What happens when artistic rebellion becomes just another commodity? In this thought-provoking conversation, Adam Turl unpacks his book "Gothic Capitalism: Art Evicted from Heaven and Earth," taking us on a journey through the ruins of revolutionary movements and avant-garde dreams.
The discussion begins with an unexpected Soviet connection—Alexandra Kollontai's gothic novella that serves as a metaphor for revolutionary ideals crumbling under bureaucratization. This sets the stage for exploring what Turrell calls the "gothic dialectic" within capitalism: how class struggles win partial victories only to see them rolled back, creating spaces of loss and nostalgia that haunt our cultural landscape.
Turl brilliantly analyzes Boris Groys' concept of the "weak avant-garde"—how once-revolutionary artistic gestures that sought to democratize art have become institutionalized without the social transformation they once promised. The white cube gallery, intended to elevate art, now often serves as an unwitting accomplice to gentrification. When art galleries moved into Boyle Heights, the conceptual art that once seemed democratizing became, in practice, a force of displacement.
The conversation takes fascinating turns through digital space, AI-generated art, and the false promises of Silicon Valley utopianism. Turl argues that just as cities once offered liberatory potential before becoming commodified "hellscapes," the internet has followed a similar trajectory of enclosure. Meanwhile, AI art burns massive resources to create derivative works—a bizarre form of wasteful consumption that prioritizes replacing human creativity over efficiency.
Throughout, Turl emphasizes that art's meaning emerges not just from the object itself but from its "social performance" in the world. He calls for reconnecting artistic practices to community organizing and mutual aid—not to make all art explicitly political, but to restore meaning in an increasingly alienated world. As both technological and ecological crises deepen, can we create spaces where art serves community rather than capital? Join us for this urgent conversation about finding beauty and solidarity amid the ruins.
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Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake
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Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn
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twitter: @varnvlog
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