Profesjonalizacja wolności. Swoboda artysty w sztuce współczesnej

The history of art is often discussed in connection with broadening the scope of artistic freedom. Such an approach is founded on the assumption that freedom is a constant, transhistorical value which may be increased or limited depending on social conditions. Invoking Boris Bernstein’s views, the author challenges this approach, which allows him to consider the singular features of freedom in contemporary art. He argues that these features are delimited by emphasizing the opposition between broadly understood totalitarianism and liberalism. Postmodernist thinkers have transferred these issues from the area of politics to the domain of culture, which has resulted in detecting a variety of freedom restrictions. As an example, the author discusses the views of Richard Rorty who opposed the model of cultural liberalism (based on scientific patterns) to „poeticized culture” (characterized by randomness, irony and individualism).