Response: The Topology of Contemporary Art
From what I understand, Boris Groys is essentially explaining the relationship and contrast between Modern, Postmodern and Contemporary art. According to Groys, Contemporary art is made for the present, it is a way to transform a space, and in that transformation, create an installation that has infinite copies (or originals) associated with different viewers. Groys builds up to the discussion of contemporary art and it’s transformation of space through installation by giving the history of Modern art and how it was made for the future by rejecting old ideas and ways, and furthermore how Postmodernism was a reflection on Modern art.
I was really drawn to Groys’s description of the copy versus original, and what that means for Contemporary art. At a point in the reading, Groys explains that “a copy is never really a copy, but rather a new original in a new context,” (75). I found this concept really interesting, and was drawn to his explanation of Contemporary art and the importance of installation. I am fairly new to the realm of installation and it’s capabilities and restrictions, so I feel as if I did learn a lot from this section of the article, even if it was just Groys’s take on installation. I consider the viewer interaction and approach to artwork very integral in the art piece as a being, so I found myself easily drawn to the concepts of a constantly changing state of original dictated by time and viewer.
