ISSUE 48 (SUMMER 2016): Erase the Traces

This issue explores contemporary archetypes – the microcelebrity, the one-percenter, the refugee, the feminist, the sleeper, the saviour, and the thief – who likewise occupy a position between hyper- and invisibility within the social space. Hidden among them is the artist, who obscures as much as she or he reveals. The coded palimpsest, the viral internet, and the self as brand all offer metaphorical ways of talking about a moment in which it often seems nothing is beyond the reach of corporate or state surveillance and the economy of likes. In the lead essay, Barbara Casavecchia looks at artistic precedents for counterstrategies of reduced visibility, secrets, and silence. Dean Kissick investigates microcelebrity, and Armen Avanessian offers his reflections the figure of the sleeper. Hans-Jürgen Hafner explains why it’s become so hard to “get” Arnulf Rainer’s oeuvre, and Suzanne Cotter talks to Tenzing Barshee about the supposed opacity of Trisha Donnelly’s work. With Ariana Reines, Jay Sanders, and João Ribas.

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