Forgetting the Art World

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It may be time to reconsider the art world, as a specific historical notion of it is fading. Today, the art world evolves so rapidly that its maps are unreadable and its borders indistinct. In this context, Pamela Lee connects the current state of art to globalization and its controversies. Contemporary art reflects globalization through themes of movement, migration, and borders, but Lee delves deeper, viewing globalization as a world process. Instead of framing the "global art world" merely as a socioeconomic phenomenon or a visual spectacle, she examines "the work of art's world" as a medium facilitating globalization. Lee posits that artworks serve as both objects and agents of globalization. She analyzes how art actualizes and enables globalization through close readings of works by prominent artists over the past two decades. Her exploration includes Takahashi Murakami's "just in time" managerial ethos, Andreas Gursky's ethereal representations of contemporary markets, Thomas Hirschhorn's mixed-media displays illustrating immanent cause, and the "pseudo-collectivism" seen in the practices of the Atlas Group and Raqs Media Collective. By discussing "the work of art's world," Lee emphasizes the significance and materialization of art, highlighting its continuous interaction with the world it inhabits and shapes.