Peter Osborne

A new reading of the philosophy of contemporary art by the author of The Politics of Time Contemporary art is the object of inflated and widely divergent claims. What kind of discourse can help us give it a critical sense? Anywhere or Not At All is a major philosophical intervention in art theory that challenges the terms of established positions through a new approach at once philosophical, historical, social and art-critical. Setting out the claim that ‘contemporary art is postconceptual art’, the book elaborates a series of conceptual constructions and interpretations of works by Navjot Altaf, the Atlas Group, Amar Kanwar, Sol LeWitt, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gerhard Richter and Robert Smithson, among others. It concludes with new accounts of the institutional and existential complexities of ‘art space’ and ‘art time’. Anywhere or Not At All maps out the conceptual coordinates for an art that is both critical and contemporary in the era of global capitalism.

Anywhere or Not at All: Philosophy of Contemporary Art

Critical Essays

The Postconceptual Condition

Tahil Yok Dert Yok

If Aristotle sought to understand time through change, might we not reverse the procedure and seek to understand change through time? Once we do this, argues Peter Osborne, it soon becomes clear that ideas such as avant-garde, modern, postmodern and tradition—which are usually only treated as markets for empirically discrete periods, movements or styles—are best understood as categories of historical totalization. More specifically, Osborne claims, such ideas involve distinct “temporalizations” of history, giving rise to conflicting politics of time. His book begins with a consideration of the main aspects of modernity and develops though a series of critical engagements with the major twentieth-century positions in the philosophy of history. He concludes with a fascinating history of the avant-garde intervention into the temporality of everyday life in surrealism, the situationists and the work of Henri Lefebvre.

Modernity and Avant-Garde

The Politics of Time

Marta Kuzma

Pablo Lafuente

The State of Things – part of Norway's official representation in the Biennale di Venezia 2011 was developed against a landscape of dramatic events, and addressed, as its title suggests, the socio-political and cultural situation of today, through a series of lectures by art historians, philosophers, sociologists, activists and political theorists.In each of the essays, gathered in this volume, the authors draw from their field of activity and research, in order to address what they consider the intellectual and political priorities of today. The result is a portrait of our times, their troubles and their possibilities.

The State of Things

Dr. Peter Osborne, a groundbreaking authority on gluten sensitivity and food allergies, has found that grains, even so - called safe grains like corn and rice, can wreak havoc on the body by causing tissue inflammation, creating vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and triggering an autoimmune response. No Grain, No Pain offers the tools you need to eliminate the hidden sources of grain and other inflammatory agents in your diet to improve your health. Using Dr. Osborne's drug - free, easy - to - implement plan, you can achieve significant improvement in fifteen days and be on track to completely eliminate pain within thirty days. No Grain, No Pain includes a clear examination of the science behind the program, a day - by - day meal plan to make the transition to a grain - free diet easier, dozens of delicious recipes, and valuable resources to support your grain - free lifestyle for the long haul. Find out why thousands of patients credit Dr. Osborne and the No Grain, No Pain diet with freeing them from pain and giving them back their lives. Learn how to heal yourself from the inside out and start living a healthier, happier life.

A 30-Day Diet for Eliminating Root Cause of Chronic Pain

No Grain, No Pain

Andrew Benjamin

Andrew E. Benjamin

This collection explores, in Adorno's description, Benjamin's 'philosophy directed against philosophy .' The essays cover all aspects of his writings, from his early work in the philosophy of art and language, through to his concept of history.This collection explores, in Adorno's description, 'philosophy directed against philosophy'. The essays cover all aspects of Benjamin's writings, from his early work in the philosophy of art and language, through to the concept of history. The experience of time and the destruction of false continuity are identified as the key themes in Benjamin's understanding of history.

Destruction and Experience

Walter Benjamin's Philosophy

Contemporary art is the object of inflated and widely divergent claims. But what kind of discourse can open it up effectively to critical analysis? Anywhere or Not at All is a major philosophical intervention in art theory that challenges the terms of established positions through a new approach at once philosophical, historical, social and art-critical. Developing the position that “contemporary art is postconceptual art,” the book progresses through a dual series of conceptual constructions and interpretations of particular works to assess the art from a number of perspectives: contemporaneity and its global context; art against aesthetic; the Romantic pre-history of conceptual art; the multiplicity of modernisms; transcategoriality; conceptual abstraction; photographic ontology; digitalization; and the institutional and existential complexities of art-space and art-time. Anywhere or Not at All maps out the conceptual space for an art that is both critical and contemporary in the era of global capitalism.

Philosophy of Contemporary Art

Anywhere or Not at All

If, as Walter Benjamin claimed, "it is the function of artistic form.to make historical content into a philosophical truth" then it is the function of criticism to recover and to complete that truth. Never has this been more necessary or more difficult than with respect to contemporary art. Contemporary art is a point of condensation of a vast array of social and historical forces, economic and political forms and technologies of image production. Contemporary art expresses this condition, Osborne maintains, through its distinctively postconceptual form. These essays-extending the scope and arguments of Osborne's Anywhere or Not at All: Philosophy of Contemporary Art-move from philosophical consideration of the changing temporal conditions of capitalist modernity, via problems of formalism, the politics of art and the changing shape of art institutions, to interpretation and analysis of particular works by Akram Zataari, Xavier Le Roy and Ilya Kabakov, and the postconceptual situation of a crisis-ridden New Music.

