This anthology explores the tension between abstraction
and economics from the perspectives of art, art theory, art history, as well as law, sociology, philosophy, and economics.
It poses questions about the current challenges of a global capitalist economy with claims to expansive growth in relation
to aesthetics, technology, and democracy.
The relationship between abstraction and economics is discussed in a
series of theoretical and artistic contributions. The main focus is on the role of art in mediating between the concrete and
the abstract, on formalist approaches to art theory, and on the social and economic cues that help us trace the aesthetic
regime of capitalism. Ultimately, this book asks, “how can artistic-aesthetic practices counteract the regime of accumulation
and abstraction?”
- The visual arts in a socioeconomic context
- Reflecting on the relationship between
abstraction and economics from capitalist-critical, decolonial, ecological, and queer-feminist perspectives
- Contributions
by Brenna Bhandar, Christina von Braun, Sabeth Buchmann, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Sven Lütticken, R. H. Quaytman, Marina
Vishmidt, and others
Look
insideEva Maria Stadler, Department of Art and Knowledge Transfer at the
Institute of Arts and Society, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Jenni Tischer, Department of Art and
Knowledge Transfer at the Institute of Arts and Society, University of Applied Arts Vienna
BOOK PRESENTATIONS
Abstraction & Economy was presented to the public on June 13, 2024, at the Auditorium of the University
of Applied Arts Vienna as well as on March 8, 2025, at b_books, Berlin, and on March 9, 2025, at Klosterruine, Berlin.
Find upcoming book presentations here
