Steve’s Stuff

Jean Baudrillard is a French philosopher commonly associated (against his will) with the postmodernism movement. He’s best known as the author of “Simulations”, the imaginative text that was the direct inspiration for the Matrix. His theories on the presence and effects of the ever-present simulacrum is fascinating and worth a read. He recently published a collection of his writings on art as “The Conspiracy of Art”. My review of his book and his thought follows.

This is a fascinating collection of some of Baudrillard’s most polemical writings on art. He freely admits in one of the interviews within that he is, by no means, an art expert. He doesn’t appreciate it and he doesn’t necessarily *like* it. He does respect traditional/classical art’s beauty and importance. This positions him in an excellent place to offer remarkably disinterested observations. He’s not partial to any one movement, any one school, or any one artist (with the possible exception of Andy Warhol) and he pulls no punches in his critique of the meaninglessness of contemporary art.

It is important to note that Baudrillard is NOT an art hater. From his interviews and from other writings, I get the impression that art is simply “not his thing”. I believe this is a positive factor because he isn’t required to tip-toe around issues for fear of being rejected by the art community, a community he is happy to avoid altogether.

As a student of contemporary art, and as a contemporary artist myself, I don’t always agree with Baudrillard, at least to the extent that he goes. In his essay, “The Conspiracy of Art”, he tends to make sweeping generalizations. Such is the format of his polemic - a brief essay. Had he developed these ideas in a longer format, I’m sure some points would be smoothed by further explanation and clarification. Fortunately, this book includes and number of interviews where he explains some of his points and gets a chance to defend himself against his many critics.

I believe this text would be most useful to any student of contemporary art. Baudrillard does raise many important issues, even if his conclusions are questionable. Even if you hate every word, it’s at least an amusing read. I’ve always enjoyed his style. It’s very conversational - a welcome relief from reading the prolix, convoluted texts of Deleuze and Lacan. He is clear, cogent, and concise.