Hans Haacke: Quotes about the world

Hans Haacke is conceptual political artist. Explore interesting quotes on world.
Hans Haacke: 24   quotes 0   likes

“It would be bypassing the issue to say that the artist's business is how to work with this and that material and manipulate the findings of perceptual psychology, and that the rest should be left to other professions… The total scope of information he receives everyday is of concern. An artist is an isolated system,… he has to continuously interact with the world around him. Theoretically there are no limits to his involvement.”

Hans Haacke

Source: Art international, Vol. 13, (1969), p. 56; As cited in: Art Inquiry: Recherches Sur Les Arts. Vol. 1-4. (1999), p. 116

World , Business

“In an ever-advancing spiral the public was made to believe that only Hollywood-style extravaganzas were worth seeing and that only they could give an accurate sense of the world of art. The resulting box-office pressure made the museums still more dependent on corporate funding. Then came the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s. Many individual donors could no longer contribute at the accustomed rate, and inflation eroded the purchasing power of funds. To compound the financial problems, many governments, facing huge deficits—often due to sizable expansions of military budgets—cut their support for social services as well as their arts funding. Again museums felt they had no choice but to turn to corporation for a bail-out.”

Hans Haacke

1980s, "Museums, Managers of Consciousness," 1983

World , Art , Support , Problem

“The artist's business requires his involvement in practically everything. He works in reference, not to a section of the world, but to the whole world.”

Hans Haacke

Source: Arts/Canada, Vol. 26, (1969), p. 75

World , Business

“The art world as a whole, and museums in particular, belong to what has aptly been called the "consciousness industry."”

Hans Haacke

1980s, "Museums, Managers of Consciousness," 1983

World , Art

“… Museums are managers of consciousness. They give us an interpretation of history, of how to view the world and locate ourselves in it. They are, if you want to put it in positive terms, great educational institutions. If you want to put it in negative terms, they are propaganda machines. They're both. This is something usually not acknowledged and there's probably a good reason why: because if this were in one's consciousness, then one would be a bit more immune to brainwashing — assuming brainwashing is the intent.”

Hans Haacke

1990s, Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre, and Elsewhere, 1998

World , Education , History