WORK

‍Parallel Relations – and Other Contingencies, 2018

Neon, transformer, aluminum, acrylic 

Contingency [Unforeseen circumstances]: a future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty. A detailed contract that attempts to provide for all possible contingencies.

Contingency [In philosophy and logic]: is the status of propositions that are neither true under every possible valuation (i.e. tautologies) nor false under every possible valuation (i.e. contradictions). A contingent proposition is neither necessarily true nor necessarily false. Propositions that are contingent may be so because they contain logical connectives which, along with the truth value of any of its atomic parts, determine the truth value of the proposition. This is to say that the truth value of the proposition is contingent upon the truth values of the sentences which comprise it. Contingent propositions depend on the facts, whereas analytic propositions are true without regard to any facts about which they speak.

Contingency [noun]: something that might possibly happen in the future, usually causing problems or making further arrangements necessary: You must be able to deal with all possible contingencies. Have you made any contingency plans?

“when the break of modernity happened, ‘post-structuralism’, whatever you want to call it, ‘Punk’, it is a different conversation... but basically, the DIY of self-sustained practices, a lot of people out of their own initiatives started creating environments for this kind of survival. They were very precarious but they could not be sustained in the same way as establish bourgeoise because they didn’t have the backing of the Institutions of society. The other Institutions of society, you know like the government, the financial institutions, etc. a lot of these people were not on board with all of this punk, post-structuralist, situationists stuff. A lot of the supported art was actually closer to design, To fashion and other things. The problem is when that developed further, when actual academia in the terms of Aesthetics looked to these trends, what happened especially in the late 1980’s, the 90’s a lot of these artist led spaces, artist led galleries, artist led critical magazines were like a revolution in a sense. They were saying to established institutions, you know what, we are going to reset the power structures, you have abused your power in this working environment, and I don't need you. But then after 10 or 15 years, in the end those people just became the new intelligencer, the new machans. The persons who had an artistic background were actually just gallerists, and then a person who had an artistic background became good writers and very powerful ones too. In turn they took over the positions in Big institutions left open by those who no longer fit with the new paradigm”. 

In conversation with Aquiles Hadjis about ‘Survival & Contingency’, 2019. From Survival Aesthetics © Interview Series. Hogan, Jesse

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