The Matter of Art


Book Description

This book will appeal not only to historians of art, science, and material culture, but also to general readers with an interest in craft and the history of objects as well as to historians interested in a global history of the early modern period.




Dark Matter


Book Description

Art is big business, with some artists able to command huge sums of money for their works, while the vast majority are ignored or dismissed by critics. This book shows that these marginalized artists, the "dark matter" of the art world, are essential to the survival of the mainstream and that they frequently organize in opposition to it. Gregory Sholette, a politically engaged artist, argues that imagination and creativity in the art world originate thrive in the non-commercial sector shut off from prestigious galleries and champagne receptions. This broader creative culture feeds the mainstream with new forms and styles that can be commodified and used to sustain the few artists admitted into the elite. This dependency, and the advent of inexpensive communication, audio and video technology, has allowed this "dark matter" of the alternative art world to increasingly subvert the mainstream and intervene politically as both new and old forms of non-capitalist, public art. This book is essential for anyone interested in interventionist art, collectivism, and the political economy of the art world.




The Lost Art of Reading


Book Description

Reading is a revolutionary act, an act of engagement in a culture that wants us to disengage. In The Lost Art of Reading, David L. Ulin asks a number of timely questions - why is literature important? What does it offer, especially now? Blending commentary with memoir, Ulin addresses the importance of the simple act of reading in an increasingly digital culture. Reading a book, flipping through hard pages, or shuffling them on screen - it doesn't matter. The key is the act of reading, and it's seriousness and depth. Ulin emphasizes the importance of reflection and pause allowed by stopping to read a book, and the accompanying focus required to let the mind run free in a world that is not one's own. Are we willing to risk our collective interest in contemplation, nuanced thinking, and empathy? Far from preaching to the choir, The Lost Art of Reading is a call to arms, or rather, to pages.




Make Your Art No Matter What


Book Description

The Artist's Way for the 21st century—from esteemed creative counselor Beth Pickens. If you are an artist, you need to make your art. That's not an overstatement—it's a fact; if you stop doing your creative work, your quality of life is diminished. But what do you do when life gets in the way? In this down-to-earth handbook, experienced artist coach Beth Pickens offers practical advice for developing a lasting and meaningful artistic practice in the face of life's inevitable obstacles and distractions. This thoughtful volume suggests creative ways to address the challenges all artists must overcome—from making decisions about time, money, and education, to grappling with isolation, fear, and anxiety. No matter where you are in your art-making journey, this book will motivate and inspire you. Because not only do you need your art—the world needs it, too. • EXPERT ADVICE: Beth Pickens is an experienced and passionate arts advocate with extensive insight into working through creative obstacles. She has spent the last decade advising artists on everything from financial strategy to coping with grief. • PRACTICAL AND POSITIVE: This book is both a love letter to art and artists and a hands-on guide to approaching the thorniest problems those artists might face. Pickens offers a warm reminder that you are not alone, that what you do matters, and that someone out there wants you to succeed. • TIMELESS TOPIC: Like a trusted advisor, this book is an invaluable resource jam-packed with strategies for building a successful creative practice. From mixing business and friendship to marketing yourself on social media, this book can help. And it will—again and again. Perfect for: • Visual artists and makers • Writers, musicians, filmmakers, and other creatives • Art and design school graduates and grad-gift givers




The Allure of Matter


Book Description

"This publication was produced by the Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, on the occasion of the exhibition The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China, curated by Wu Hung with Orianna Cacchione."




Art-Rite


Book Description

This facsimile edition collects all 19 issues of 'Art-Rite' magazine, edited by art critics Walter Robinson and Edit DeAk from 1973 to 1978. Robinson, DeAk and a third editor, Joshua Cohn, met as art history students at Columbia University, and were inspired to found the magazine by their art criticism teacher, Brian O'Doherty. 'Art-Rite', cheaply produced on newsprint, served as an important alternative to the established art magazines of the period. 'Art-Rite' ran for only five years, and published only 19 issues. But in that time the magazine featured contributions from hundreds of artists, a list that now reads like a who's-who of 1970s art: Yvonne Rainer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Alan Vega (Suicide), William Wegman, Nancy Holt, Jack Smith, Dorothea Rockburne, Robert Morris, Adrian Piper, Laurie Anderson, Carolee Schneemann and Carl Andre; critics such as Lucy Lippard contributed writing. Through its single-artist issues and its thematic issues on performance, video and artists' books, 'Art-Rite' championed the new art of its era.




Sol LeWitt


Book Description

"Books are the best medium for many artists working today," Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) once declared. A pioneer of artist's books, and co-founder of New York's Printed Matter bookstore in 1976, LeWitt is closely identified with the book as an art form. Starting with 1967's Serial Project No. 1 (from Aspen magazine), and closing with Chicago (Morning Star Publications, 2002), this book reproduces covers and spreads from Sol LeWitt's massive oeuvre of artist's books, almost all of which are now rarities. As artist's book historian Clive Phillpot notes, "the principle attribute of LeWitt's books is one common to all books: a dependence upon sequence, whether of families of marks or objects, or of single or permuted series which have clear beginnings and endings." Critical observations from LeWitt himself and a variety of scholars make this volume the most sustained treatment of LeWitt's prolific activity in this area to date.




The Art of Gathering


Book Description

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.




Artists Who Make Books


Book Description

A vital survey of 32 internationally recognized artists who make books as part of their creative practice - features 500 images of these rarely seen works. The 'artist's book' has long been an important form of expression, and Artists Who Make Books showcases 32 internationally recognized artists who have integrated book production into their larger creative practice. This volume features a selection of books — many rarely seen — by every artist included, an accompanying text providing further context, and over 500 illustrations of covers and interior spreads. Insightful interviews with Tauba Auerbach, Paul Chan, and Walther König, and in-depth essays by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh and Lynda Morris round out this illuminating survey.




Subject Matter of the Artist


Book Description

As a painter and as one interested in education in relation to painting and drawing, the writer has become personally interested in the problem of subject matter in art... Since there is controversy in regards to this tendency in painting, research directed toward the source of ideas involved in the work, it is felt, will help to make clear the intention of the artists. This research will deal with the attitudes of these artists toward their own work and their relation to tradition as they express it. --Robert Goodnough (1950). The absence of traditional subject matter was a primary issue for painters in mid-twentieth-century America whose imagery lacked representational references; it was also a problem for those struggling to understand modern art. Robert Goodnough (1917-2010), then a New York University graduate student and an artist deeply involved with these issues, responded to the situation in a 1950 research paper, Subject Matter of the Artist: An Analysis of Contemporary Subject Matter in Painting as Derived from Interviews with Those Artists Referred to as the Intrasubjectivists. Goodnough's paper constitutes the first scholarly work on the artists who became known as the Abstract Expressionists and includes interviews with William Baziotes, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. This previously unpublished study is presented here for the first time alongside related writings by Goodnough.