If Aristotle sought to understand time through change, might we not reverse the procedure and seek to understand change through time? Once we do this, argues Peter Osborne, it soon becomes clear that ideas such as avant-garde, modern, postmodern and tradition-which are usually only treated as markets for empirically discrete periods, movements or styles-are best understood as categories of historical totalization. More specifically, Osborne claims, such ideas involve distinct "temporalizations" of history, giving rise to conflicting politics of time. His book begins with a consideration of the main aspects of modernity and develops though a series of critical engagements with the major twentieth-century positions in the philosophy of history. He concludes with a fascinating history of the avant-garde intervention into the temporality of everyday life in surrealism, the situationists and the work of Henri Lefebvre.

If Aristotle sought to understand time through change, might we not reverse the procedure and seek to understand change through time? Once we do this, argues Peter Osborne, it soon becomes clear that ideas such as avant-garde, modern, postmodern and tradition—which are usually only treated as markets for empirically discrete periods, movements or styles—are best understood as categories of historical totalization. More specifically, Osborne claims, such ideas involve distinct "temporalizations" of history, giving rise to conflicting politics of time. His book begins with a consideration of the main aspects of modernity and develops though a series of critical engagements with the major twentieth-century positions in the philosophy of history. He concludes with a fascinating history of the avant-garde intervention into the temporality of everyday life in surrealism, the situationists and the work of Henri Lefebvre.

Modernity and Avant-garde

A Critical Sense brings together in a single volume the leading figures of contemporary radical theory. Moving freely between philosophy, politics and cultural studies, it offers a fascinating overview of the lines of thought of today's intellectual left. Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis and critical theory, literary studies, deconstruction, pragmatism, postcolonial and queer theory are discussed in a series of interviews from the journal Radical Philosophy. Those interviewed are: Judith Butler Cornelius Castoriadis Drucilla Cornell Axel Honneth Istvan Meszaros Edward Said Renata Salecl Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Cornel West Slavoj Zizek For those unfamiliar with the often daunting work of some of today's most important thinkers, ACritical Sense will offer an ideal introduction; for those already acquainted with the writings of the theorists interviewed here, the collection will throw new - and often surprising - light on familiar ground.

Interviews with Intellectuals

A Critical Sense

In what way, if any, does art need philosophy, or philosophy art?' This transdisciplinary collection of essays provides a snapshot of current philosophical debates about contemporary art: debates about ?vital' materialisms; the destabilizing effects of new technologies and social relations on formal categories; ecological crisis and postcoloniality.00Contributors: Caroline Bassett, Dave Beech, Ayesha Hameed, Klara Kemp-Welch, Jaleh Mansoor, Christian Nyampeta, Peter Osborne, Luger Schwarte, Keston Sutherland, Giovanna Zapperi.

Materialisms, Labours, Forms

Thinking Art

Éric Alliez

This collection of essays by leading figures within French, Italian and German art, cultural and political theory offers a snapshot of current debates about the relationship of politics and contemporary art. It aims both to introduce new readers to these debates and to offer those with some familiarity with them a structured presentation of the main positions across three national contexts, via original writing by established figures.

Art and Politics

Spheres of Action

Philosophy in Cultural Theory boldly crosses disciplinary boundaries to offer a philosophical critique of cultural theory today. Drawing on the legacy of Walter Benjamin, Peter Osborne looks critically at central philosophical debates in cultural theory, such as: * the relationship between sign and image * the technological basis of cultural form * the conceptuality of art * the place of fantasy in human affairs. It will appeal to those in philosophy, cultural studies and art theory.

Philosophy in Cultural Theory

This collection explores, in Adorno's description, `philosophy directed against philosophy'. The essays cover all aspects of Benjamin's writings, from his early work in the philosophy of art and language, through to the concept of history. The experience of time and the destruction of false continuity are identified as the key themes in Benjamin's understanding of history.

No other single author has so commanding a critical presence across so many disciplines within the arts and humanities, in so many national contexts, as Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). The belated reception of his work as a literary critic (dating from the late 1950s) has been followed by a rapid series of critical receptions in different contexts: Frankfurt Critical Theory and Marxism, Judaism, Film Theory, Post-structuralism, Philosophical Romanticism, and Cultural Studies.This collection brings together a selection of the most critically important items in the literature, across the full range of Benjamin's cultural-theoretical interests, from all periods of the reception of his writings, but focusing upon the most recent, to produce a comprehensive overview of the best critical literature.

Walter Benjamin: Modernity

Walter Benjamin: Philosophy

Walter Benjamin: Appropriations

Emphasizing the Romantic heritage and modernist legacy of Karl Marx's writings, Peter Osborne presents Marx's thought as a developing investigation into what it means, concretely, for humans to be practical historical beings. Drawing upon passages from a wide range of Marx's writings, and showing the links between them, Osborne refutes the myth of Marx as a reductively economistic thinker. What Marx meant by 'materialism', 'communism' and the 'critique of political economy' was much richer and more original, philosophically, than is generally recognized. With the renewed globalization of capitalism since 1989, Osborne argues, Marx's analyses of the consequences of commodification are more relevant today than ever before. Extracts are taken from the full breadth of Marx's writings, from his student Notebooks on Epicurean Philosophy, via the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts and The Communist Manifesto to Capital.

Peter Osborne

About

Books

Join the club