Actors, Networks, Theories / D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant

Actors, Networks, Theories / D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant explores the notion of deferred receptions of theories and art through language, context and translations. Through examinations of texts and artists’ works, the book explores the gap that manifests itself between the publication of a text in one language and that of its translation, or between the inaugural presentation of an artwork in one context and its subsequent display.

In the first part of the publication, Bonin explores the assimilation of writings by French philosophers in English-speaking visual arts milieus from the late 1970s until today. This trajectory has been mapped in an indexical manner by alluding to the network of institutions and communities of elective affinities that intercepted these texts and recycled them. In the second part, the narrative of North American imports of “French Theory” takes a different tack, highlighting the ways in which artists, critics, theorists and curators graft affect onto the transmission of these discourses and references. Collaboration—while not suspending the power relations that exist between these aforementioned protagonists—has become a means to safeguard the concept of autonomy within the heteronomous field of art.

The book thoughtfully engages with discourses surrounding contemporary art practices, and includes work by significant artists such as Jean-Luc Godard, Ian Wallace, Bernadette Corporation and Mary Kelly. Actors, networks, theories / D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant accompanies a major exhibition presented at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery of Concordia University, and also at Dazibao, curated by Vincent Bonin.

Published in partnership with Dazibao and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery.