Description
Book SynopsisPaul Rabinow continues his explorations of "a philosophic anthropology of the contemporary" by examining the work of German painter Gerhard Richter. Defining the contemporary as a moving ratio in which the modern becomes historical, Rabinow uses Richter's work to illustrate how meaning is created within the contemporary.
Trade Review"Sometimes the keenest observations on an overly familiar phenomena come from outside the family. So it is with Paul Rabinow's lively, risky intervention in the clan of prestigious art theorists and critics who have created the reception of Gerhard Richter, one of the most famous artists in the world today. Rabinow contests the prevailing cliches that underwrite Richter's canonization, employing an anthropological perspective to untangle the artist's experiments with form in the twilit afterlife of modernism." -- W. J. T. Mitchell, author of Image Science: Iconology, Visual Culture, and Media Aesthetics "The virtual meeting of Gerhard Richter and Paul Rabinow opens up utterly new scholarly and discursive vistas into the nature of the contemporary. Offering a highly sophisticated and innovative anthropological framework to discuss the work of a prominent contemporary artist, Rabinow's innovative and exquisite book makes a compelling and necessary attempt to productively tie the arts and art criticism with the human sciences." -- Amir Eshel, author of Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Form and Birkenau 1
1. Object: The Contemporary 15
2. Constellations: Writing and Imaging Strife 33
3. Assembling: Abet and Facilitate 65
4. Composition:
Technē and Pathos 95
5. Contemporary Consolations: Unconsoled 125
6. Restive Endings 141
Notes 147
Bibliography 159
