Why Only Art Can Save Us
Aesthetics and the Absence of Emergency
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Published:26th Sep '17
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In Why Only Art Can Save Us, Santiago Zabala argues that contemporary art is essential for recognizing and addressing the true emergencies of our time.
In Why Only Art Can Save Us, Santiago Zabala explores the crucial role of contemporary art in an age characterized by a lack of genuine emergencies. He argues that this absence poses a significant threat to democracy, as it allows the status quo to persist unchallenged. Drawing on the philosophical insights of Martin Heidegger, Zabala distinguishes between artworks that merely sustain existing conditions and those that actively engage us in the creation of new realities. This distinction is essential for understanding how art can serve as a catalyst for political and social change.
Zabala's examination extends to the implications of political realism, which often obscures pressing issues such as climate change, systemic inequality, and pervasive surveillance. He critiques the complacency that arises when societies fail to recognize these crises as emergencies. Instead, he advocates for a radical rethinking of art's potential to disrupt the current order and inspire democratic action. By highlighting the transformative power of art, Zabala presents it not just as an aesthetic experience but as a vital instrument for activism and engagement.
Ultimately, Why Only Art Can Save Us challenges readers to reconsider the relationship between art and politics. Zabala posits that radical artists have the ability to illuminate hidden emergencies and provoke necessary interventions. Through a compelling analysis of contemporary art practices, he underscores the necessity of art in fostering a responsive and dynamic approach to the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Zabala's extraordinary book strikes at the very heart of our spiritual predicament. From austerity politics to security measures, everything is legitimized with the axiom that we live in a state of emergency. The first task of the critique of ideology today is thus to dispel this myth of emergency-something that Zabala does brilliantly, combining theoretical stringency with immense readability. -- Slavoj ZzZizek, author of Less than Nothing and Absolute Recoil Why is the absence of emergency the greatest emergency? This question is at the heart of Zabala's new book, which develops further his "ontology of remnants," i.e., what remains of Being in the twenty-first century. Art, like communism, is not an aesthetic or political subject matter for Zabala but rather an ontological event where Being emerges as remnants. This is why instead of aesthetic contemplation he calls for existential interventions meant to change the world. The art world, as well as the philosophical community, will benefit from Zabala's best book so far. -- Gianni Vattimo, author of Art's Claim to Truth and Of Reality Santiago Zabala's Why Only Art Can Save Us is a crucial publication for anyone concerned about the future and necessity of art in the twenty-first century. Its main claim is that the possibility of art lies in its aesthetics of emergency. Although we live in a time of social, political and environmental emergencies, Zabala makes the convincing case that we tend to repress the emergencies we live in. The aesthetics of emergency discloses the concealment of emergency as the essential emergency, helping us to recover the sense of emergency. This aesthetics proposes a major shift in our understanding of art, which is less about representation than existence. -- Christine Ross, James McGill Chair in Contemporary Art History, McGill University Santiago Zabala's new book is a timely and provocative exploration of art in the age of emergency. Today, the real emergency we face is not so much the populist emergencies of media spectacles that confront us ad nauseum day in and day out; rather, it is the emergency that arises from concealing the destruction and oppression that neoliberal democracy, militarism, and global capitalism inflict. It is here where art can save us. Why Only Art Can Save Us is a major contribution to political philosophy and the philosophy of art. -- Adrian Parr, author of Birth of a New Earth and The Wrath of Capital
ISBN: 9780231183482
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
216 pages