What Do Artists Know?

Contemporary Responses to the Deskilling of Art

Some contemporary art is profoundly engaged with the world in ways that go beyond interpretation. We seem to be in the midst of a cultural moment where the instrumentalization of art has never been more widely accepted among artists. Whether such artistic practices seek to work across disciplines like science or sociology, or aim to intervene positively in the social and cultural life of communities, the artists involved may be said to hold in common the belief that there is a real advantage that flows from the fact that they come to the scene as artists. We are familiar with the notion of the artist as a problem-solver. But what of other, more contentious knowledge claims? Michael Corris is an artist and writer on art whose work is most closely identified with the critical practices and attitudes of Conceptual art; specifically, with the work of the collective, Art & Language.