Rosalind Krauss Reinventing The Medium Pdf =link=

In her later work, particularly in Perpetual Inventory , Krauss identifies other artists who have "reinvented the medium" by persevering in the service of "strange new apparatuses" often adopted from commercial culture. These include:

Krauss describes this maneuver as a "knight’s move." Just as a knight in chess moves in an L-shape, bypassing the linear path of other pieces, the artist bypasses the traditional definitions of the medium. By treating the museum as a medium, Broodthaers exposed the medium’s conventions—its systems of display, its rhetoric of authority—while simultaneously using those very conventions to critique the institution.

A crucial element in Krauss’s theory is the concept of , a term she borrows and adapts from the Marxist cultural critic Walter Benjamin.

Rosalind Krauss’s "Reinventing the Medium" remains a foundational text in contemporary art theory. It proves that breaking traditional boundaries does not mean abandoning structure altogether. By finding the hidden rules within specific technologies, artists can continue to create deeply critical, reflective, and meaningful work in an otherwise chaotic digital world. rosalind krauss reinventing the medium pdf

Applying Krauss’s logic, we shouldn't look for the "purity" of the digital medium. We should look for the . AI works on automation (predicting the next pixel based on data). An artist "reinventing the medium" of AI would be one who disrupts that automation—exposing the dataset, glitching the output, or forcing the viewer to confront the "support" of the algorithm itself.

Why is this essay—written decades ago—still relevant? Because we are in the middle of another medium crisis:

If you are building a reading packet, find these companion PDFs alongside Krauss’s essay: In her later work, particularly in Perpetual Inventory

To demonstrate how a medium can be reinvented, Krauss focuses heavily on the work of Irish artist James Coleman. Coleman did not use canvas or bronze; instead, he used a seemingly obsolete commercial technology: the (projected still images accompanied by recorded audio).

Crucially, this medium is : it generates its own internal logic and criteria for success/failure, independent of broader artistic trends or market demands.

Krauss, Reinventing The Medium (Critical Inquiry 1999) - Scribd A crucial element in Krauss’s theory is the

This document provides an overview and analysis of Rosalind Krauss's essay "Reinventing the Medium." The summary is as follows: 1) Scribd

Beyond the Canvas: Understanding Rosalind Krauss and the "Reinvention of the Medium"

Krauss’s theory of reinventing the medium saved the concept of the medium from the dustbin of history. She transformed it from a rigid container of purity into a fluid space of strategic resistance.

Crucially, Krauss does not advocate for a conservative return to oil painting or marble sculpture. Instead, she argues that artists must the idea of a medium.

(if you have institutional access): JSTOR, Project MUSE, or your university library’s e-resources. The essay appears in: