TEXTE ZUR KUNST

This December issue of Texte zur Kunst attempts an “update” of art historical methods, which have been regularly reflected upon since the publication’s founding. The pressing questions of the moment not only ask whether the discipline is able to come to terms with its own history, including its inherent sexisms, racisms, and classicisms, but also whether the development of scholarly practices that advance the equality of different viewpoints and epistemologies is possible. The contributions collected in this issue lay bare art history’s still-existing entanglement in Eurocentric perspectives and propose alternative methodological and theoretical approaches to an expanded field of subject matter.

With the help of the neologism “resortization,” this September issue of Texte zur Kunst discusses the structural transformation currently underway in the domain of art, which compels it to resemble a resort-like environment. In particular, this term encapsulates the tendency of various Blue-Chip Galleries to follow their well-to-do clientele into the reclusion of exclusive luxury enclaves such as Aspen, Saint-Tropez or Monte-Carlo. The issue also engages with the increasing relevance of digital media, which not only plays a growing part in informing processes of recognition but fundamentally influences the conditions under which artistic work is made and experienced.