Model collapse: European contemporary art in a time of democratic crisis - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1526177544 ISBN 13: 9781526177544

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2026

Synopsis

A ground-breaking exploration of how art responds to democratic crisis.

Is democracy over? Did we ever really have it? Most people would agree that today democracy finds itself in crisis. As this crisis has intensified, art has emerged as an important means of experimenting with new democratic processes and possibilities.

In Model collapse, an incisive group of art historians and theorists investigate the relationship between art and democracy since the 1990s. Exploring a wide range of artistic responses, from interactive public sculptures to autonomous curatorial projects, critical engagement with electoral politics and creative street protest, they offer fresh insights into the limits of representation, the appeal of collaboration and the role of the nation-state in post-national frameworks.

‘Model collapse’ is what happens when large language models start learning from their own generated data and lose all connection to reality. This book examines the multiple, intersecting crises that shape the conditions for artistic practice and define its socio-political aims. It advances our understanding of how art can contribute to one of the most vital political issues of our time.

About this title

About the Author

Lindsay Caplan is Andrea V. Rosenthal Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Brown University

Kerry Greaves is Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen

From the Back Cover

Is democracy over? Did we ever really have it? Most people would agree that today democracy finds itself in crisis. As this crisis has intensified, art has emerged as an important means of experimenting with new democratic processes and possibilities.

In Model collapse, an incisive group of art historians and theorists investigate the relationship between art and democracy since the 1990s. Exploring a wide range of artistic responses, from interactive public sculptures to autonomous curatorial projects, critical engagement with electoral politics and creative street protest, they offer fresh insights into the limits of representation, the appeal of collaboration and the role of the nation-state in post-national frameworks.

‘Model collapse’ is what happens when large language models start learning from their own generated data and lose all connection to reality. This book examines the multiple, intersecting crises that shape the conditions for artistic practice and define its socio-political aims. It advances our understanding of how artistic practice can contribute to one of the most vital political issues of our time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1526177544
• ISBN 13: 9781526177544
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 254
• Editor: Caplan Lindsay, Greaves Kerry