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Seeing Power

Art and Activism in the Twenty-first Century

Author Nato Thompson
Ebook
Melville House
On sale Aug 18, 2015 | 176 Pages | 9781612190457
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In our chaotic world of co-opted imagery, does art still have power?

A fog of images and information permeates the world nowadays: from advertising, television, radio, and film to the glut produced by the new economy and the rise of social media . . . where even our friends suddenly seem to be selling us the ultimate product: themselves.

Here, Nato Thompson—one of the country’s most celebrated young curators and critics—investigates what this deluge means for those dedicated to socially engaged art and activism. How can anyone find a voice and make change in a world flooded with such pseudo-art? How are we supposed to discern what’s true in the product emanating from the ceaseless machine of consumer capitalism, a machine that appropriates from art history, and now from the methods of grassroots political organizing and even social networking?

Thompson’s invigorating answers to those questions highlights the work of some of the most innovative and interesting artists and activists working today, as well as institutions that empower their communities to see power and reimagine it. From cooperative housing to anarchist infoshops to alternative art venues, Seeing Power reveals ways that art today can and does inspire innovation and dramatic transformation . . . perhaps as never before.
© Nato Thompson
Nato Thompson is a writer and curator at Creative Time, one of New York’s most prestigious public art organizations. He is the editor of The Interventionists: A Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life, a survey of political art of the 1990s, and Ahistoric Occasion: Artists Making History. He recently produced Paul Chan’s acclaimed Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, which included free public performances of Samuel Beckett’s play, theater workshops, educational seminars, and more. View titles by Nato Thompson

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In our chaotic world of co-opted imagery, does art still have power?

A fog of images and information permeates the world nowadays: from advertising, television, radio, and film to the glut produced by the new economy and the rise of social media . . . where even our friends suddenly seem to be selling us the ultimate product: themselves.

Here, Nato Thompson—one of the country’s most celebrated young curators and critics—investigates what this deluge means for those dedicated to socially engaged art and activism. How can anyone find a voice and make change in a world flooded with such pseudo-art? How are we supposed to discern what’s true in the product emanating from the ceaseless machine of consumer capitalism, a machine that appropriates from art history, and now from the methods of grassroots political organizing and even social networking?

Thompson’s invigorating answers to those questions highlights the work of some of the most innovative and interesting artists and activists working today, as well as institutions that empower their communities to see power and reimagine it. From cooperative housing to anarchist infoshops to alternative art venues, Seeing Power reveals ways that art today can and does inspire innovation and dramatic transformation . . . perhaps as never before.

Author

© Nato Thompson
Nato Thompson is a writer and curator at Creative Time, one of New York’s most prestigious public art organizations. He is the editor of The Interventionists: A Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life, a survey of political art of the 1990s, and Ahistoric Occasion: Artists Making History. He recently produced Paul Chan’s acclaimed Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, which included free public performances of Samuel Beckett’s play, theater workshops, educational seminars, and more. View titles by Nato Thompson

Additional formats

  • Seeing Power
    Seeing Power
    Art and Activism in the Twenty-first Century
    Nato Thompson
    9781612190440
    $24.99 US
    Hardcover
    Melville House
    Aug 18, 2015
  • Seeing Power
    Seeing Power
    Art and Activism in the Twenty-first Century
    Nato Thompson
    9781612190440
    $24.99 US
    Hardcover
    Melville House
    Aug 18, 2015

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