When it comes to art, value cannot be equated with price, such as the monetary value that can be achieved through the sale of artworks. Rather, the value of art is influenced by its public display: in exhibitions, biennials and fairs as well as in private homes and social media feeds. To generate capital in the art world, then, is to position these different stages in relation to each other in a particular way. But how does this happen? What relationships emerge in relation to audiences, institutions, curatorial frameworks and media? Mi You looks at these different types of capital from both an academic and a curatorial perspective: With Agnieszka Roguski, the scholar and curator talks about the interconnections between art and capital, the power of the canon, the exclusivities of the documenta and possibilities for a post-capitalist future.

Mi You is a professor of Art and Economies at the University of Kassel / documenta Institute. Her academic interests are in the social value of art, new and historical materialism, as well as the history, political theory and philosophy of Eurasia. She works with the Silk Road as a figuration for re-imagining networks, and has curated exhibitions and programs at Asian Culture Center in Gwangju, South Korea, Ulaanbaatar International Media Art Festival, Mongolia (2016), Zarya CCA, Vladivostok (2018), and the research/curatorial platform “Unmapping Eurasia” (2018-) with Binna Choi. Her recent exhibitions focus on socializing technologies and “actionable speculations”, such as “Sci-(no)-Fi” at the Academy of the Arts of the World, Cologne (2019) and “Lonely Vectors” at Singapore Art Museum (2022). She was one of the curators of the 13thShanghai Biennale (2020-2021). On the social front, she serves as chair of committee on Media Arts and Technology for the transnational NGO Common Action Forum.