdated models of classical art that lost their validity centuries ago continue to hinder progress in academia, the art world, and the media.
Erhan US
Artist, Writer, Curator
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