Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A prominent critic and theorist considers the criteria of value for collecting and storing works of art. In the world of contemporary art, "serious" art is produced primarily with the aim of being collected. As a result, today's art production differs significantly from contemporary forms of production that are primarily intended for consumption (and thus destruction.) A work of art, on the other hand, is not consumed; it is protected from use and consumption. How does a particular work of art deserve the right to be collected and preserved? In this book, Boris Groys considers the criteria of value for collecting and storing works of art, finding them not outside but within the collection and according to its inherent logic.
Just as an individual artwork does not necessarily depict external reality, an art collection in its entirety does not depict external social contexts but follows its own, autonomous logic. Every collection aims at the most exhaustive representation of its specific topic. At the same time, every collection is limited in terms of space and capabilities for maintenance of its items. Ultimately, it is the tension between its goal and the limitations of its ability to achieve it that defines every collection, including art collections.
Synopsis
A prominent critic and theorist considers the criteria of value for collecting and storing works of art.
In modernity, the museum was the institution that made art accessible to the broader public. An artwork was collected if it was considered beautiful, passionate, engaged, or critical--and primarily if it was deemed historically relevant. But today, with the total availability and saturation of images, the museum has lost its privileged status as the exclusive place for the display of art. In our age of digital media, how does a particular artwork get selected for a museum collection? Which symbolic criteria must this artwork satisfy for it to obtain value? And in what ways does the institution of the museum remain relevant?
Logic of the Collection is framed by Boris Groys's original and provocative proposition: an artwork is considered historically relevant if it fits the logic of the museum collection. In these critical essays, the distinguished philosopher and theorist of art and media analyzes the relationship between the logic of the collection and various modern ideologies. He reflects on the explosion of art production and distribution through the ascendency of digital media as well as the ways in which the accumulated artworks will be collected and preserved in the future, as the potential limits of public and private collections are reached.