#ina blom

[sit-in]

houses to die in

[galleryexit]

Objects have no meaning in themselves, rather they are prompts for a field of possible meanings that are dependent on context. Meaning often implies something fixed, but in this instance, let's understand meaning as that which arises as the result of an object's exposure to a specific circumstance. That is, objects facilitate certain outcomes rather than contain certain meanings, and each interaction presents the possibility for a range of outcomes to arise that are not wholly predictable. These interactions accumulate over time, thus the meaning of an object is ever evolving. When we assume that objects simply contain meaning, this complex dynamic is obscured.  Aesthetics is a primary form of communication whose effects are material, manifest through the actions and behaviors it engenders. The form of an object dictates how we relate to it and to one another while around it, for example how we treat a person behind a desk differently from one across a table from us. These effects are established through repetition, and these systems become more complex when realized on a societal level where aesthetics serve to indicate an array of nuanced power relations. For example, when we are confronted with a traffic light, a police officer or enter a library, our role within a network of power relations is communicated to us in an instant, and our behavior changes as a result. These changes are immediate and often automatic or unthought. We perform in radically different and often incongruous ways in different contexts, or to put it more precisely, we occupy different subject positions depending on the context and how we are being addressed. This is how aesthetics is political. It signals our role as members of the polis (the citizenry). It tells us how we are to expect to be treated and how we should treat others. This is what Jacques Ranciere was referring to when he wrote of the 'distribution of the sensible', as 'the system of self-evident facts of sense perception that simultaneously discloses the existence of something in common and the delimitations that define the respective parts and positions within it ... determining those who have a part in the community of citizens.'

Ina Blom, On the Style Site: Art, Sociality, and Media Culture