[spectre] Theory on Demand #5: Spatial Aesthetics: Art, Place and the Everyday by Nikos Papastergiadis

[Geert Lovink]

Theory on Demand #5: Spatial Aesthetics: Art, Place and the Everyday  
by Nikos Papastergiadis

INC Print on Demand Service ‘Theory on Demand’ Issue no. 5 out now

Purchase the book on www.lulu.com and/or download the pdf on the INC  
website:

http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/weblog/2010/11/24/no-05-spatial-aesthetics-art-place-and-the-everyday/

Spatial Aesthetics examines the most recent shifts in contemporary art  
practice. By working with artists and closely observing the way in  
which they relate to urban space and engage other people, locally and  
globally, Nikos Papastergiadis provides a critical account of the  
transformation of art and public culture. He shows art has sought to  
democratise the big issues of our time and utilize new information  
technologies. While the concept of the everyday highlights the  
potential for transformation at the level of the individual, at the   
same time it has to be seen as a critique of broader structures; in  
this book Papastergiadis stresses the importance of situating a work  
within art history as well as relating it to its social context.  
Spatial Aesthetics will help artists, curators and cultural workers  
think about the ways they intervene in public life. Challenging recent  
declarations in the art world that theory is obsolete, it seeks to  
show how art uses ideas, and how everyone can be involved in the ideas  
of politics and art.

About the author: Nikos Papastergiadis, is Professor at the School of  
Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Throughout  
his career, Nikos has provided strategic consultancies for government  
agencies on issues relating to cultural identity and worked on  
collaborative projects with artists and theorists of international  
repute, such as John Berger, Jimmie Durham and Sonya Boyce. His  
current research focuses on the investigation of the historical  
transformation of contemporary art and cultural institutions by  
digital technology. His publications include Modernity as Exile  
(1993), Dialogues in the Diaspora (1998), The Turbulence of Migration  
(2000), Metaphor and Tension (2004) as well as being the author of  
numerous essays which have been translated into over a dozen languages  
and appeared in major catalogues such as the Sydney, Liverpool,  
Istanbul, Gwanju, Taipei and Lyon Biennales.

Author: Nikos Papastergiadis. Design: Katja van Stiphout. DTP:  
Margreet Riphagen. Printer: ‘Print on Demand’. Publisher: Institute of  
Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2010. ISBN: 978-90-816021-3-6.