Key Issues Concerning Contemporary Art: Philosophy, Politics and Popular Culture in the Context of Contemporary Cultural

This thesis argues that the contemporary artist's objective is the production of new social space and the institution of new cultural knowledge. It does this by drawing an unexpected parallel between the social and political expectations facing the contemporary artist and the deepest philosophic conception of the artist's function. It traces art's historical trajectory from 20th century modernism, post-modernism to post-colonialism, from a broad range of critical, theoretical and curatorial perspectives. It delineates the evolution of our concept of art through a wide spectrum of philosophers from Jacques Ranciere, Giorgio Agamben, Arthur Danto, Jacques Derrida, George Dickie, Hans Georg Gadamer, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, G.W.F. Hegel, to the ancient Greeks. It demonstrates that within the context of contemporary culture, 'art' has become orphaned concept. However it challenges the retirement of the concept of art and argues that artistic epistemologies have been misrepresented and underestimated. This reading of our concept of art has implications for artists and non-artists alike.

It unfolds in four key chapters: The issue concerning art; The issue concerning the artist; The issue concerning the artist's subject; and The issue concerning the artist's language.

Dr. Gary Willis has interrogated the complex relationship between contemporary art, popular culture, politics and philosophy. His research reveals a parallel between the most contemporary and the most ancient conceptions of art's role. He demonstrates that art is essentially a knowledge-based project and offers a compelling model of art's dynamic pivot and function.- Dr. Barbara Bolt

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