Contemporary Art and the Cosmopolitan Imagination explores the role of art in conceiving and reconfiguring the political; ethical and social landscape of our time. Understanding art as a vital form of articulation; Meskimmon argues that artworks do more than simply reflect and represent the processes of transnational and transcultural exchange typical of the global economy. Rather; art can change the way we imagine; understand and engage with the world and with others very different than ourselves. In this sense; art participates in a critical dialogue between cosmopolitan imagination; embodied ethics and locational identity. The development of a cosmopolitan imagination is crucial to engendering a global sense of ethical and political responsibility. By materialising concepts and meanings beyond the limits of a narrow individualism; art plays an important role in this development; enabling us to encounter difference; imagine change and make possible the new. This book asks what it means to inhabit a globalized world ndash; how we might literally and figuratively make ourselves cosmopolitans; lsquo;at homersquo; everywhere. Contemporary art provides a space for this enquiry. Contemporary Art and the Cosmopolitan Imagination is structured and written through four lsquo;architectonic figurationsrsquo; ndash; foundation; threshold; passage and landing ndash; which simultaneously reference the built environment and the transformative structure of knowledge-systems. It offers a challenging new direction in the current literature on cosmopolitanism; globalisation and art.
#2132374 in eBooks 2004-03-01 2001-11-30File Name: B0039MIR60
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Neat BookBy CustomerLots to think about here. The writing is maybe overly erudite but ignoring a lot of the intext references can speed up the reading. Its on second reading that the ideas start to pop up in response to Tamens essay. The notes could be more explicit with commentary. Tamens style is cool but it tends to get buried in the academic. Theres plenty to disagree with while lots of insights are there to play with.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A good start and a confused ending...By German ReaderMiguel Tamens book presents a laquo;theory of thingsraquo; in combination with their different cultural impacts for example in museums and collections in 19th century Europe. The book starts very complex but ends without delivering a coherent theses. This is the main critique after my lecture of the book. The chapters do not develop one into another but Tamens observations and interpretations remain without a holistic concept. In comparison with other studies with a more historical and genealogical perspective (for example written by D. Maleuvre or J. Siegel) Tamens book lacks - at least for me - of a coherent theoretical insight. Nevertheless: if someone is interested in "thing theory" I can recommend at least the first chapters.4 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Lex. legis?By Alvaro LewisWithin this tiny volume of lecture-length chapters bravely stares a provocation to reconsider both why and how (also a little on what) we pursue interpretation. A couple of the chapters serve mealy reading (e.g.. Byzantine law and Iconostasis). but the overall argument pleasingly confounds the mellow and perhaps mindless reception of analyses of objects whose interpretations may be completely unnecessary beyond their value as ways of thinking that create like-minded societies. The perspectives of legal scholars. tree-lovers. art historians. and others. who make sense of parts of the world and its culture for the many of us who grow weary of the incessant. silly sallies required to be comprehensively aware. receive attention. Despite a recondite divagation here and there. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sharp and playful book.
