The Contemporary, the Common


Book Description

Examines themes of being-in-common in today's world and their relation to the development of art practices. The work of Claire Fontaine, Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, Ion Grigorescu, Carsten Höller, Mike Kelley, Sigalit Landau, Rabih Mroué, Yvonne Rainer, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Jeff Wall, among other artists, is examined together with Pontbriand's insights into the seminal issues stirring the field of contemporary art




Taking the Matter Into Common Hands


Book Description

Taking the Matter into Common Hands maps out the issues surrounding collaborative art from a practitioner's perspective. With contributions from Marion von Osten, Nav Haq, 16 Beaver, Copenhagen Free University, Maria Lind and Lars Nilsson, it examines the working relations between artists and other producers of culture, and explores the future of collective action in the art world. In recent years, the art world has shown a renewed interest in collective work and activity. Collaborations between artists and artists, artists and curators, and artists and outside professionals have begun to rival the traditional focus on the individual artist. This type of collaboration has called into question how we view works of art that are not the voice of a single individual, and how that impacts on the concept of art as a means of self-expression. Taking the Matter Into Common Hands is essential for both academics, practitioners and lay audiences alike 47 colour & b/w illustrations




Common Practice Basketball


Book Description

How basketball has furnished art with motifs, politics and more from pop art to contemporary portraiture From David Hammons' Higher Goals and Robert Indiana's Mecca Floor to the more recent works of Nina Chanel Abney and Titus Kaphar, basketball has proven an especially popular sport in art, whether in the depiction of players, or more abstract deployments of motifs, as in Barkley Hendricks, or as a means of treating themes of social inequality and political justice. Gathering work by more than 100 artists from the 20th century to now, this volume reveals a little-discussed point of overlap between art and sport, in part to be found in the titular phrase "common practice"--"practice" in the sense of "to perform an activity or exercise regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency." This book argues that the need to rehearse, discover and explore through the act of doing makes these two very different ideas of perfecting one's craft very similar. Artists include: Nina Chanel Abney, John Baldessari, Gina Beavers, Keith Haring, Barkley Hendricks, Robert Indiana, Titus Kaphar, Robert Longo, Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen, Robert Rauschenberg, Niki de Saint Phalle, Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei.




A Common Strangeness


Book Description

Why is our world still understood through binary oppositions—East and West, local and global, common and strange—that ought to have crumbled with the Berlin Wall? What might literary responses to the events that ushered in our era of globalization tell us about the rhetorical and historical underpinnings of these dichotomies? In A Common Strangeness, Jacob Edmond exemplifies a new, multilingual and multilateral approach to literary and cultural studies. He begins with the entrance of China into multinational capitalism and the appearance of the Parisian flâneur in the writings of a Chinese poet exiled in Auckland, New Zealand. Moving among poetic examples in Russian, Chinese, and English, he then traces a series of encounters shaped by economic and geopolitical events from the Cultural Revolution, perestroika, and the June 4 massacre to the collapse of the Soviet Union, September 11, and the invasion of Iraq. In these encounters, Edmond tracks a shared concern with strangeness through which poets contested old binary oppositions as they reemerged in new, post-Cold War forms.




The Contemporary Condition


Book Description

What do we mean when we say that something is contemporary? And what should the designator contemporary art refer to? What constitutes the present present or the contemporary contemporary? Introductory Thoughts on Contemporaneity and Contemporary Art, the first book in the Contemporary Condition series, introduces key issues concerning contemporaneity as a defining condition of our historical present and calls for a deep rethinking of the structures of temporalization.




