Common Love,
Aesthetics of Becoming
April 27–June 11, 2011

Common Love, Aesthetics of Becoming

Common Love,
Aesthetics of Becoming
Columbia University MFA Alumni

Kaira M. Cabañas, ed.
Design: Elizabeth Azen, EA Projects, New York
Wallach Art Gallery, 2011

 

Common Love, Aesthetics of Becoming is published in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition on view at the Wallach Art Gallery April 27 through June 11, 2011. The exhibition features alumni from the Columbia University Visual Arts Program. More than a show of the "greatest hits" from the last ten years, Common Love intervenes in a moment in contemporary art when love is at stake.

The essays in Common Love, Aesthetics of Becoming take up the question of "love" in various ways. The point of departure is Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's discussion of love in Commonwealth, excerpts of which were published in the October 2009 issue of Artforum. Hardt and Negri argue for a love that moves beyond identification (e.g, with the nation state) and beyond an idea of unification (e.g., as with romantic love). More related to art practice per se, art critic George Baker alludes to "love" when describing the sharing of forms: how film becomes sculptural, for example, or how painting moves toward a sculptural condition.

Common Love, Aesthetics of Becoming is published by the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. The catalogue features fully illustrated essays, as well as a transcript of Michael Hardt's round table discussion with the curators. Contributors include Kaira M. Cabañas (editor), Gregory Amenoff, Robert E. Harrist Jr., Tomoko Kanamitsu, Kristen Chappa, Donald Johnson-Montenegro, and A.E. Benenson.