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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Today we are witnessing the emergence of antagonism, a dimension intrinsically bound to
the human beings, which results from the expression of specific power relations composing
social hegemonies, that inevitably want to prevail over each other. Furthermore, the system
of symbols produced by the dominant hegemony to maintain the control, has pervaded all
sides of the human sphere, creating its own aesthetic.
According to Chantal Mouffe (2013), the antagonist dimension could be solved, or better
yet sublimated, through its conversion to agonism, which is realized through discussion
and confrontation among peers. In this context, the aim of this dissertation is to analyse
how contemporary art practices might operate as effective counter-hegemonic processes,
taking into account the particularity inherent in ethics (Badiou, 2001) and the political
dimension to which art is intrinsically bound (Rancière, 2004).
After a first theoretical backbone, which presents an analysis of participatory art and
deepens the concept of agonistic approach, I consider the practice of three artists, Joseph
Beuys (1921-1986), Paweł Althamer (1967) and Tania Bruguera (1968), whose works are
challenging the viewer in a counter-hegemonic manner, to answer the main question of this
dissertation: how should the artists engage the viewer through their artistic practices and
actions? It will be seen that the work of these artists seems to tell that the artistic practice
should not be superior to the spectator, neither an explicit complaint. It should question the
system, being a subtle trigger for the beholder, inducing a reaction, a dialogue, an
autonomous reflection.