Exploring the Principles of Allodoxic Art (in dialogue with Baroness Elsa)

Jenny Brown

It is possible to bring socio-politically engaged practices into the realm of the commons. These practices I have grouped under the umbrella of allodoxic art, a term defined in the first section of this exposition. Allodoxic art provides a way of bringing into focus the social movement struggles that have shaped the discourse across social and environmental justice, embracing the total contribution of individuals’ artistic forms and active citizenship. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) recuperates the concept of allodoxia that was first used by the Greek philosopher Plato (427–347 BC) to describe false beliefs arising from misrecognition. The word allodoxia derives from two Greek words allo referring to a mixture, and doxa meaning practices or teachings. An understanding of his use of allodoxia can equip artists with a tool to map pre-allodoxic tactical actions for unfolding allodoxic interventions that target and impact upon privileged space. Such interventions can maintain and expand the commons as embedded policy and programs, rights, and community-led initiatives. The commons are theorised here not merely as a passive legacy, but as a stake to be claimed, insistently and programmatically, as a matter of collective urgency. The commons also refer to lost or new territory claimed for the protection or expansion of rights, on the one hand, and the common good and activism in general on the other. I present several artwork examples that elucidate hegemonic social games, as well as others that demonstrating the connection between allodoxia and hegemony. These may act as access points for artists and intervention participants to understand how allodoxic interventions, as anti-hegemonic behaviour, contribute knowledge and skills to commoning processes. They may also, through the exploration and testing of tactics, help those processes gain traction and develop. These are drawn from the radical performative practice of German-born Baroness Elsa von Freytag Loringhoven (born Else Hildegard Plötz 1874–1927: henceforth Baroness Elsa) and my studio based works. The theorisation of allodoxic art also draws from German political thinker Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), specifically her theoretical work on revolutions, which provides greater understanding of how and why we should take political actions against privileged space. As principles for allodoxic art, this work develops an analytical armature for judging the success of these tactics and to further develop these types of interventions.

Guiding principles of allodoxic art

Allodoxic interventions build on the participatory elements of new genre public art, as theorised by Suzanne Lacy. Lacy states that the critical consideration of the effectiveness of this practice has remained relatively unexamined.^[i]Allodoxic interventions are able to take up the challenge of providing this embedding as a criterion of judgement.

Allodoxic interventions are rooted in revolutionary planning and disobedience. I present Arendt’s account of these areas, particularly her book, On Revolution, and her essay, ‘Civil Disobedience’, as a successful design for allodoxic art tactics. As principles, they provide an analytical armature for judging the success of these tactics and extending these types of interventions. Firstly, by embodying freedom through innovation, allodoxic interventions incorporate rupture, risk, and disobedience to signify rebirth of action and the public realm, all the while remaining true to its originating political spirit. Secondly, by designing for durability, interventions make provision for institutions, the law, or groups of people so that they may embed rights and maintain or expand the commons in sustainable ways. Thirdly, by embedding rights as safeguards to our happiness, these themes become rooted and internalised within communities so that they can become sustainable. Finally, as public participation in concert with others, the relevance and general interest of allodoxic interventions should be to political predicaments rather than to legal or moral ones, so they relate to what Arendt sees as collective responsibility.

In this section, I provide a range of intervention examples from my own work, from Baroness Elsa, and from others to elucidate how the prioritisation of particular principles shapes tactical processes, collaborative and participatory programs, and outputs and outcomes as artistic forms and impacts in the social sphere. This pre-allodoxic activity acts as a springboard, where chance plays a part in the potential for successful allodoxic interventions.

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[i] Suzanne Lacy, Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art. (Seattle: Bay Press, 1995), p. 173.

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