Announcing a new series: Art after Nature

Books published in this series engage with the politics and contradictions of the Anthropocene as a concept in order to problematize recent and influential philosophical waves like animal studies, posthumanism, and speculative realism in relation to art writing and art making.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Art after Nature maps new aesthetic territories defined by the humanities' recent ontological turn.

Press Release Date: 2017-12-19T05:51:00+00:00


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Minneapolis, MN—The University of Minnesota Press announces a new series:

Art after Nature

Editors: Giovanni Aloi and Caroline Picard

Art after Nature maps new aesthetic territories defined by the humanities' recent ontological turn. In the face of the unprecedented shifts in humanity's conceived relationship with the natural world, modes of critical and political artistic engagement are adapting in response. As notions of pristine sublimity crumble, Art after Nature proposes to explore the consequences of this transition, further destabilizing anthropocentrism, and revealing the dark ecological fluidity of natureculturesThe urgency imposed by anthropogenic lenses of inquiry provides an ethical focus capable of applying productive pressure on practices and discourses alike. Within this framework, art theory, practice, and criticism become intersecting platforms upon which to map current philosophical wavesBooks published in this series engage with the politics and contradictions of the Anthropocene as a concept in order to problematize recent and influential philosophical waves like animal studies, posthumanism, and speculative realism in relation to art writing and art making. 

We propose an affordable paperback format of short volumes (50.000-60.000 words) fostering true multidisciplinarity, accessibility, and diversity. Each volume aims to be concise, creative, original, focused, and accessible to provide readers with the opportunity to creatively engage with new and alternative discourses in art, science, and philosophy. Our intent is that each book should equally infiltrate university course-reading lists (a useful resource for graduate seminars) as well as the bookcases of art and philosophy readers who have grown up in the company of alternative presses and zines and thus value the magnitude of changes such ‘big small books’ can bring about.

Those seeking more information may e-mail Giovanni Aloi at galoi@saic.edu and Caroline Picard at caroline@sector2337.com. Prospective contributors may submit abstracts of 500 words along with a CV, and are invited to propose more than one idea.

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Image caption: Alberto Aguilar, "Drag feet through snow, define boundaries, work my way in. End at center (Elkhart, KS)." 2017. 16" x 20", Inkjet print in hand carved frame. Image courtesy of the artist.