{"product_id":"the-temptation-of-nonbeing-9781350430020","title":"The Temptation of NonBeing","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy do we enjoy artworks that depict disasters and suffering?\u003c\/b\u003e Is this a hangover from the Modernist impulse to break the rules of harmony? Is there actually a proper way to perform negativity in art without resorting to nihilism? \u003ci\u003eThe Temptation of Non-Being\u003c\/i\u003e uses these fundamental questions to paint a picture of contemporary art as beset by an outbreak of the negative, and to construct a new theory of art as a medium of complex negativity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe negative in art is explained not as a simple negation or destruction, but as a multifaceted, polymorphous structure with a vast range of strategies and techniques from parody and pastiche to defamiliarization and non-resemblance. Charting the depth of these negative practices, Artemy Magun shows how they become progressively more complex and explicit, illustrating them with interdisciplinary examples from Lars von Trier, Jacek Malczewski, Andrei Platonov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. At the heart of this layered, nested structure lies an understanding of Modern aesthetics that helps to answer even more questions: how can the testing, probing nature of art lead to this preoccupation with the negative? Why does this negativity emerge in the first place? What can it tell us about art itself and how it functions in society? This is an erudite and provocative analysis that enriches the ongoing evaluation of both high' and low' art.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53187314647383,"sku":"9781350430020","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-temptation-of-nonbeing-9781350430020","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}