Tribunal of Things - PhD on Georges Adéagbo by Stephan Köhler

The dissertation entitled "Das Tribunal der Dinge" - Schauplatz Assemblage im Werk von Georges Adéagbo by Stephan Köhler examines the complex practice of the artist Georges Adéagbo (1942 Cotonou, Rep. Benin) using an interdisciplinary cultural studies approach. Adéagbo became known through his contributions to Harald Szeemann's 43rd Venice Biennale in 1999 and Documenta 11 with Okwui Enwezor in 2002. The work consists of two components, which can also be read in parallel: On the one hand, the detailed analysis of an exemplary assemblage entitled La révolution et les révolutions from 2016, contribution to the 11th Shanghai Biennale and, on the other hand, a protocol of its creation from the perspective of the participant observer. In this protocol, each step of the planning and realization of the Shanghai Biennale contribution in China and Benin is traced and thus both the reception and the production-aesthetic aspects of the work are discussed.

The long observation period of over 20 years enables a comparison with earlier works and thus a presentation of the development of Adéagbo's working methods. The breakdown of his constellations of things, images and writing shows how the artist deals with very different sign systems: does he allow them to rival each other in his tribunal or do they complement each other in a common narrative thread? Another question that arises again and again in the course of the investigations: Can a Western work aesthetic, which is primarily concerned with self-contained art objects that are auratically presented and celebrated as unique, even comprehend a practice of open accumulative systems of endless collections such as Adéagbo's? Or do we need to look for other languages, methods, perspectives and approaches in order to discuss what is generally referred to as "art" beyond Western concepts and to understand Georges Adéagbo's œuvre? In summary, it can be said that Adéagbo independently developed his practice in Benin without orienting himself towards other artists who integrate everyday objects into their works or knowing the history of Western avant-gardes. This original aesthetic is examined with the help of theories that deal with the power of things and with open systems as works of art.

Köhler shows how Adéagbo poetically criticizes the omnipresence of Western logic without falling into the traps of polemics. With his comprehensive collections of things and writings as evidence in his tribunal, Adéagbo, as a nominalist, questions what summarizing rational collective terms really achieve and what they reductively hide. In a detailed analysis of his writing style and comparison with other West African authors, it is shown how Adéagbo succeeds in making the language of the colonial rulers, French, his own by changing syntax and grammar. Through his cultural transfer, the artist constantly thematizes and parodies clichés about "the others", which people from different cultures constantly build up on each other. It becomes clear how, together with the deconstruction and modification of French in his writing, Adéagbo's practice is a constant act of decolonization and protects the narrative about his culture from heteronomy.

Online available here:

ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de

Please visit our drop box library with texts about Georges Adéagbo:

Adeagbo library on drop-box