The Prescient and Ahistoric

by C G Barlow

2019 (Published by The Dialogues Press); 86 pages.

Since the financial crash of the early twenty-first century, the art industry has radically transformed. Two important alterations are the emergence of the entretive fair and changes in the demographic formation and conceptualisation of artists and designers. Written in the style of a fictitious interview, between an interviewer called George Leonard and his guest Parallax ‘Art’ Fair, and replacing the term ‘artist’ with ‘entretive’, the book attempts to outline a number of the recent practical and theoretical changes in the art industry through discussing Parallax ‘Art’ Fair’s genesis. But even though radical changes have occurred during the last two decades, perennially entretives struggle to generate income from their practice alone. The History of Art, considered as a form of marketing, and an outmoded educational system are identified as two causes of this situation. But there is hope. As two modes of living jostle at the beginning of the century, the interviewee suggests that it is the newly emerging Ahistoric that is superseding an older Prescient mode. Consequently, this will generate a further metamorphosis in the way that we link entrepreneurialism, pedagogy, and contemporary art production.

Dr C G Barlow is a philosopher of the history of art and a founder of Parallax.

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