byproduct examines artist’s projects whose artfulness lies in building micro-worlds within other non- artworld systems. While parasitically reliant on the socioeconomic structure and symbolic order of other dominant systems, these artworks or “byproducts” — exploit loopholes, surpluses, and exceptions in order to affirm individual agency and complicate the mechanisms of their dominant “host.” As pivots or turning points between art and other sectors, these works function as carriers for meaning across disciplines.
While responding to 20th century precedents that investigate the relationship between artists and industry, ‘Byproducts’ suggests these outlines and vocabulary for evaluating relevant analytic criteria such as the outcome, duration, retention of a critical voice, assimilation or reconciliation, etc. As a book responding to the emergent genre of ‘interventionism’ in contemporary artists’ practices, byproducts shifts focus away from the artist’s singular, anarchic gesture and instead towards the integration of art into everyday life.
read more:
http://www.rev-it.org/projects/byproducts.htm