The Politicization of the Serial in the Visual Art of the 1960s

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Seriality is not only an analytical structural feature of Minimal Art. As a strategy aimed at anonymization and de-individualization, it was and still is a form of aesthetic and political appropriation of the world. Via seriality, artists in the 1960s attempted – often with reference to Roland Barthes’ ›Death of the Author‹ – to demystify the role of the author and bring about the democratization of art. This interrelationship between art and life is clearly demonstrated within the context of the exhibitions staged at Frankfurt University’s Studio Galerie, which is under the directorship of Siegfried Bartels. It was directly involved in the student protest movement in Frankfurt and the subject of articles in Diskus, a student magazine that is still published today. Examining both the artistic and cultural scene in Frankfurt at the time and international trends, the tour investigates artistic standpoints in the current exhibition in which serial formations were applied as possible strategies for the politicization of art.