Intermedia

The article "Intermedia" by Dick Higgins examines the advent of intermedia art primarily throughout the 20th century. Higgins explains that intermedia art exists somewhere between media rather that identifying with any one particular art form, such as painting. It is the blending of not only media, but forms of communication as well. Higgins suggests that we are approaching a classless society and that the art world should run parallel to said societal advances. According to Higgins, the only way to escape the perpetual rigidity of academicism is to break down the barriers between media, emblematic of the breaking down the barriers of class identification. 

When has our society ever been classless? While I understand the parallels between class and the tiers of the art world, I don't agree that the two movements are at all synonymous. I wonder how much of this article is political propaganda for a socialist society. In a classless society, individuals seem to cease to exist. Personal self worth and motivation are channeled into energy toward a common goal. I find myself wondering how artists would retain their individual identity in an entirely intermedia art world? The idea of being a printmaker,or a painter, or a sculptor are very much a part of the artist's identity and sense of place in an ever increasingly convoluted world and market.  One also takes pride in producing work within a particular media and advancing their relationship to that media. I find that this article fails to take into account the idea of the individual and its relationship to productivity and longevity.