Lecture by Michael Lüthy: The institution of documenta and the idea of art autonomy

The increase in political and social tensions is also affecting cultural institutions. They find themselves under pressure to take a stand. There seem to be only two alternatives: an institutional policy that opens itself up to actionist agendas or makes itself an actor in these agendas; or a conscious depoliticization that wants to focus on its core aesthetic task. But this is a skewed alternative. Neither the fusion of art and politics in the spirit of actionism nor keeping institutional spaces free of politics can be the goal. It should be about a third factor: an understanding of the “other politics” of art.

This “other politics of art” has a traditional name: Artistic autonomy. Contrary to a frequent misunderstanding, it does not aim to exempt art from politics, but rather to articulate art’s own politicality.

The genesis of documenta is closely linked to the idea of art’s autonomy. However, in its most recent editions, it has also been subject to a controversial politicization. Using documenta fifteen (2022) as an example, the lecture aims to highlight the paradoxes involved and at the same time advocate a strengthening of the idea of autonomy - as a guarantor of that other political aspect of art.

Michael Lüthy is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. After studying in Basel and Berlin, he completed his doctorate in 2000 on Édouard Manet and habilitated in 2010 with a thesis on art aesthetics based on Ludwig Wittgenstein. From 2010-2014 he was Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the FU Berlin, from 2014-2020 Professor of History and Theory of Art at the Bauhaus University Weimar, and in 2020 he moved to his current position in Stuttgart. His teaching and research is situated in the transitional area between art history, art theory and aesthetics.

The lecture will be held in German.