New Aesthetic New Anxieties - Institute for the Unstable Media

arguably animated all of these scenes; an aesthetic turn brought about itself througha 'new nature' (Bridle 2011c).Irit Rogoff argues in her essay on the notion of 'turns' in contemporary art's trajectory(including those within the practice of curation itself), that "it seems pertinent to askwhether this umbrella is actually descriptive of the drives that have propelled thisdesired transition" (2008). Contemporary art workers encounter suggestions ofturns with ambivalence and a certain secret sense of relief - everyone needs sensesof movement in their frames for working, the styles of comportment for what they do,in order to enable a capacity to absorb, recognize, situate and insightfully propelindividual practices into intelligible scenes of aesthetic encounter - usually this takesshape as an exhibition. But what constitutes a turn, and what kind of comportment dospecific turns register in relation to the larger historical presents in to which they arepitched and thrown? Rogoff asks:Are we talking about a 'reading strategy' or an interpretative model, aswas the understanding of the 'linguistic turn' in the 1970s, with itsintimations of an underlying structure that could be read across numerouscultural practices and utterances? Are we talking about reading onesystem—a pedagogical one—across another system—one of display,exhibition, and manifestation—so that they nudge one another in waysthat might open them up to other ways of being? Or, are we talkinginstead about an active movement—a generative moment in which a newhorizon emerges in the process—leaving behind the practice that was itsoriginating point? (2008)For Rogoff, who seems very much aware of the relationship of art world trends tonetworked connectivity and socio-technological change, what is at one momentheralded as a turn can easily "harden" into a series of "generic or stylistic tropes," andmight risk even resolving “the kinds of urgencies that underwrote it in the first place”given that it is designed to deal with interdisciplinary challenges at the precise pointswhere things "urgently need to be shaken up and made uncomfortable" (2008).Taking up this challenge to consider disruption, Michelle Kasprzak (Curator at V2_Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam) invited one facilitator and six writers tocome together in a 'book sprint' to explore these issues. The book sprint formatinvolves a group tasked with writing a book over a few intensive days - in this case, wemet over approximately four and a half days. Talking, writing, editing, eating, drinking,and debating ensued and the result of those focused days of effort is this publication.We are proud of what emerged in this interdisciplinary group of curators, writers, andacademics, although of course as we neared the end of this process we foundourselves wishing for "just one more day". As an initial step towards a deeper analysisof this contemporary moment where new aesthetics appear against the backdrop ofglobal discord and unrest, we hope you find it as interesting to read as we have foundit to (collaboratively) write.Rotterdam, June 20125