The Mason Papers


Book Description

" There have been times when Australian court judgments have held enormous weight in courts throughout the world, certainly throughout the Commonwealth. Owen Dixon's High Court in the 1950s and Anthony Mason's High Court in the 1980s are examples. If there were an Olympic record for teams of judges - and why not since they have Olympic medals for tae kwon do and beach volleyball - the Mason court would have won gold year after year. The quality of its jurisprudence was the best in the world" - Geoffrey Robertson QC, Sydney Morning Herald, 30th August 2007.This book comprises a selection of articles and speeches by Sir Anthony Mason written and delivered when he was a Justice and later Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and after his retirement from that Court in 1995. It demonstrates his long standing interest in the judicial process and his desire to communicate to the legal world and the public a more enlightened understanding of the proper scope of judicial law-making and the responsibility of judges for adapting the law to the changing conditions in society. It also displays his acknowledged mastery of public and private law and his belief in the growing significance of international and comparative law in the development of Australian law. The book contains some important speeches and articles on constitutional and administrative law, international law, human rights, equity and contract, the High Court, judicial administration, advocacy, a significant media interview, a State of the Judicature report delivered as the Chief Justice of Australia and his swearing in speeches when appointed as a Justice and later Chief Justice of the High Court. Some of the selected speeches display Sir Anthony's characteristic wit. The book deals with highly topical subjects such as whether Australia should adopt a bill of rights, the health of Australia's democratic institutions, the establishment of an Australian republic, globalization and the decline of parliamentary and national sovereignty. The articles and speeches were chosen and edited by Professor Geoffrey Lindell in consultation with Sir Anthony.




Common Good Politics


Book Description

This book examines the British tradition of common good politics, both historically and in the contemporary world. We live in a time when many anti-Conservative parties and voters feel a profound sense of crisis and disorientation over political principles and policy directions. As a result, many people are turning to common good politics as an alternative to state-centred socialism and laissez-faire individualism. Colin Tyler explores the practical and intellectual history of the British idealist tradition, which flourished from the 1870s to the 1920s, before applying the principles of common good politics to contemporary issues. These issues include the positive roles that can be played by conflict within democratic societies, the radical demands of social justice in a diverse world, the continuing influence of Bush’s ‘war on terror’, international society and free speech under Tony Blair and David Cameron, and the relationships between economic migration, social justice and the common good. The book will appeal particularly to students and scholars interested in British politics, internationalism and political theory.




How to Write About Contemporary Art


Book Description

An essential handbook for students and professionals on writing eloquently, accurately, and originally about contemporary art How to Write About Contemporary Art is the definitive guide to writing engagingly about the art of our time. Invaluable for students, arts professionals and other aspiring writers, the book first navigates readers through the key elements of style and content, from the aims and structure of a piece to its tone and language. Brimming with practical tips that range across the complete spectrum of art-writing, the second part of the book is organized around its specific forms, including academic essays; press releases and news articles; texts for auction and exhibition catalogues, gallery guides and wall labels; op-ed journalism and exhibition reviews; and writing for websites and blogs. In counseling the reader against common pitfalls—such as jargon and poor structure—Gilda Williams points instead to the power of close looking and research, showing how to deploy language effectively; how to develop new ideas; and how to construct compelling texts. More than 30 illustrations throughout support closely analysed case studies of the best writing, in Source Texts by 64 authors, including Claire Bishop, Thomas Crow, T.J. Demos, Okwui Enwezor, Dave Hickey, John Kelsey, Chris Kraus, Rosalind Krauss, Stuart Morgan, Hito Steyerl, and Adam Szymczyk. Supplemented by a general bibliography, advice on the use and misuse of grammar, and tips on how to construct your own contemporary art library, How to Write About Contemporary Art is the essential handbook for all those interested in communicating about the art of today.




Contemporary Painting in Context


Book Description

These essays examine the transformation and expansion of the field of painting in relation to the more general lines of development in culture and visuality. The book is divided into five parts, with each of them pursuing a distinct line of inquiry.




The Soul of Popular Culture


Book Description

In The Soul of Popular Culture, leading writers and critics, many of them influenced by the thought of C. G. Jung, draw upon the insights of depth psychology to delve into the meanings of TV programs like Star Trek and Fawlty Towers, movies such as The Piano and The Silence of the Lambs, and other contemporary media, as well as the public preoccupation with such issues as abortion, AIDS, the O.J. Simpson trial, and our enduring fascination with Elvis.