Appropriation - Perspectives, Problems, Potential

The artistic method of appropriation, i.e. the deliberate adoption and further processing of works and artifacts by other artists or cultures, has been the subject of fierce criticism for some years now. While appropriation itself was celebrated around 1980 as a subversive-critical strategy that struck at the heart of criteria of modernity that were considered outdated, such as originality and uniqueness, and thus conjured up the great (postmodern) liberation, under which much or infinitely more seemed possible, regardless of origin, gender, economic endowment, etc., today it stands in a different light. Within the identity-political discourses and debates of recent years, it often appears as the epitome of illegitimate empowerment over others, in which Western patriarchal and colonial patterns are perpetuated.     

In the face of this situation, the seminar poses some questions: How much liberation or oppression is actually in appropriation? To what extent are these characterizations or valuations dependent on time or context? Where does one's own end and that of others begin? Might appropriation have the potential and legitimacy to return as a critical artistic method after all? Under what conditions? Is appropriation still salvageable, then?

Based on the reading of texts, especially around the appropriation of the 70s/80s as well as in the context of recent debates on identity politics, the aforementioned questions (and others) will be discussed and supplemented by an artistic-practical dimension through thinking about concrete forms, variants and examples of a "third" or generally acceptable appropriation that lies beyond good and evil, so to speak.

Attendance; short presentation on one of the selected texts or short paper (1-2 pages).

An interest in theoretical texts and active participation in their discussions is expected.

Details about the texts and their presentations will be announced at the intro meeting.

The seminar will primarily be held in German, although some of the texts to be read are in English.