Economy and Affect in the Long 1970s

Paul Krugman recently speculated on the possible “end of [economic] growth,” but for economic historians this is nothing new. Rather, for many, it dates to the late sixties and early seventies—much like most of the art at Dia. Art historian Geoffrey Wildanger looks at the art of the late sixties and early seventies in relation to the economic context that, arguably, we still exist within.

The financial crisis of 2008 once again posed the question of the relationship between the economy and art; not only why the art market continues to expand in apparent contradiction to the rest of the economy, but also whether an economic crisis marks artworks. If art can put affects—amongst other types of information—on display, to what extent can artworks display the types of affects that circulated as the work was formed? Geoffrey Wildanger will use the specific works from Dia's collection, by artists such as Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Bruce Nauman, to explore their interrelation with the economic changes occurring in the late sixties and early seventies. These case studies provide an entry point into the history of two types of circulation—affective and economic—and raise the possibility that the current historical moment cannot be extricated from the crises of affect and of the economy that have marked the last forty years.

For reservations, please click the reservations button above.

Geoffrey Wildanger has a Master’s in Art History from the University of California, Davis, where he wrote his thesis on Andrea Fraser. He currently lives in New York and is participating in the Whitney Independent Study Program in Critical Studies. He recently published the article "Catastrophic Affects" in the British journal Transmission Annual.