Art Writing in Crisis

by Brad Haylock (Editor), Megan Patty (Editor)

Fires burn around the world. Systemic discrimination persists, precarity is increasing, and the modern democratic project faces challenges from all sides. Art writing helps us to understand art which in turn helps us to understand such crises. But art writing itself is in crisis. Newspapers and magazines offer fewer channels than ever for independent art criticism, persistent institutional biases exclude the positions of many, and a proliferation of platforms presents opportunities and challenges in equal measure.

This volume presents contributions from a broad range of authors who address the social and political dimensions of art and art writing in the contemporary context, and the ways in which new writing and publishing practices promote critical engagement among readerships as never before.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Design

288 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2021

Reviews

[Nageen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a white book and catches dirt. Dan Fox writes stuff that I relate to a 100% and so I give this a 3 star rating. We need more like these.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very good essays - some average ones. A really interesting essay by Maddee Clark (editor of Un Magazine) about the reality of decolonizing the art world in Australia.

[Francesco Tenaglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some excellent texts, some weren't

[Bella McCord · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, relevant edited collection of essays exploring the constantly evolving challenges faced by authors of art writing and scholarship in a post-pandemic, digital world—a need-to-read for anyone interested in the humanities! I love the variety of the perspectives and topics discussed, including digitization, decolonization, and accessibility (and more!). Some of my favorite additions were ‘Art in the Anthropocene,’ ‘Another False Start,’ ‘Ascending/Descending Sonic Shadows,’ and ‘Donald Judd’s Writings’ (an interview with Flavin Judd).


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“Who among us is allowed, or not allowed, to critique and hold people accountable without retribution? What has it meant for us to grow up in a culture that defers to punishment to resolve conflict, injustice, and dissent? How does punishment manifest and settle in our psyches and bodies?” (88, Taylor Renee Aldridge & Jessica Lynne)

“Without at least a detour through the world of art—however brief, unimpressive, or farcical—there will be no subjective movement, only natural processes, animal or mechanical.” (120, Bella Li & Justin Clemens)

“Hide this program, close all your tabs./ Scroll-back-to: when an interface was the surface of touch between two persons’ skins.” (187, Girls Like Us)

“Denaturalizing our most familiar frameworks is absolutely necessary for cultural renewal.” (228, Anna-Sophie Springer & Caleb Waldorf)

“Art is about questioning priorities, it’s about creating chaos in order to obtain intellectual and emotional independence and liberty.” (266, Nikos Papastergiadis & Hou Hanru)

[Kire · Rating 5 out of 5]

not every essay is incredible but some are. the essay collection that i keep coming back to this year thinking about how to continue to engage and reflect and communicate the world we are experiencing even in 2025. very meta so no concrete plans expected here, but to quote a section of the book (and a reference in itself from Donald Brook): "1. our apprehension of the world is active, not passive, and art displays an emergent apprehension; 2. art is only incidentally and not essentially aesthetic, it is concerned with every kind of value and not particularly with beauty; 3. art interrogates the status quo, it is essentially and not incidentally, radical; 4. art is experimental action, it models possible forms of life and makes them available to public criticism."

[Jasmine Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Art in the Anthropocene” and “Critical Localism” are excellent, 5/5 essays. The first half is much stronger than the second