Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Self/Image" explores the ways in which artists from the nineteenth century onwards have deployed new technologies of representation to explore and articulate shifting modes of subjectivity from the modern through the postmodern, from the urban industrial capitalist to the post-industrial global capitalist periods. The author argues that issues of aesthetics and the self are not esoteric or limited exclusively to art history, but connect with the most pressing political questions of life in industrial and post-industrial or global capitalism. For example, the way in which we understand ourselves is intimately connected to the way in which larger collective selves such as nation states understand and represent themselves on the global stage. Overall, the book seeks to expand the scope of art history to include other aspects of lived culture, especially the political.
Synopsis
Including over 100 illustrations from mainstream film to independent film, video art, performance and the visual arts, this important and original book explores how technology has affected artists' abilities and forms to express themselves.
From analogue photography to more recent artistic practices including digital imaging, performance robotics and video installations, Self/Image is one of the first full length studies to investigate the complex relations among these diverse artistic practices.
This will make an excellent companion to studies of contemporary art history, and media and cultural studies in the post-1960 period.