The thesis addresses questions about the influence of specific historical mechanisms that produce a divergence between the autonomous art system and its material expression in the position of the artist, using a two-part method: a historical-theoretical reconstruction and a practice-based inquiry in which the author's own artistic practice serves as a case study. The thesis argues the overarching claim that exploitation is inscribed in the structure of the art field, through mechanisms that are supposed to guarantee its independence from the market and from power. The analysis of the author's own practice empirically tests the thesis's claims and shows that the high institutional value of an artwork is structurally linked to material insecurity.
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