Altermodern
Altermodern is the art-critical proposition of the French curator Nicolas Bourriaud, who coined the blend word to describe art made in a globalized present as a reaction against standardization and commercialism. First outlined in a 2005 keynote, it argues that contemporary artists seek a 'new modernity' built on translation - connecting cultural values across networks - and on creolisation, producing singular works in an increasingly standardized world. Bourriaud gave the idea a public test as curator of Tate Britain's fourth Triennial, 'Altermodern' (2009), structured around four 'prologue' events and four claims: the end of postmodernism, cultural hybridisation, travel as a way of producing form, and expanding formats for art. More curatorial thesis than settled movement, it remains a widely cited frame for nomadic, cross-cultural contemporary practice.
Defining characteristics
- Art structured as itineraries - journeys, routes and translations
- Cultural hybridisation: creolised forms mixing sources and languages
- Works that treat the archive and the network as raw material
- Expanding formats, sliding between installation, performance, film and web
- Deliberate distance from postmodern irony toward singular propositions
Key figures
- Nicolas Bourriaud (b. 1965) — Curator and critic who defined the concept and staged the 2009 Tate Triennial
Sources
- Altermodern - Wikipedia encyclopedia