1. Documents, Constellations, Prospects
        2. Contributions
        Art Production, Lecture, Performance

        I Dreamed a Dream: Politics in the Age of Mass Art Production

        Hito Steyerl

        18 March 2013

      1. 1. This contribution deals with the age of mass art production. 

        2. This is an adopted project. 

        3. This talk assumes the form of a non-fiction subscriptionbased novel. It is written on demand in response to commission and funding and full of cliffhangers, advertisement breaks, and excessive and incoherent plotlines. Also it suddenly stops without further notice or warning. It starts by asking a very simple question: Why are there so many unrealized art projects? Because there are so many art projects. And why are there so many art projects? Because we live in the world of mass art production. Basically everyone is an artist nowadays. Or at least he or she has an artistic project. We can speak of a surge in the creation of art. The production of art is proliferating. How did we get to this point? Art production used to be one of the most arcane activities reserved for male masters who had to invest a lot of time and labor to develop their abilities. How was this activity so thoroughly democratized? How come basically anyone can now rightfully claim to produce art? Let’s compare this development with one other major technological and social transformation: the invention of firearms. Will mass art production change society in the same way?