Beyond the World's End
Arts of Living at the Crossing
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Duke University Press
Published:4th Sep '20
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£21.99(9781478009573)
This book presents radical artistic and activist responses to environmental and political crises, emphasizing the need for a just future. Beyond the World's End explores these vital themes.
In Beyond the World's End, T. J. Demos delves into a variety of artistic, activist, and cultural practices that propose radical solutions for creating a just, decolonial, and environmentally sustainable future. The book addresses the pressing environmental and political crises of our time, reimagining the relationships between aesthetics and an inclusive political ecology that emphasizes the importance of just futurity. Demos highlights how contemporary artists engage with urgent themes, showcasing a diverse range of responses to these challenges.
The author examines the impactful work of artists such as John Akomfrah, who intertwines racial capitalism with environmental issues, and Forensic Architecture, along with Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman, who address the visual politics surrounding climate refugees. Additionally, Demos explores Afrofuturist narratives in the works of Arthur Jafa and Martine Syms, illustrating how moving images can advocate for climate justice. The book also discusses video and mixed-media art that critiques resource extraction, featuring artists like Angela Melitopoulos, Allora & Calzadilla, and Ursula Biemann.
Throughout Beyond the World's End, Demos argues that the intersections of aesthetics and politics are vital for creating new imaginaries. He references significant movements such as the Standing Rock #NoDAPL campaign and the autonomous zone in France, asserting that these contemporary expressions are essential for envisioning a socially just and thriving future. By weaving together these artistic practices, Demos offers readers a compelling vision for a more equitable world.
“T. J. Demos has for some time charted intertwining artistic and activist responses to environmental catastrophe, and here he is at his best. This book is powerful and necessary.” -- Julia Bryan-Wilson, author of * Fray: Art and Textile Politics *
“Beyond the World's End rethinks the complex relationship between political ecology and artistic practice. Written in the clear, provocative prose for which T. J. Demos is already widely admired, this important book operates within the framework of environmental and, by extension, climate justice and provides a glimmer of hope in the midst of the current catastrophe.” -- Alexander Alberro, Barnard College
"Amply illustrated and well indexed, the book blends nature-culture binaries and lays out the possibilities for lives beyond the world’s end. This pithy, well-researched volume includes an introduction, seven chapters, and notes, and it will interest students of Afrofuturism, art history, ecofeminism, ecology, social justice, visual culture, and myriad related subjects. Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals."
-- J. Decker * Choice *
“Demos...offer[s] a wealth of information on environmentalist artists and ecocritical thinkers who may not be presented to art audiences elsewhere. [His] venturesome examples of art historical ecocriticism model methodologies of engagement that challenge scholars to apply their own talents and imaginations toward new practices of art history for our time.” -- Suzaan Boettger * Art Bulletin *
“Demos’ main contribution to the fields of ecology, art history, and geo-politics is the tangible methods he offers against catastrophism. . . . In Beyondthe World’s End, Demos has produced not only a timely teaching tool, but also a touchstone for the ongoing writings and makings of the not-yet.” -- Kate Keohane * Art History *
“Beyond the World’s End is a text of impressive scope and depth, whose thematic urgency needs no introduction. . . . If, as in Fredric Jameson’s famous adage, it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is the end of capitalism, Demos charts a path here for imagining both, and a different world that can be brought into being in what lies beyond these ends.” -- Matthias Kispert * Moving Image Review & Art Journal *
ISBN: 9781478008668
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 454g
272 pages