The artist Karl Marx and the auctioned god: ‘Post-practice’ ethnographies of the art world, impossible collaborations, and renewable anthropologies

Author(s)

Manuela Ciotti

Abstract

Drawing upon ethnographic moments recorded at two of the most prominent art world institutions, the Venice Biennale and the auction house Christie's at its New York headquarters, this article reflects on what it means to investigate the global art world ethnographically and interrogates some of the current trends within the anthropology of art. In particular, the article shows the potential of re-focusing the attention on the interconnectedness of art-world actors, institutions and objects in time and space in order to produce expansive narratives on the art world which reflect not only how art is produced in the present and in the past but also its circulation and commerce. Moreover, by challenging the anthropology of art's focus on the anthropologist-artist dyad, their practice and collaborations, the article shows how a renewed engagement with the art world as an ethnographic field site brings about possibilities for a renewal of anthropology itself.

Organisation(s)

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Journal

Journal of Cultural Economy

Volume

13

Pages

725-742

No. of pages

18

ISSN

1753-0350

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2020.1806445

Publication date

2020

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504017 Cultural anthropology, 504009 Ethnology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cultural Studies

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/c7b9e0ea-f780-4d6d-a3e8-9973296d081a