Art and Labour: On the Hostility to Handicraft, Aesthetic Labour and the Politics of Work in Art

315 Pages·2020·2.432 MB·English

by  Dave Beech

ArtandLabour
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
LorenBalhorn(Berlin)
DavidBroder(Rome)
SebastianBudgen(Paris)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume 213
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hm
Art and Labour
OntheHostilitytoHandicraft,AestheticLabour
andthePoliticsof WorkinArt
By
DaveBeech
LEIDEN | BOSTON
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Beech,Dave,author.
Title:Artandlabour:onthehostilitytohandicraft,aestheticlabourandthe
politicsofworkinart/byDaveBeech.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,2020.|Series:Historicalmaterialismbook
series,1570-1522;volume213|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2020012731(print)|LCCN2020012732(ebook)|
ISBN9789004321519(hardback)|ISBN9789004321526(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Artandsociety.|Artandcraftdebate.|Artandindustry.|Work.
Classification:LCCN72.S6B372020(print)|LCCN72.S6(ebook)|
DDC701/.03–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020012731
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020012732
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∵

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Art,LabourandAbstraction 27
2 TheArts,FineArtsandArtinGeneral 49
3 Guild,CourtandAcademy 70
4 Salon,MuseumandExhibition 94
5 Mechanic,GeniusandArtist 117
6 AestheticLabour 147
7 AttractiveLabour 170
8 AlienatedLabour 192
9 Non-alienatedLabour 220
10 TheCritiqueofLabour 243
Conclusion 264
Bibliography 277
Index 297

Acknowledgements
Theargumentforthisbookhasundergoneconsiderabletransformationmore
than once as I have tried it out in various public contexts and benefitted
fromtheprivate(andsometimesanonymous)commentsofasubstantialcom-
munityofcriticalthinkers.
My initial hypothesis about the relationship between art and labour was
developedwithinadiscussionwithMarkHutchinson,KimCharnleyandBen
Fitton which became the basis of a panel at the 2016 Historical Materialism
conference and a special issue of Art and the Public Sphere (Vol. 5, No. 1). I
had previously tried out some ideas for a new theory of art’s relationship to
revolutionunderstoodasatransformationof thesocialrelationsof labourin
apaperIdeliveredinDublintitled‘PublicArtandtheJacobinRevolution’in
2014,whichwaslaterpublishedunderamodifiedtitleafterreceivingexcellent
editorialcommentsfromDanielJewesbury.
Anearlydraftofmythinkingaboutthecritiqueofthecritiqueofalienated
labourinMinimalismandConceptualismagainstthedefenceofhandicraftin
AbstractExpressionismappearedin ArtMonthly(July-August2017,No.408),
asdidmypreliminaryideasabouttheartboycottasawithdrawalof labour.
I gave the first presentation of my research on alienated labour at USB,Van-
couver in 2017, at the invitation of Gareth James, and my tetchiness on that
occasion in response to well-informed questions that challenged the under-
lyingassumptionsof myinquiryledmetodomorehistoricalresearchthatI
hadnotpreviouslyrealisedwasnecessary.IwanttothankJalehMansoorfor
revealingweaknessesinmyargument.Myinvestigationintothehistoryofthe
hostilitytohandicraftintheFineArtsandartingeneralweresharpenedindia-
loguewithEstherLeslieandAlbertoToscanowhilepreparinganessaytitled
‘ArtandthePoliticsofEliminatingHandicraft’publishedinHistoricalMateri-
alismjournalin2019(Volume27:Issue1).
Myreviewoftheliteratureonnon-alienatedlabourwassignificantlyexten-
dedandimprovedbyseveralpromptsbyAndrewHemingwayoveremail,for
whichIamdeeplyindebted.
I would like to thank Steve Edwards for commissioning the book Artand
Labour,aswellasmypreviousbook,ArtandValue,fortheHistoricalMaterial-
ismBookSeriesandforhiscontinuedsupportofmyinquiriesoveranumber
of years. Also, I am grateful to Simon Mussell, Hilde Kugel, Jennifer Obdam,
LydiaBaxandDannyHaywardfortheirhelpinpreparingthemanuscriptfor
publication.
IamkeentothankMarinaVishmidt,BenjaminFallonandKirsteenMcDon-
aldfortheexchangeof ideasonmattersrelatingtothisbookthatweshared