Object Lessons by Joe Scanlan (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. Two books designed to fit together that but also come apart. The hardcover book has a hole die-cut into its pages with a softcover collection of essays on art and design that fits inside. The hardcover book is foil-stamped cloth, perfect-bound, 28.5 x 22 cm, 112 pages. The softcover book has a 4-color cover, perfect-bound, with four B&W illustrations, 17.5 x 10.8 cm, 96 pages. Joe Scanlan's columns on art and design originally published in frieze and Artforum are gathered here as one long, picaresque narrative in which democracy plays the amiable lead role, only to be undermined by capitalism. From the Lumière Brothers' use of their employees in the making of the first film to Tino Sehgal's use of museum visitors in the production of his art, again and again we regress to the familiar, not on the basis of its merits but because it puts the most people at ease. However vexed we were by modernist ideology, the products resulting from the current consensus-based, consumer-driven service economy are really starting to depress me. I miss having to accept something whether I like it or not, if only for the bits of stunning genius that single-mindedness made possible. Consumer culture, where is thy victory? Product, where is thy sting?

Paperback. Condition: Good. Covers show some light discoloration and shelf wear as well as some edge wear. A few instances of underlining in pencil throughout book.