Além da imagem: cultura visual no século XXI

by Alessandro Sbordoni, Mariana Bercht Ruy (Translator), Alex Peguinelli (Editor)

Em Além da imagem - cultura visual no século XXI, Alessandro Sbordoni investiga uma transformação decisiva da cultura visual contemporânea: a passagem da imagem como representação para a imagem como reprodução do capital.

Em um cenário marcado por inteligência artificial, redes sociais, deepfakes, memes, algoritmos e plataformas digitais, a imagem deixa de ser uma janela para a realidade e passa a operar como infraestrutura da circulação de dados, do consumo e da captura da atenção.

Dialogando com autores como Nietzsche, Baudrillard, Benjamin, Flusser e McKenzie Wark, Sbordoni examina fenômenos como a cultura trash das redes, a economia da viralidade, o colapso da distinção entre verdadeiro e falso e a transformação do olhar em um processo cada vez mais automatizado pelas telas. Ao longo do livro, mostra como a superprodução de imagens redefine nossa percepção, nossa experiência política e nossa relação com a tecnologia.

128 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2026

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a good quote from one of Alessandro Sbordoni's books on Goodreads that goes like this:

There is a good quote from one of Jean Baudrillard's books on Goodreads that goes like this: "The media represents a world that is more real than the reality we can experience. People lose the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. They also begin to engage with the fantasy without realizing what it really is [...]. (Note: This quote is fake and deos not appear in Simulacra and Simulation. I tried to delete it but the system doesn't allow that because this quote has 'too many fans' lol.)" The quote itself is not real. Nevertheless, it reproduces itself (it is liked and shared) by means of its own hyperreality: the principle is not representation but reproduction. As analog technology shifts to digital technology, the principle of reality also changes accordingly.

Is the quote real? Or has it just reproduced itself by means of its own hyperreality? If you like that question you'll love this book. Read it.

Anyway, here's Beckett with Bowser:

[Catherine Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has given me a lot to think about regarding the image, collage, the future.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I think this would definitely appeal to any fans of Mark Fisher. There are loads of interesting insights into visual and digital culture I hadn't thought about before. I particularly liked the connection made between "it's giving" in Gen Z culture to describe the vibe of an image and Heidegger’s concept of "es gibt" ("it gives").

[Emily Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could FEEL my brain trying to form new synapses in order to understand everything in this book. So up my street in content and insight, but found parts horribly hard to read and at times deliberately opaque. Saying things like ‘the highest point of the image is also the lowest’ without elaboration is just annoying. But maybe I am thick and not used to reading philosophy!! Or maybe it’s a bit of both!!

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent premise. Fun narrative voice. Kitschy and silly spirit. Love very much.

Hate very much: unnecessarily complicated sentences. Pseudo-intellectual word salads. Entire buffets!!
80% of the book is just aphorism-sounding sentences that hold zero actual meaning. Hate!!
Listen to this:

"In fact, if the function of the image is short-termist, it is only insofar as the image reproduces itself without end that it is able to reproduce another subject"

What the heck?

"The efficient cause of technology replaces its final cause"

Would be fine as a sentence if you had at any point defined what these 'efficient' and 'final' causes of technology actually were??!!? R u serious right now

"In a Baudrillardian fashion, Tom Holland and Timothée Chalamet cannot jump over their own shadows because they no longer have any"

Ok man, whatever.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant analysis of images, thrash culture, and the rapidly changing world we are living in right now.

[Joshua Chek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premise, and a good discussion. At times could be wordy but I don't think that is always so bad.