What Does the “End of Avante-gardes” Mean?

Abstract

The problem of evanescence of avant-garde practices belongs not so much to the history of art as to the philosophical foundations of the conditions of modernity. The perception of history peculiar to avant-gardes, and the type of historicity to which they are related in post-modern thought, can be distinguished as expediency (fin), or the purpose as such, and the end (fin) as composed from a sequence of episodes. Post-modern thinkers have declared the “end” of history, while not proposing any conceptual substitute to it. Pluralism and heterogeneity of modern art practices, permeability of any imposed borders are performed on the stage of differences, which is prepared to integrate them in the universal teleology with no privilege or exception.