Towards a Non-Identity Art

This exposition addresses the motivation behind the recent turn in contemporary art toward displaying non-art and the work of outsiders. It begins by providing an alternative interpretation of Marcel Duchamp's Fountain before tracing the historic roots of the vanguardist strategy of self-negation in art and its affinities with communal creativity. Developed from my research on artist exits, I then affirm an expanded creativity. I posit that an egalitarian art could be realised within exhibitions in which anyone can exhibit. Such a polemical outlook seeks to problematise the ownership of the identities within the field of artistic production. Ultimately it seeks to further the egalitarian drive in contemporary culture and encourage a reconsideration of set identities. However, these assumptions will in turn be problematised as the research is driven by Theodor Adorno’s non-identity thought. This involves a rejection of strong self–identification alongside a commitment to egalitarianism. Considering this, the worthwhile search for a non-identity art is forever elusive.