great quote about the avant garde and capitalism being the same (both
interested in the 'new'). it's a little spurious, though. capitalism
purports to be about the 'new' as the phrase excites investors. a NEW way to
exploit always means new money. any business i've ever worked for (a bank,
for example) claims to want new ideas but they really want old ideas dressed
up a little. if i never hear the phrase "thinking outside the box" again,
i'll be very happy.
that said, much of the avant garde is hypocritical when it comes to the
'new'. copying thirty year old work and then calling it fluxus is the least
revolutionary thing i can think of. it's also a capitalistic move as it
attaches unsaleable works to a saleable name.
ironically, it was jenny holzer who coined the phrase "everything that's
interesting is new" and her work now is exactly the same as it was ten years
ago (often literally).
yours,
dave
