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I Hear Voices In Everything! STEP BY STEP I Hear Voices In Everything! Step by Step Andreas Gedin Translation Sarah Death Doctoral dissertation in Fine Arts at The Valand Academy of Fine Arts Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts The Cartographers’ Guilds struck a Map of the Empire University of Gothenburg, 2011 whose size was that of the Empire, and which coincided point for point with it. Published in Swedish by Art Monitor (Art Monitor avhandling, nr 23) University of Gothenburg, 2011 English translation by Sarah Death, 2014 This book is printed with generous support from Helge Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse and The Valand Academy ISBN 978-91-978476-6-7 (printed) 978-91-978476-7-4 (digital) © & Graphic Design, Andreas Gedin Printed in Lithuania by Spindulys, 2014 CONTENTS Abstract 9 Introduction 11 List of Works 15 I. The Various Methods and Their Relevance Written into a Context 21 Artistic research 23 The Essay Method 32 Working strategy; aim and subject of the dissertation 35 Relevance 42 Bakhtin and the World Beyond Linguistics Intertextuality 50 Stabilisation 57 A High Degree of Consciousness 62 II. The Originator A Dead Discussion 73 The Editor and the Curator 77 The Creator? 89 The Construction 94 The Material Identification 101 The Substance 105 SCULPTURE AS CONCEPT 107 Quote: J.L. Borges CONCEPT AS SCULPTURE 111 Translated by Andrew Hurley Appendix: The Fetish 116 Abstract The Space I Hear Voices in Everything – Step by Step, is a practice-based disserta- At a Distance 118 tion in Fine Arts. It includes three art exhibitions, several independent art Bodies in a Town Square 123 works and an essay. It discusses the role of the artist and the making of The Language of the Institution 128 art mainly through the ideas of the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin Freedom and Obligation 131 (1895–1975) but also by reflecting on similarities between the artist and the curator. As a dissertation in Fine Arts, its aim is not primarily to develop I Hear Voices In Everything 141 a specific philosophy but to use theory to discuss art, and vice versa. The Intonation 154 In the first section, the methodological basis is articulated and contex- tualised. The relevance of artistic research as a means of developing ar- III. tistic practice and increasing the understanding of artistic practice is also addressed, as is the feasibility of applying the philosophy of Bakhtin in The Works this particular context. Bakhtin is usually referred to as a literary theorist; Sleeper 169 however, his dialogical philosophy concerns man’s being as a whole, that Thessaloniki Revisited 175 is, the fact that man is constituted through dialogical relations. Here, man Spin-Off! 181 and also art in general are understood by Bakhtin as a series of tempo- Sharing a Square rary meeting places for art works, readers, artists, protagonists, history IN THE SQUARE IN CALANDA 188 etc. The reflective text in itself also endeavours to be dialogical and pol- BOREDOM 194 yphonic by incorporating different voices such as fictional characters, Step by Step, A First Draft 205 real-life comments, emails, letters and quotes. Spies, Pharmacists, Erich P. and Mr Fujimura In the second section the practice of making art is discussed in relation ERICH P. 211 to Bakhtin and other writers. One of the main considerations is whether, FUJIMURA IN FLAGRANTE 216 by applying Bakhtin, one can also regard an art work as a meeting place THE AGENTS 220 for language (in its broadest sense) so as to include physical material, THE PHARMACIST AND THE QUACK DOCTOR 230 skill, and experience; and hence, whether one could, or should, regard APPENDIX: PALMQVIST 234 the artist as a kind of curator, and vice versa. With this in mind, is there Envoi then any real difference between organising language into an artwork or into an exhibition? SHARING A SQUARE (THE EXHIBITION) 237 The third section focuses on the artworks that are a part of the PhD STEP BY STEP 240 project; these include an exhibition and two planned exhibitions. The Thanks! 243 central theme of, or the catalyst for, the works of art is repetition. Endnotes 246 Published as a single, unique copy, and also smuggled into the Lenin References 271 Library, Sleeper is a collection of essays on the ingredients of a tuna and Index of Names 281 tomato sauce, to be eaten with pasta or rice. Thessaloniki Revisited is a 8 9 video of a reading of a short story. Spin-Off! is a video in which a curse Introduction is read by an actor. Sharing a Square is a documentary-based video of a ritual drumming session in Calanda, Spain, while Erich P. is an artwork A dissertation in the field of fine arts research is in many respects a per- based on an embassy to Russia in 1673 and on contra-factual archaeolo- sonal undertaking, since