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Discipline and Varnish: Rhetoric and Subjectivity at the Museum of Modern Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2009

Thomas Patin
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Literary and Cultural Theorist Terry Eagleton argues that “the aesthetic” was from its very inception a development toward a representation of human subjectivity. For Eagleton, the discourse of aesthetics assigned the body to “a subtly oppressive law … a specious form of universalism … [that] blocks and mystifies the real political movement towards … community.” The aesthetic became a “coercion to hegemony,” by informing and regulating sensuous life while at the same time allowing for what seemed like a prospering autonomy. For Eagleton, aesthetics is not ultimately concerned with art objects but with the project of “reconstructing the human subject from the inside.” Autonomy, as it has been described by many theories of the aesthetic, becomes for many a desirable model of independent subjectivity and individual subjective experience. Even though aesthetics works on the subject “from the inside,” as Eagleton writes, it does so through material means. Architecture, art theory, and curatorial practices provide other instances of what Eagleton describes as “apparatuses” of power in the cultural field. One of the things I want to suggest is that cultural practices represent possibilities for subjectivity. Critical, architectural, and museological representations seem to concern artistic production, but also function as subtle suggestions about what it means to be human. These practices work to affect the formation of subjects by attempting to limit and pre-scribe the possibilities for subjectivity. Joel Fineman has similarly argued that subjectivity is constructed from “subjectivity effects” that are in turn produced in a web of discourses. One of Fineman's primary concerns is for how rhetoric can be used to establish compelling and realistic representations of subjectivity, while providing evidence of the artificial nature of the subject at the same time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Prospects , Volume 26 , October 2001 , pp. 639 - 665
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

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References

NOTES

Much of the research for this essay was supported by the School of Art and College of Fine Arts, Ohio University, as well as by the College Art Association's Professional Development Fellowship in American Art.

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48. Ibid., 140.

49. Ibid., 125, original emphasis.

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53. Since the mid-1990s, MOMA has been planning another expansion. At the same time, the curators at MOMA have been experimenting with alternate organizations of the museum's collection. In the late 1990s, the permanent collection was removed completely. The exhibition “Modernstarts” organized selections from the collection into three sections entitled “People,” “Places,” and “Things.” These sections were in turn further subdivided into smaller exhibits. In early 2000, MOMA reinstalled the entire collection throughout its galleries in an exhibited called “Making Choices,” which was further subdivided into twenty-five constituent exhibitions. Commentary on the museum's recent experiments has been strong and has centered upon the possible future role of MOMA in the contemporary art world. See Moretti, Franco, “MoMA2000: The Capitulation,” New Left Review 4 (07/08 2000): 98–102Google Scholar; and Danto, Arthur C., “MoMA: What's in a Name?” Nation (07 17, 2000): 32–36Google Scholar.

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59. West, “Creating a Museum,” 38. In January 1998, Cardinal and GBCQ of Philadelphia were dismissed as the lead architect and collaborative firm, respectively, for the NMAI project. The dismissal was the result of disagreements between Cardinal and the Smithsonian over costs and cost overruns. See also Forgey, Benjamin, “The Best Laid Plans: Indian Museum Dispute a Tragic Waste,” Washington Post, 04 4, 1998, sec. C, p. lGoogle Scholar; and Brown, Patricia Leigh, “Museum of the Indian Drops Its Designer,” New York Times, 04 4, 1998, sec. A, p. 17Google Scholar.

60. See Smolkin, “Museum of the First People.”

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