Unconsolable contemporary : observing Gerhard Richter / Paul Rabinow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rabinow, Paul, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Richter, Gerhard, 1932---Criticism and interpretation.

Richter, Gerhard.

Art and philosophy.

Philosophical anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 pages)

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2017.

Summary:

In Unconsolable Contemporary Paul Rabinow continues his explorations of "a philosophic anthropology of the contemporary." Defining the contemporary as a moving ratio in which the modern becomes historical, Rabinow shows how an anthropological ethos of the contemporary can be realized by drawing on the work of art historians, cultural critics, social theorists, and others, thereby inventing a methodology he calls anthropological assemblage. He focuses on the work and persona of German painter Gerhard Richter, demonstrating how reflecting on Richter's work provides rich insights into the practices and stylization of what, following Aby Warburg, one might call "the afterlife of the modern." Rabinow opens with analyses of Richter's recent Birkenau exhibit: both the artwork and its critical framing. He then chronicles Richter's experiments in image-making as well as his subtle inclusion of art historical and critical discourses about the modern. This, Rabinow contends, enables Richter to signal his awareness of the stakes of such theorizing while refusing the positioning of his work by modernist critical theorists. In this innovative work, Rabinow elucidates the ways meaning is created within the contemporary.

Contents:

Introduction: form and Birkenau

Object: the contemporary

Constellations: writing and imaging strife

Assembling: abet and facilitate

Composition: techne and pathos

Contemporary consolations: unconsoled

Restive endings.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780822372271

0822372274

OCLC:

1048180666