Every time cultural organizers huddle to pick a festival theme, their brainstorming heat surely counts as a modest contribution to global warming. In today’s attention economy—where information is overabundant and rage-bait has surpassed click-bait like an evolved Pokémon—art institutions are forced to perform the same precarious dance, navigating survival and relevance under the increasingly standardized pressures of the neoliberal economy. Devising curatorial frameworks isn’t simply a matter of aesthetics or conceptual backing; it must conform to the demands of the market.
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