Konstnärliga projekt & experiment : Beviljade projektbidrag ur Sveriges bildkonstnärsfond 1976-2007

Sammanfattning: This thesis is about a state-funded artist subsidy granted to visual artists and intended for costly artwork and projects. The project subsidy with its administrative framework is to be found in the intersection between the artistic and political fields. On the board of Sweden’s Visual Artists’ Fund, which is an independent decision-making organ within the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, there are representatives for the art scene appointed by the government for a limited period.The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between the two fields in the processes which led to the enactment of the subsidy. But also to highlight the changes over time in such relationships on the art scene which concern the relative strengths between positions in the artistic field and the relationship between the state and the artists. Furthermore, the aim is to answer the question of which types of projects have been granted means in the years 1976-2007 and how these relate to the guidelines for the subsidy.Two major changes in the power structures of the artistic field have been identified during the period. These form the basis of the division of the thesis into two parts which mirror each other in three chapters each. The description of two phases in the granting of the subsidies is the main result of the thesis. In the first part the artistic field is influenced by forces from without which affect the relative strengths within the artistic field, while in the second part it regains its autonomy and closes itself off from outside influences.The empirical investigation through cross-sections and sample studies has shown that the project subsidy was widely issued. However, changes on the art scene after the post-modern shift towards a conceptual and process-oriented art came to be of significant importance for the understanding of what a project is. The thesis has shown how the entire basic understanding of the project subsidy has changed and influenced the distribution in spite of the ordinance not having been changed since it was formulated in 1976.