Avant-Gardes and the Changing Image of the Innovative Subject
Avant-Gardes and the Changing Image of the Innovative Subject

Summary/Abstract: In contrary to the article in the issue 21 of Art and Documentation by the author, where the invariant constitutive structures of avant-garde (groups) had been explored, this text tries to determine the time-dependent modifications of avant-gardes, by looking out for the ideal-type of the advanced innovative subject in a given period. The common belief of given age is implicitly expressed by its art, but perhaps also by the self-image and habitus of artists. So the Modern era (between French and Velvet revolution) was dominated by the belief in progress and avant-gardes have been the adequate form for agitative behavior to put innovations through. Nevertheless, the strength of this belief, that first increased, and finally decreased (with a maximum in the first half of 20th century) modified the appearance of advanced movements and their proponents. Today our belief turned in the direction of pluralism as way of salvation and therefore there is no need for avant-garde fights anymore, because we have a multiple-choice between different equivalent truths. To understand contemporary art, it may be useful to look upon the evolutionary development of the phenotype of the innovative subject in the timeline from late Baroque until now.

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