Investigative Aesthetics
Conflicts and Commons in the Politics of Truth
Matthew Fuller author Eyal Weizman author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Verso Books
Published:24th Aug '21
£14.99
Available for immediate dispatch.
A new field of counter-investigation across journalism, human rights, art and law
Today, artists are engaged in investigation. They probe corruption, state violence, environmental destruction and repressive technologies. At the same time, fields not usually associated with aesthetics make powerful use of it. Journalists and legal professionals pore over open source videos and satellite imagery to undertake visual investigations. This combination of diverse fields is what the authors call "investigative aesthetics": mobilising sensibilities often associated with art, architecture and other such practices to find new ways of speaking truth to power.
This book draws on theories of knowledge, ecology and technology, evaluates the methods of citizen counter-forensics, micro-history and art, and examines radical practices such as those of Wikileaks, Bellingcat, and Forensic Architecture. Investigative Aesthetics takes place in the studio and the laboratory, the courtroom and the gallery, online and in the streets, as it strives towards the construction of a new 'common sensing'.
The book is an inspiring introduction to a new field that brings together investigation and aesthetics to change how we understand and confront power today.
To Nour Abuzaid for your brilliance, perseverance, and unshaken belief in the liberation of Palestine.
The most astonishing book on architecture that I have read in years. -- Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times * [for Hollow Land] *
A masterpiece of political analysis. -- James Ron, The Nation * [for Hollow Land] *
Weizman boldly attempts to create an entirely new method to conceptualize the relationship between surfaces, movement, and the tools of war -- Achille Mbembe * [for Hollow Land] *
Eyal Weizman's work has become an indispensable source of both insight and guidance in these difficult times -- Paul Gilroy
Weizman continues to offer daring social and political commentary, questioning taken-for-granted structures and processes that perpetuate oppression and violence -- Legacy Russell, BOMB Magazine * [For The Least of All Possible Evils] *
A fascinating treatise on how our political world functions today and how we might seek to interrupt it. -- Jack Smurthwaite * Art Monthly *
Expansive ... [Fuller and Weizman] explore sense and sense-making in its fullest political terms: understanding the systemic forces of capitalism as well as an individual's sense of morality. -- Chris Hayes * Tribune *
Sharp ... [Investigative Aesthetics] is invaluable as a hyper-aesthetic object itself. -- Michael Eby * Los Angeles Review of Books *
Aesthetics is a battleground, a contested space; Investigative Aesthetics is part battle-plan or tactical guide and, more fundamentally, part user's manual for surviving this beautiful and terrifying world. -- Mark Rappolt * ArtReview *
An undeviating announcement of the subversive potential of contemporary aesthetic practices. -- Lawrence Abu Hamdan * The White Review, Books of the Year 2021 *
ISBN: 9781788739085
Dimensions: 210mm x 140mm x 18mm
Weight: 272g
272 pages