Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011

by Nato Thompson (Editor)

A monumental, lavishly illustrated book that offers the first global portrait of a complex and definition-defying genre of cultural production. Over the past twenty years, an abundance of art forms have emerged that use aesthetics to affect social dynamics. These works are often produced by collectives or come out of a community context; they emphasize participation, dialogue, and action, and appear in situations ranging from theater to activism to urban planning to visual art to health care. Engaged with the texture of living, these art works often blur the line between art and life. This book offers the first global portrait of a complex and exciting mode of cultural production—one that has virtually redefined contemporary art practice. Living as Form grew out of a major exhibition at Creative Time in New York City. Like the exhibition, the book is a landmark survey of more than 100 projects selected by a thirty-person curatorial advisory team; each project is documented by a selection of color images. The artists include the Danish collective Superflex, who empower communities to challenge corporate interest; Turner Prize nominee Jeremy Deller, creator of socially and politically charged performance works; Women on Waves, who provide abortion services and information to women in regions where the procedure is illegal; and Santiágo Cirugeda, an architect who builds temporary structures to solve housing problems. Living as Form contains commissioned essays from noted critics and theorists who look at this phenomenon from a global perspective and broaden the range of what constitutes this form. Contributing authors
Claire Bishop, Carol Becker, Teddy Cruz, Brian Holmes, Shannon Jackson, Maria Lind, Anne Pasternak, Nato Thompson

Genres: Art, Politics, Activism

280 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

NATO THOMPSON is an author and curator. He has written two books of non-fiction Culture as Weapon: The Art of Influence in Everday Life (2017) and Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the 21st Century (2016) both with Melville House Publishing. His self-published fiction book, Marshsong came out in February 2019. He has also edited and written for many art catalogues. He works as the Sueyun and Gene Locks Artistic Director at Philadelphia Contemporary.

Reviews

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five out of the seven essays are very good and offer counterpoints to the challenging task of framing current social art forms. Endnotes from the essays are informative as well. Living As Form is profusely illustrated and includes an extensive section of projects in the latter half of the book. If you're interested in exploring social movements employing art strategies, this is a great place to start. Check out Creative Time on-line to get a feel for the organizations mission. http://creativetime.org/

[hami · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals, or to life. That art is something which is specialized or which is done by experts who are artists. But couldn't everyone's life become a work of art? Why should the lamp or the house be an art object, but not our life?”
― Michel Foucault

The book is selection or archive of existing participatory and social artistic practices from around the world from 1990 to 2011. A good selection of essays (except one, that you will know when you read).

[Jovanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because of the introductory essays especially those by Teddy Cruz and Brian Holmes, they made just want to go out into the streets and act on so many things that are wrong with the world today. It provides a vast and diverges overview of socially engaged projects of the last 20 years, so things might need a bit of an update (or maybe erase altogether) such as election night when Obama won and a few others. Overall however it is a great resource of projects that have been committed to social change and the power and responsibility that art has.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great essays and artworks. Must read for anyone interested in social practice art.

[Mary Louise Schumacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please don't act out in the comments section of our web site about public art and/or placemaking controversies until you've taken in this book. From Creative Time. Quite a resource.

[Robert McCormack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great