Information as Readymade

The article ‘Arty Party’ gave me some much needed insight into the artworks which Foster described as a blending of installation, performance and documentation. I was particularly drawn to the idea that these kinds of works could be readymades. Early readymades utilized and reprocessed objects and text. Here the very format of installation and collaborative projects are reprocessed. As suggested by the article, information can be a readymade, particularly today during the ‘postproduction’ era where it’s a given that ‘work’ can be anything, including information. Formats of communicating and exhibition can be reworked, pushing ideas of originality and authorship even further than traditional readymades while also incorporating the postmodern issues of global capitalism.
Collaboration appears to be a prominent devise, particularly when approaching the subject of originality. Fosters example, No Ghost Just a Shell, is an ongoing project by Huyghe and Philippe Parreno where artists are encouraged to participate by making artworks featuring a Japanese animation character called Annlee. Fosters poses the question: is the buying of Annlee a gesture of liberation or of serial bondage?
Also raised in the text is the audience’s role in the dialogue that is the artwork. Artist’s position the once inert audience members as part of an ephemeral “community” which collectively interacts with the work.
I have been having trouble defining what these ‘arty parties’ are. I’m beginning to see that it’s this ambiguity which enables this fusion of installation and performance to be so fascinating.