ABSTRACT
The move to the edge of closure is an expression of the search for openness, but for the most part it is a preliminary to further closure. As a search for openness it is therefore a shortlived strategy. The second stage in the search for openness consists in a more thoroughgoing attempt to escape closure, for it is not intended as a step towards further closure. It consists in the provision of marks that systematically seek to evade attempts to realise closure. As a strategy it plays an important role in our culture, and I shall argue that this strategy, the avoidance of closure, typifies art in its contemporary sense, providing its motivation, and determining its character.
