Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies

From productivity to creativity - the role of art collectives in
solving the contradictions of the transitional period
Sezgin Boynik
Abstract
This essay is a commentary based on Maja Breznik’s two empirical studies on the
contradictions between the productive forces and the relations of production of artists/
authors in determining the discourse of transition. This elementary contradiction is
constitutive of the ideology of visual art. I argue that the political effects of this discourse
based on transition can be most explicitly shown in the example of art collectives. I will
base this argument on four texts written by East European curators or art producers
who have common problems relating to the issues of transition, and contradictions and
collectivism in art.
Keywords: discourse of transition, contradiction between productive forces and
relations of production, visual art, art collectives
One practical problematic at our starting point will eventually lead us to a more abstract
sphere of discussion: how do the art systems handle their contradictions The answer which
I want to propose is that the contradictions of art systems are in most cases explained by
the terms relating to the discourse of transition, and that these contradictions are handled
through ideological solutions based on identity policies and psychological regulations.
We can start this discussion by naming these contradictions. Maja Breznik in her paper
“Cultural identities from the bottom up – labour relations policies”, which analyses the
labour processes of book production and the position of the “author” in this process,
wrote that elementary contradictions between two different types of revenue determine
this relationship. The “author” is torn, to use this quotidian expression, between the
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