In the context of a couple of prior art exhibitions, Vertigo discusses yet another art exhibition built upon the literature of W.G. Sebald and entitled "Altermodern":
Usually an exhibition begins with a mental image with which we need to reconnect, and whose meanings constitute a basis for discussion with the artists. The research that has preceded the Triennial 2009, however, had its origins in two elements: the idea of the archipelago, and the writings of a German émigré to the UK, Winfred Georg Sebald.
The definition of "altermodern" ("what comes after the postmodern") as quoted at Vertigo is a good summation of Sebald's central themes:
Altermodernism can be defined as that moment when it became possible for us to produce something that made sense starting from an assumed heterochrony, that is, from a vision of human history as constituted of multiple temporalities, disdaining the nostalgia of the avant-garde and indeed for any era – a positive vision of chaos and complexity. It is neither a petrified kind of time advancing in loops (postmodernism) nor a linear vision of history (modernism), but a positive experience of disorientation through an art-form exploring all dimensions of the present, tracing lines in all directions of time and space.
With all this great info, Vertigo doesn't save any space for the art itself. For those who are interested, the Tate museum has a website.
