Abstract
The sociology of art always faces a dilemma. This turns around the degree to which attention should be paid to aesthetic issues and values on the one hand, and the social conditions and contexts of cultural production on the other. It is curious that in our own period, it is the former which prevails in much of the work within the field, and this in the face of the increasing influence of the latter in the ways in which artists support themselves financially, experience increasing association between entrepreneurial self-reliance and economic insecurity and are forcibly reminded of the ideological purpose of the notion that creativity occurs ex nihilo regardless of the material conditions in which cultural production takes place. This being so, Kirsten Forkert turns a neat trick in attending to how artists live, rather than how they create, and in looking less at artistic practices and more at how art is implicated in state and capitalist structures. Her book is a comparative study of two cities, London and Berlin, and draws on interviews with over 40 artists, intermediaries and academics. These took place between 2008 and 2010, and the artists involved were engaged in painting, sculpture, film-making, public art and other assorted activities. Forkert is aware of the limits of her study, for as she puts it, interviewing a disparate group of people, some of who are in economically precarious situations, in places where it is difficult to live long term, during a period of economic instability requires one to accept a degree of provisionality and uncertainty in one’s research findings, at the same time as identifying common themes and patterns, and more importantly, shared social conditions. (p. 10)
This does not diminish the value of the book, which contains a good deal of useful material, as well as insightful analysis, relating to the experience and role of artistic work in contemporary neo-liberal societies. The relationship of culture and capitalism is Forkert’s starting point in the first two chapters of the book, before she moves on to deal with the London fieldwork in chapters on spatial politics, the art market, state funding and paid employment (as distinct from art practices). The final two chapters are based on the Berlin fieldwork, and look at the conditions in Berlin that are different to those in London, as for example in those brought about by cheap rental accommodation and availability of space, and at questions of support, identity and relationship to the bohemian ideal. Forkert, who teaches media theory at Birmingham City University, has produced a well-researched and critically engaged book (although one that could have been better proof-read). It will be of interest to anyone concerned with the arts or with an involvement in how the sociology of art is developing.