Positively East Village Revisited

Craig Owens’ 1984 essay, “The Problem with Puerilism,” was written for a very specific context: as a response to the predominantly celebratory tone taken in Artforum at the time with regard to the emerging East Village art scene.1 Much hyped for its energy, youthfulness, and general coolness, the scene was widely taken for granted. As such, it was exported as a generation rather than as a style or an -ism, or, for that matter, as individual artists (though individual artists were inevitably to emerge from it once its moment passed). The packaging of the East Village art scene is exemplary—it was, after all, the first conscious attempt at establishing and selling such a scene. It was also significant for having marketed itself through an idea of seamless connection between art production and general, generational (sub)cultural production in the form of cultural artefacts such as fashion, music, and a certain lifestyle.