Staff Pick
New York-based British writer and Frieze magazine co-editor Dan Fox's treatise on pretentiousness, aptly titled Pretentiousness: Why It Matters, seeks to reframe the word's context and application, going so far as to argue that pretentiousness should perhaps be celebrated and encouraged as it often spurs creative advances. Essayistic and a touch academic, Fox's book offers a refreshing perspective, as well as a background on the word's origin and its application over time. Encompassing theater, art, film, and music for the most part, Pretentiousness delves into long-held pejorative connotations, finding their basis in fear, classism, and arrogance. Fox articulates his reasonings well, lobbying for a new understanding that frees others to create, explore differences, and take risks. In all, Pretentiousness is an interesting work on an almost universally (and unjustly) maligned notion used almost exclusively to upbraid or bring down. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Pretentiousness is for anyone who has braved being different, whether that's making a stand against artistic consensus or running the gauntlet of the last bus home dressed differently from everyone else. It's an essential ingredient in pop music and high art. Why do we choose accusations of elitism over open-mindedness? What do our anxieties about "pretending" say about us?
Co-editor of frieze, Europe's foremost magazine of contemporary art and culture, Dan Fox has authored over two hundred essays, interviews, and reviews, contributed to numerous catalogues and publications produced by major international art galleries and institutions.
Synopsis
Pretentiousness is the engine oil of culture; the essential lubricant in the development of all arts, high, low, or middle.
About the Author
Dan Fox is a British writer, musician, editor, and filmmaker currently living in New York. Co-editor of
frieze, Europes foremost magazine of contemporary art and culture, he has authored over 200 essays, interviews, and reviews, contributed to numerous catalogues and publications produced by major international art galleries and institutions. He is a visiting lecturer at the Ruskin school of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University, and has given talks and lectures in the UK and USA at institutions including the Royal College of Art, ICA, Tate Britain, Somerset House, Cornell University, and the School of Visual Arts, NewYork.