Theorizing Art in Chile During Dictatorship: The Conditions for the Singular and the Specific in Cultural Debate

In this chapter, I analyze the theoretical edifice of the Chilean art collective CADA (Colectivo acciones de arte), and identify their work as one of the first steps toward the conception of a Specific identity. Through special attention to this collective, I argue that CADA articulates a critique of the insurgent/dictatorship binary in order to produce the specific identity of sufferer of dictatorship. Through works of bodily performance, public art, and the literature of corporeality, CADA suggests that dictatorship produces a generalized and transcendent condition of suffering that opens up the possibility for understanding and individuation across zones of responsibility. In short, I argue that CADA produces a truly universal and transcendental critique of dictatorship that is based on the specific logic of individuation. As a consequence, I read CADA as providing a radical new ethical prescription for artistic practice that is open and inclusive.