Kirjahaku

The art of the past can seem very far away, obscured both by time and by knotty academic theory. Foregrounding the experience of the contemporary viewer, Look Again shows how this need not be the case. Ossian Ward’s simple, ten-step programme acts as an aid to looking, breaking down the often obscure strategies of the Old Masters into intuitive categories – from Art as Honesty to Art as Vision. Look Again’s novel approach is influenced by John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, but is here updated for the art world of the 21st century. Key to this book is an emphasis on ways of experiencing Old Masters – more than just looking. Just as contemporary art should be judged by how it moves us, cajoles us and envelops us, so too can the great paintings of the world be seen as immersive, captivating, even participatory experiences. Ward does not deny the specific complexities and barriers associated with looking at art from other eras. Instead he offers readers a new formula to help illuminate this kind of art. His method not only provides the viewer with the tools to interpret a work of art, but also assumes that we hold some of this knowledge within ourselves already. In other words, everyone can share the enriching experience of Old Master paintings.

Marina Abramovic has truly pioneered performance as a visual art form. Her work - notorious for its feats of endurance, pain and intense physical encounter - has pushed the boundaries of contemporary art and cemented her reputation as one of the most significant artists of the past 50 years. This book brings her complete practice together into one concise and essential volume.

Die zeitgenössische Kunst ist undogmatisch, vielfältig und unterliegt thematisch weder einem vorab definierten Kanon, noch ist sie regional zu verorten. Doch welche Möglichkeiten haben wir als Betrachter dann jenseits einer Kategorie der Beliebigkeit, wollen wir das Schaffen der Künstler von heute beurteilen? Ossian Ward hat reinen Tisch gemacht und sich, befreit von allen tradierten Betrachtungsweisen, einen neuen frischen Blick auf das gesamte Spektrum der Gegenwartskunst erlaubt und dabei innovative Zugänge geschaffen. Er öffnet unseren Blick in acht Kapiteln auf ein neues System einer crossmedialen Klassifizierung mit Kategorien wie 'Kunst als Unterhaltung', 'Kunst als Konfrontation ', 'Kunst als Spektakel', 'Autobiographische Kunst', 'Meditative Kunst', 'Politische Kunst' und anderen mehr. Arbeiten, die dem Betrachter rätselhaft bleiben würden, erhalten so ein plausibles Deutungsmuster. Zum besseren Verständnis präsentiert der Autor in jeder Kategorie prominente und herausragende Werke als Schlüssel zu einem besseren Verständnis der jeweiligen Strömung.

Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri, in collaboration with artist Rosemary Clunie, offers journeys into the human spirit for our times. The True Artist Breaks Out of Jail is a provocative collaboration between Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri and renowned artist Rosemary Clunie. Pushing the possibilities of text and image to their limit, this book addresses questions of life in our times through the potent energies of poetry and painting. It journeys into the human spirit and its yearning for truth and authenticity as it examines key contemporary subjects ranging from war and climate change to the wounds and wonders of the human psyche. Exploring the modern world through a joint creative output, Okri and Clunie strive to inspire a richer relationship to art, and to democratize the art experience – marrying the mystery of image with the accessibility of language. Combining autobiographical elements with fragments of fiction, Okri and Clunie appeal to the two ancient aspects of brain and spirit in all of us. The result is a thoughtful and powerful interpretation of our world by two important voices in our current discourse.