Sunday, August 17, 2014

Ben Schumacher at Musee d’art contemporain de Lyon

Ben Schumacher at Musee d'art contemporain de Lyon

Since Schumacher’s breakout show at Bortolami its been a speed test of formal attempts to invent himself ahead of the wave of what is sure to be a new style of Techno-conceptuo. Simon Denny too. But it’s an accelerative model, one in which the formal gamesmanship, the hunt for the new october after an eternal september, must continually increase speed if not to be bogged in a style quickly homogenized as the spaces fill. An accumulative method against obsolescence, shiny new newness standing in for conceptual spark. Nothing will ever stand in for the initial rush of the first hit of an exhibition. It’s a Genzken style arms-race premised on art’s competition with the speed of culture as a whole. A losing battle, but a least Schumacher’s good at it.