To begin, let\u2019s go back to the assigned function of the political in art. When you say that your works were \u201ctoo political\u201d to gain acceptance as political art, or as art at all, then that\u2019s exactly the point: as soon as radical practice is combined with \u201cpolitics\u201d it is no longer compatible with the schemas of the political which are tolerated: you can\u2019t even gain entry to the established scene, and the projects are \u2013 so to say \u2013 for your private pleasure. And when you speak of taking action \u2013 including artistic performances \u2013 against the populist right-wing government in Austria, well, meanwhile we\u2019re also witnessing in Germany today a development where precisely this position is actually demanded of art: that artists, theatre people, writers, musicians, etc. confront right-wing populism, Pegida and xenophobia \u2013 with the means of an aesthetized politics! This fits in perfectly with the image a tolerant society cultivates of itself, particularly in relation to the ideological function assigned to art in such a society. Here again: there\u2019s not a word about capitalism and social relations, not the slightest hint of a critique of political economy.
\nLinking this to Adorno\u2019s concept of autonomy: remarkably, Critical Theory never demanded that art openly commit itself to politics \u2013 Adorno never and Marcuse not really either; even Benjamin\u2019s politicising of art has to be understood in its specific context, namely the threats posed by fascist terror in the 1930s. We usually assume that art which is in some way \u201cpolitical\u201d is a \u201ccritical\u201d art, in other words we equate \u201cpolitics\u201d \u2013 whereby as a matter of course this always means a leftist, if not a radical leftist position \u2013 and \u201ccritique\u201d. However: what makes art critical in the sense of the aesthetics of Critical Theory is related to composition, material, technique and so on, not with some \u201cpolitical statement\u201d. And that is precisely what Adorno\u2019s concept of art\u2019s autonomy points to, or more precisely, the autonomy of the artwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"