In 2015, American artist Adrian Piper won the coveted Golden Lion (best in
show) award at the Venice Biennale for her participatory artwork The Probable
Trust Registry (Figures 1 & 2). This paper is an investigation of The Probable
Trust Registry and how it overlaps with Hannah Arendt’s ideas of political
isolation and loneliness. The questions being asked are: Can The Probable
Trust Registry act as a “politically coherent” way to gauge loneliness—the
human condition that Arendt believed led to the destruction of democracy and
the development of totalitarianism?1 Does the creation, implementation, and
reception of a participatory work of art tell us something about the state of our
political climate and possibly indicate a moment of impending crisis?
Piper is an especially appropriate artist to evaluate because of the fluidity
between her creative practice and her educational background. Piper was an
integral player in the conceptual and performance art movements in New York
City in the 1970s.2 She embarked on a series of performances that tested the
limits of what constitutes a work of art, where a work of art should be shown,
and who should be involved with the work itself. She also received her PhD in
philosophy from Harvard University, studying under John Rawls.
