This is Not New (Paperback)

David Balzer

ISBN 10: 0745342701 / ISBN 13: 9780745342702

Published by Pluto Press, London, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. What does it mean to call something 'new'? Why is Western culture, even after postmodernism, still so obsessed with the concept? What are the political consequences of relying on this culture to bring about social change? In this provocative book, David Balzer argues that Western culture was never designed to produce truly new or original artefacts. Rather, the West moves from fixation to fixation, trend to trend-a cycle of creation and destruction with deep origins in Judeo-Christianity and the paganism that preceded it. The culture industry is rooted in a resource-scarce economy, which promises its own form of change while preserving many other things exactly as they are. From the New Jerusalem to the New Left, Vannevar Bush to Kate Bush, This Is Not New takes a dynamic approach, asking difficult questions about the role of culture not in making change, but in delaying-even preventing-it. Balzer urges us to look at the Western culture industry for what it is, lest it become all there is. A lively and witty critique of 'newness' as an unquestioned good in art and culture Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780745342702

Bibliographic Details

• Title: This is Not New (Paperback)
• Publisher: Pluto Press, London
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745342701
• ISBN 13: 9780745342702
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Praise for Curationism: “Balzer writes with zest, scepticism and sly humour” Sheila Heti, author of Pure Colour

What does it mean to call something “new”? Why is Western art and culture, even after postmodernism, still so obsessed with the concept? What are the consequences of relying on culture to bring about social change?

In this provocative book, David Balzer argues that Western culture was never designed to produce truly new or original artefacts. Rather, we move from fixation to fixation, trend to trend—a cycle of creation and destruction with deep origins in Judeo-Christianity and the paganism that preceded it. The culture industry promises its own form of change while preserving existing systems of power exactly as they are.

From the New Jerusalem to the New Left, from Vannevar Bush to Kate Bush, This is Not New asks difficult questions about the role of culture not in making change, but in delaying—even preventing—it.

David Balzer is a writer, lawyer, editor, and educator. He is the author of Contrivances and Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else. His critical writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Guardian, Artforum, and Frieze. He lives in Canada.

About the Author

David Balzer is a writer, lawyer, editor, and educator. He is the author of Contrivances (2012), Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else (2014), and This is Not New: Art, Culture, and the Promise of Change (2025). His critical writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Artforum, and Frieze. He lives in Canada.