Socio-Historical Context and Dematerialization of the Art Object
Socio-Historical Context and Dematerialization of the Art Object

Summary/Abstract: The new socio-historical context of the world, multipolarity, the decentralizationand, above all, rapid technological development, inevitably led to a change in the way art isshaped. The new socio-historical context meant putting an end to the linear interpretationof art, often marking it as the end of art. The world is fragmenting; the traditional ways ofexpressing creativity have been exhausted and perfected technological production is takingover this function. Considering the existing attitudes about the end of art as we know it, wecould rather speak about the end of the material, i.e., the end of the art object, but not the endof the idea or the concept itself. Due to the newly emerged social context, the meaning of theartwork has shifted from the material, i.e., from the object to a discursive and abstract field. Inother words, the concept, idea, and theory are primary; they form the essence of the artwork,not the object itself. It is about the fact that the world we live in and the discourses – withinwhich artwork is created – have changed due to the aforementioned reasons, and accordingly,the design of the artwork has also changed. Conceptual artwork and related art practices arethe best examples of this. Art itself has become an object of enjoyment and contentment in theworld of a modern consumer society, globalization, complete commercialization, and popularculture, in which traditional artwork as an art object no longer exists. Instead, in the moderconsumer society, all is about experiencing a sensual and pleasant event, whether it is a touristvisit to a museum or attending an exhibition.

• Details
• Contents