The Purpose of the Absurd in Contemporary and Recent Fine Art Practices

Abstract

My research has investigated and attempted to identify the absurd as a function within the making of Fine Art. By ‘absurd’, I am referring to a subjective state of being, centred on the individual, which allows for logical inconsistency and contradiction. This absurd was initially identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, in reaction to the systemic and objective philosophies of Hegel, Kant and others; and which in turn was elaborated upon by later writers such as Albert Camus and Maurice MerleauPonty. It is often associated with, but discrete from, Existential philosophy. I have examined how this interpretation of the absurd plays out in the practices of various recent and contemporary artists, including Francis Alys, Bas Jan Ader, Martin Creed, Simon Starling and John Latham. I have described how the Absurd is a necessary part in enabling certain kinds of contemporary Fine Art practice, notably in the way that the detachment from a universal logic permits an inner rationale to emerge in an artist’s praxis. Throughout my research I have made works which in which I endeavour to accentuate and demonstrate the Absurd function within the Art work. I have done so by focussing in my practice on activities whose ‘purpose’ is internalised and/or secondary; journeys or activities which are out of proportion to the purpose attributed to them.