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Surpassing the Spectacle
Global Transformations and the Changing Politics of Art
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Publisher:
2001
Summary
In her newest book, leading social critic Carol Becker offers a timely analysis of the nature of art and its role in politics and society. Completed just before the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center catastrophe, Surpassing the Spectacle is now especially relevant in its analysis of the spectacle society that was omnipresent before that fatal day. This book is remarkably prescient of the new concerns that have now become foremost in our thoughts since the attack. This collection of essays explores such topics as public memorials, America's attempt to hold onto a sense of security while faced with the reality of international terrorists living within our own cities, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, restorative justice, and issues of freedom of expression as they relate to incidents such as New York Mayor Guiliani's quest to ban Chris Ofili's painting of 'The Holy Virgin Mary' at the Brooklyn Museum. The essays cohere around Becker's central concerns: the education and role of artists in a post post-modern climate, controversies over public space, iconography, memorializing, and the myth of the global citizen. Throughout, Becker works to reconstruct a vision of humanity that incorporates, and hopefully moves us beyond, a dystopian moment when we no longer were able to use words such as humane, accountable, or the public good without seeming nostalgic and romantic. Becker raises the question of the place of art and the function of public intellectuals in a society desperately in need of creativity and leadership. The book is written in clear and accessible prose, which nonetheless looks at the issues philosophically and does not sacrifice any of the subtleties of thought necessary to contextualize and surpass the spectacle of contemporary U.S. society.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2001
ISBN-Print
978-0-7425-0920-7
ISBN-Online
978-1-4616-4274-9
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
161
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Preface No access
Acknowledgments No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 10
1 The Artist as Public Intellectual No access Pages 11 - 20
2 The Nature of the Investigation: Art-Making in a Post-Postmodern Era No access Pages 21 - 34
3 The Art of Testimony No access Pages 35 - 42
4 Brooklyn Museum: Messing with the Sacred No access Pages 43 - 58
5 Betrayal No access Pages 59 - 64
6 Trial by Fire: A Saga of Gender and Leadership No access Pages 65 - 76
7 Reconciling Truth in South Africa No access Pages 77 - 86
8 Memory and Monstrosity No access Pages 87 - 100
9 The Second Johannesburg Biennale No access Pages 101 - 116
10 The Romance of Nomadism No access Pages 117 - 126
11 Art and Ecology No access Pages 127 - 136
12 GFP Bunny and the Plight of the Posthuman No access Pages 137 - 142
13 Surpassing the Spectacle No access Pages 143 - 152
Index No access Pages 153 - 160
About the Author No access Pages 161 - 161
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