artistic work does not draw any clear distinc- gy. As a final part of the dissertation project these artworks will be shown tion between the personal and the public. In my case, this is reflected in in a solo exhibition, and there will also be a curated exhibition featuring several returns, linked to one non-return. One of these returns was a trip only other artists. to Russia in 2006. My stay at the summertime residential centre of the The second part of the dissertation title, Step by Step, refers to a larger Russian Academy of Art outside Vishny Volochok proved the prelude to art project called Taking Over, of which this dissertation is a part. Taking my doctoral studies and was part of a research project in the Fine Arts Over deals with different aspects of power relations in five separate pro- faculty to which I belonged. That was where I took the initiative for the jects. As an integral part of this larger and thematic art project, the dis- first work of my dissertation,Sleeper . It was my first visit to Russia since sertation also refers to various aspects of power, and even to the lack of 1989. Before that trip I had been to Russia and the Soviet Union several power in relation to the artist’s position in research contexts, within and times. The first was when I was studying Russian at upper secondary beyond academia. It also underlines that artistic research is part of wider school. The Russia to which I returned was both different and the same. artistic practice. In 2009 I was offered the chance to go back to the colony again, but this time I turned it down. This non-return is central to the final work in the dissertation, Erich P. This dissertation is also a return and a non-return to philosophy. In my early twenties I read practical and theoretical philosophy at Stockholm University. It was instructive in its way, but I realised after a couple of years that the analytical philosophy practised there was ill suited for creative work. After that interlude, I avoided philosophy. Working on this dissertation has involved a return to philosophy. But it is also a non-return in that I have concentrated on a very different kind of phi- losophy from that I studied at Stockholm University. Instead, I return to the Continental philosophy that was being introduced and discussed in Sweden when I started working as an artist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Even though I did not go into the work of those philosophers in any depth, I was indirectly influenced by the new alternative that they represented. Like many others I was looking for something different from current models of thought in philosophy and art. It has also struck me that this dissertation comes back to issues I explored in my final-year undergraduate project in Literary Studies. The subject of my essay was the view of art, creativity and the artist expressed in the poetry of Erik Johan Stagnelius. 10 11 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION This dissertation, however, is not a study of philosophy, art history add depth to the discussion. or literature, and does not aim to be so. I have neither the wish nor the The dissertation employs, and relates to, the essay as form and prac- expertise to produce anything of that kind. This is, rather, my attempt tice. This applies not only to the reflective text but also to the individual to carry out artistic research on its own terms. The reflective text is an works, including the exhibitions. I refer not only to the testing, roaming expression of my way of understanding, and talking about, my artistic nature of the essay but also to its preoccupation with the working pro- work and its conditions in the format of an untamed essay. cess. The reflective text of the dissertation is a construction of a possi- There is a certain logic to making return visits the foundation of a ble process of that kind. Part I discusses the basis for the dissertation dissertation in fine art research, as the research is based in practical expe- in terms of both artistic research generally and my dissertation project rience. Its starting point is a deeper approach to my own practice that is specifically, including the theories employed. There I argue that it is also a jumping-off point for more general questions. Returns of this kind preeminently feasible to apply the ideas of Russian philosopher Mikhail also reflect the theme of repetition that has been a catalyst for my own Bakhtin (1895–1975) in the discussion of artistic work. I have avoided artistic and creative work. historicising Bakhtin’s thinking because I lack the background knowl- As fine art research is a relatively new discipline, the tasks facing my edge required, but mainly because I am interested in how his ideas relate colleagues and me include that of establishing its boundaries.

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