Artists in cities everywhere are increasingly turning their attention from object making to public conversation. Instead of depending on traditional forms of funding, they are increasingly crowd-sourcing and ad-libbing galleries and events for colleagues to meet and stay informed. Consequently, the “white cube system” —traditionally centered around the studio, gallery, and museum — is being displaced by one focused on collaboration, professionalism, and social practice. Lane Relyea discusses this current shift in contemporary art towards more democratic forms of production.

Lane Relyea chairs the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University and is a former editor of Art Journal. He has written widely on contemporary art since 1983, and his book Your Everyday Art World, on the effects of communication networks on artistic practice and its contexts, was published in 2013 by MIT Press.