Description
Book SynopsisThe Art of Objects is a cultural history of early Italian industrialism, set against the political, social, and intellectual background of post-unification Italy, and a cutting-edge investigation of the formation of Italy''s industrial culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Providing a close examination of several objects of mass consumption, including watches, photographs, bicycles, gramophones, cigarettes, and toys, author Luca Cottini explores the transformation of these objects from commercial items into aesthetic and philosophical icons.
By focusing on the cultural significance of these objects as they enter the market and appear in contemporary works of art and literature, The Art of Objects outlines a comprehensive view of the age between the unification of Italy and Fascism, encompassing production and consumption, aesthetics and entrepreneurship, industry and the humanistic tradition. The observation of the slow formation of new languages, prac
Trade Review
"The Art of Objects returns us to a late capitalist moment still squarely anchored in objecthood. The volume sheds important light on Italy’s idiosyncratic modernity, while echoing beyond the peninsula’s borders in its applications to the study of material culture." -- Ara H. Merjian, New York University * University of Toronto Quarterly: Letters in Canada 2018 *
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. At the Origin of Italian Industrialism 2. Timepieces and Italian Modern Times 3. Industrial Photographs and the Fictional Vision 4. Bicycles and the Moving Body of the Nation 5. Gramophones, Radio, and the New Languages of Sound 6. Cigarettes and Smoke: The Modern Lightness of Being 7. Toys, Clothes, Furniture, and the Aesthetic Power of Play 8. The Industrial Laboratory of Italian Modernity
