Duchamp was among the first to understand that in Control Societies, whose structures began to appear in art well before they did elsewhere, art as an institution, art “in the social sense of the word,” as Duchamp defined it, offers no promise of emancipation, but instead represents a new technique for governing subjectivity. Art is “a habit-forming drug. It’s a sedative drug.”
The Institute of Modern Art acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which the IMA now stands, the Jagera, Yuggera, Yugarapul, and Turrbal people. We offer our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first artists of this country. In the spirit of allyship, the IMA will continue to work with First Nations people to celebrate, support, and present their immense past, present, and future contribution to artistic practice and cultural expression.