Institutions are no longer steadfast and unquestionable, just as ethnic origin does not have to irrevocably define a person’s existence. Both – institution and individual – determine the respective status of the other. Art as an institution constantly redefines its own rules, and as such can set standards in the formation of systems and identities. On the occasion of the exhibition Lost in America Carver Audain, Eric de Bruyn, Coco Fusco, Calla Henkel, and Max Pitegoff will discuss with John Miller how American art operates within the dialectic of institution and subject, and what consequences it has when the global prestige of American art is marked by a loss of meaning.

An edited version of the online discussion was printed in the publication Lost in America; it has also been released as an n.b.k. DVD.