José Joaquín Brunner explains how the authoritarian regime that came into power after the 1973 coup d’état impacted cultural production in its various forms and, more specifically, what was going on in the Escena de Avanzada. He divides his essay into six points. In the first of these, he discusses the theory that Chile’s military dictatorship combined aspects of neoliberalism with a doctrine of national security, thus shifting the public’s attention from politics to the market. He then goes on to suggest that ideologies should not only be considered as discourses but should also be understood in terms of where they appear (television or exhibition space). In the third point, he notes that an authoritarian ideology pervaded the market, the regime’s repressive tactics, and television, establishing a parallel before and after the fascist coup. In the fourth, Brunner describes the role played by the social sciences during the dictatorial period, then moves on to address what was going on with the Escena de Avanzada, which was destined to appeal to a minority audience, restricted to its own sphere of influence. He claims that the discourse the group produces for itself contributes to its marginalization and isolation, a subject he explores in greater depth in his final point. The Avanzada functioned as an autonomous avant-garde by distancing itself from mass culture, but Brunner believes its work should be assessed by others to avoid the risk of consuming itself. 

José Joaquín Brunner (b. 1944) wrote “Campo artístico, escena de avanzada y autoritarismo en Chile” (1987) as part of the seminar Arte en Chile desde 1973. Escena de Avanzada y sociedad, which was jointly organized by FLACSO (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencia Sociales), Galería Visuala, and Francisco Zegers Editor. The seminar was inspired by the publication, in Australia in 1986, of Margins and Institutions. Art in Chile Since 1973, the book by the cultural critic Nelly Richard (b. 1948). It included artists from the Escena de Avanzada and a number of writers, theorists, philosophers, artists, and social scientists who were closely aligned with that avant-garde movement. The texts presented at the seminar were published in Documento Nº 46 and addressed the “discussion about avant-garde Chilean art after 1973,” as noted in the introduction to the document, and sought to provide material for analysis and discussion about the relationship between art and society in Chile.

José Joaquín Brunner, a Chilean politician, researcher, and academic, was the director of FLACSO (1976–84) during the Pinochet dictatorship; he wrote critical analyses about political and cultural conditions under the military regime. Hence his interest in C.A.D.A. (Colectivo Acciones de Arte) from a sociological perspective; he appreciated the group’s performances in community spaces and beyond the boundaries of the art field. [For more information on this matter, see the following in the ICAA Digital Archive: “Lucha Cultural y Política” (doc. no. 731855).] C.A.D.A. and the Escena de Avanzada didn’t, on the whole, see eye to eye, which led to debates at the seminar. The Avanzada group was often criticized for its extreme isolation and its tendency to keep its distance from mass culture and viewers. [For other texts from the seminar about the social sciences, see “Desmontaje y recomposición” (doc. no. 738607); and “Algunas observaciones sobre la crítica de arte en Chile” (doc. no. 741244).]  

Escena de Avanzada was the name Nelly Richard coined to refer to a heterogeneous group of artists whose works challenged art, its forms of production, and, most of all, the context—a country under the fascist dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.