Art and Revolution: Transversal Activism in the Long Twentieth Century (Semiotext

by Gerald Raunig, Aileen Derieg (Translator)

A philosopher and art theorist extends the poststructuralist theory of revolution to the nexus of art and activism. Gerald Raunig has written an alternative art history of the "long twentieth century," from the Paris Commune of 1871 to the turbulent counter-globalization protests in Genoa in 2001. Meticulously moving from the Situationists and Sergei Eisenstein to Viennese Actionism and the PublixTheatreCaravan, Art and Revolution takes on the history of revolutionary transgressions and optimistically charts an emergence from its tales of tragic failure and unequivocal disaster. By eloquently applying Deleuze and Guattari's idea of the "machine," Raunig extends the poststructuralist theory of revolution through to the explosive nexus of art and activism. As hopeful as it is incisive, Art and Revolution encourages a new generation of artists and thinkers to refuse to participate in the tired prescriptions of marketplace and authority and instead create radical new methods of engagement. Raunig develops an indispensable, contemporary conception of political change--a conception that transcends the outmoded formulations of insurrection and resistance. Too much blood and ink has been shed for the art machines and the revolutionary machines to remain separate. Gerald Raunig is a philosopher and art theorist who lives in Vienna, Austria.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2007

About the author

Gerald Raunig is a philosopher and art theorist. He works at the Zürich University of the Arts, Zürich and the eipcp (European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies), Vienna. He is coeditor of the multilingual publishing platform Transversal Texts and the Austrian journal Kamion. He is the author of Art and Revolution, A Thousand Machines, and Factories of Knowledge, Industries of Creativity, all published by Semiotext[e].

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

successfully links art, the revolutionary project, and the challenges therein with a nonlinear historicity while taking up the theories of Deleuze/Guattari and Foucault.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I gave this 3 instead of 4 stars is because it's seriously philosophically-theoretically wonky. It is not for the faint of mind--but if you stick with it, the concepts and illustrations presented--including quite cogent syntheses and analyses of Marx, Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault's poststructural ideas and illustrations of the Paris Commune, 1910s Germany, and Situationists c. 1968, with a finale of post 9/11 2003-04 protests against the Iraq war and WTO--will make you re-think what revolution can be (and is), and how art plays a role. Hint: the machine is not an emblem it is a system and revolutions should not simply replace--but be, in the overused word of the year--a "concatenation" of organismic/organic mechanisms of community not individual and not systematic and "orgiastic" but amorphous and still interconnected and complex. Oh, and don't fall into the power structure to critique the power structure, cuz then you're just part of the DeBordian spectacle. Ultimately, this is a way to totally rethink what the meaning and function and functionality of revolution is/can be.

[dr.dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raunig is someone I have enjoyed reading on-line and I am glad to have this book now available. The "Out of Sync" and the "Corbet Model" I found quiet good and gained a great of insight about the context of what art and politics meant during this time period - so much so that I am now going to
find a Biography of Corbet.

[Mills College Library]

700.411 R246 2007