Meta-garde: The Structural Condition of Art. Theory&Applications

This volume develops meta-garde as a structural condition of art in which aesthetic states are no longer governed by binary distinctions, but coexist in multivalent configurations. Moving beyond the traditional oppositions that have shaped aesthetic theory—such as art and non-art, meaning and non-meaning—the study argues that contemporary artistic practices reveal a condition in which affirmation, negation, and indeterminacy operate simultaneously within the same object. The book proceeds by first examining the historical development of aesthetics, from classical frameworks grounded in binary logic to the fragmentation associated with postmodern theory. While postmodernism recognizes the instability of aesthetic categories, it remains largely descriptive. In response, this work introduces a formal articulation of coexistence through a triadic structure that allows contradictory states to be represented without reduction. This framework is then applied to a range of aesthetic phenomena, including anti-art, paradoxism, conceptual practices, and hybrid and processual forms. Particular attention is given to the role of indeterminacy, reflexivity, and contradiction as constitutive features rather than anomalies. Through the development of a minimal axiomatic system and the concept of an aesthetic state space, the study provides tools for analyzing objects that resist classification within traditional models. Finally, the volume situates meta-garde within the history of aesthetic thought and argues for its extension beyond aesthetics. Rather than a movement or style, meta-garde is proposed as a general condition that may also be observed in language, culture, and non-binary philosophical frameworks. In this sense, the book advances a shift from exclusion-based models of understanding toward a logic of coexistence, offering a foundation for further theoretical and interdisciplinary development.