Art, mobility and the new spirit of capitalism

'Over the past thirty years, exhibition spaces and art biennials have proliferated around the world. As a consequence, artists have advanced to become hyper-mobile protagonists. However, it is not only the institutional and spatial contours of the exhibition landscape that keep artists in motion but also the targeted use of instruments for cultural promotion. Nowadays, artist-in-residence programs and travel grants are pivotal elements of public and private promotion practice in many countries. The present contribution explores how these policies blend into the logic of the field of art and contribute to the mobility dynamics. Of particular interest in doing so are issues in education. As will be shown, relocation practices are legitimized to a large extent by referencing to the ideals of urbanity and cosmopolitanism with the set of instruments in turn contributing significantly to the creation of mobile subjects. In an interplay with 'biography generators' (Alois Hahn) it forms chameleonic profiles. Based on these explorations it will be discussed to what extent the characteristics of mobility in the area of art can provide insights on mobility dynamics in other areas, primarily the capitalist business and working world. This question begs to be asked as several theses - most notably Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello's extensive study on the new spirit of capitalism (1999) - suggest the practice of art to be exemplary for the contemporary capitalist working world.' (author's abstract)|