The terms of critique On art as critique in October journal

This dissertation examines the terms of critique in the art critical journal October. Founded in 1976, October emerged in response to the perceived redundancy of Clement Greenberg’s formalist art criticism and the rise of socially engaged art practices. Seeking to reconcile modernism’s self-critical focus with socio-political concerns, the journal became a platform for rethinking art’s role as a form of critique. Drawing on influences such as French Theory and the Frankfurt School, October advanced an understanding of art as a critical practice that interrogates the ideological, historical, and institutional conditions of its production and reception, extending this inquiry to broader questions of subjectivity, epistemology, and socio-historical analysis.
The dissertation focuses on two primary paradigms of critique within October: Rosalind Krauss’ poststructuralist deconstruction and Benjamin Buchloh’s Marxist-inspired immanent critique. Both approaches emphasize art’s capacity to challenge dominant structures but differ in their theoretical foundations and methodologies. Krauss foregrounds the destabilization of fixed meanings and categories through poststructuralist critique, while Buchloh emphasizes art’s engagement with the socio-historical conditions of late capitalism. However, both paradigms also encounter internal contradictions that limit their capacity to address contemporary issues. Taking critique not only as its object but also as its method, the dissertation develops an immanent critique of these paradigms, ultimately proposing a new framework for art as critique.