Description
Book SynopsisA counterintuitive take on the deceleration of time and its function in contemporary art and culture.
Trade ReviewLutz Koepnick's understanding of the contemporary phenomenon of 'slowness' is refreshingly optimistic and energetic. It propels the reader to discover his or her own instances of slowness amid the dizzying culture of speed in which we find ourselves enmeshed. Through close and careful analyses of select primarily visual works, Koepnick constructs a thesis of contemporary 'slowness' that is in dialogue with theories of modernity and engaged with the potentiality of contemporaneity. A rigorous thinker, Koepnick brilliantly presents new material and theoretical analyses in a form that is compelling and accessible. -- Nora M. Alter, Temple University On Slowness is predicated on the common notion that speed, acceleration, and catastrophic events are at the core of modernism. Lutz Koepnick shows that this view is too simplistic as there always were retarding aspects and slow movements within modernism itself. Koepnick's readings of specific art works and interventions are compelling and encourage the reader to think of other examples, to question how temporality and space are lived and represented today, to ask what aesthetic strategies can be persuasive in our world and why. -- Andreas Huyssen, Columbia University A satisfying read. Library Journal
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: On Slowness 1. Slow Modernism 2. Open Shutter Photography and the Art of Slow Seeing 3. Glacial Visions, Geological Time 4. Dream|Time Cinema 5. Free Fall 6. Video and the Slow Art of Interlacing Time 7. The Art of Taking a Stroll 8. Those Who Read Epilogue: Slowness and the Future of the Humanities Notes Index
