Contemporary Art: Acceleration Between Memory and History

Today, scholars observe the acceleration of historical time and its effects on consciousness, which expands exponentially under the influence of technological progress and information overload. As artificial intelligence takes over some cognitive functions, the crisis of contemporary art has drawn increasing scholarly attention. In response to this crisis, researchers propose to overcome the state of hysteresis by reloading historicized public memory through the restoration of integral cultural memory. This process includes reinterpreting the historical avant-garde, whose varied interpretations led to the emergence of American “oppositional postmodernism” and “reactionary postmodernism.” These concepts were theoretically developed by critics of October magazine in the 1980s and 1990s. Their interpretation influenced not only a new generation of American artists but, since the turn of the millennium, has also shaped the contradictory discourse of contemporary art in Ukraine. This article reconstructs and critically evaluates the complex trajectories of the postmodern episteme, challenges the notion of progressive positivist thinking as outdated, and explores cultural practices that could help resolve the ongoing artistic crisis.