Art/Commons

Can art provide a critique of political economy? This question, originally formulated by the romantic philosophers John Ruskin and William Morris, continues to be at the core of contemporary anti-capitalist and post-colonial struggles. As art and culture feed an urban rentierism based on gentrification, mass-tourism and hyper-consumption, art commons are radicalising urban politics across the globe through new political and artistic practices. This book theorises the commons from the perspectives of contemporary art history and anthropology, focusing on the ongoing tensions between art and capitalism. Massimiliano Mollona's study is grounded in an analysis of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices, which the author describes as practices of commoning, based on co-production, participation, mutualism and the valorisation of reproductive labour.