COMMENT:

PLURALISM AND APOLITICS: By: Chris Bradshaw

... Symbiotic terminology in these days of extreme eclecticism.
Basically, ‘Pluralism’ is a term invented by the historians
and critics, to catagorize a situation which lacks criteria;
an ironical term, used to describe an ironical situation.

in an art historical sense, Pluralism emerged with the fail-
ure of Modernism and the subsequent absence of a dominant
ideology as a replacement. The result of this discovery mani -
fests itself in the present atmosphere of ‘permissiveness '
in the art world; the only logical reaction when logic itself
has undermined all of our belief systems.

This situation naturally extends itself into everyday life
and is seen day after day, evidenced by the epidemic of apa-
thy in our society. To quote Hal Foster in his essay, 'The
Problems of Pluralism', he states that Pluralism represents
"the turn of the individual inward, the retreat from politics
to psychology."

'Apathy', too, has become dated terminology these days; too
many negative connotations have become associated with it.
The newest catch-phrase which has come to describe our dis-
position is "apolitical, a state of mind which denotes an
awareness of the environment, while maintaining a sterile
distance from any kind of decision-making process.

All things considered, both states of mind reflect safety
and personal indulgence, situations which are extremely des-
irable to the ‘powers-that be'. By dividing us on issues of
morality and promoting an ideology of eclecticism, the indi-
vidual is thrust into an environment of isolation, making it
next to impossible to reach a consensus on anything.
...Indeed, can we really afford to be ‘apolitical’ in this
age of transgression?

* For more information on Pluralism, see ''The Problem of
Pluralism'', Art in America, January, 1982.