Theory of art

John Berger, one of the world's most celebrated storytellers and writers on art, tells a personal history of art from the prehistoric paintings of the Chauvet caves to 21st century conceptual artists.

The Situationist International were a group of anti-authoritarian, highly cultured, revolutionary artists whose energy and enragement fundamentally shaped the revolutions of the late 1960's, most famously in Paris in May '68.

'John Berger has made the world a better place to live in.

'John Berger has made the world a better place to live in.

The writings of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari offer the most enduring and controversial contributions to the theory and practice of art in post-war Continental thought.

Since Marcel Duchamp created his 'readymades' a century ago - most famously christening a urinal as a fountain - the practice of incorporating commodity objects into art has become ever more pervasive.

This is the first major collection to reimagine and analyse the role of the creative arts in building resilient and inclusive regional communities.

This is the first major collection to reimagine and analyse the role of the creative arts in building resilient and inclusive regional communities.

When using digital technologies, many types of dysfunction can occur, ranging from hardware malfunctions to software errors to human ineptitude.

When using digital technologies, many types of dysfunction can occur, ranging from hardware malfunctions to software errors to human ineptitude.

Deftly deploying Derrida's notion of the 'unexperienced experience' and building on Paul Virilio's ideas about the aesthetics of disappearance, Vanishing Points explores the aesthetic character of presence and absence as articulated in contemporary art, photography, film and emerging media.

Deftly deploying Derrida's notion of the 'unexperienced experience' and building on Paul Virilio's ideas about the aesthetics of disappearance, Vanishing Points explores the aesthetic character of presence and absence as articulated in contemporary art, photography, film and emerging media.

Since Marcel Duchamp created his 'readymades' a century ago - most famously christening a urinal as a fountain - the practice of incorporating commodity objects into art has become ever more pervasive.

Six years after its initial publication, Applied Theatre returns with a second edition.

Six years after its initial publication, Applied Theatre returns with a second edition.

Improvisation is crucial to a wide range of artistic activities - most prominently, perhaps, in music, but extending to other fields of experience such as literature and pedagogy.

William Hogarth wrote his Analysis of Beauty in 1753, during the Age of Enlightenment.

'A really good starting point to discover what lights you up' - Emma Gannon'Unlock your inner creativity and ease your anxiety' Daily TelegraphTHE MULTI-MILLION-COPY WORLDWIDE BESTSELLERSince its first publication, The Artist's Way has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert, Tim Ferriss, Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose.

Have we completely missed the point of the modern western revolution in the arts?

Examines the manners in which modern artists use boredom as a form of aesthetic resistance that, at its most positive, is the will to boredom.

Declares the relationship between sound art and music “colloquial”: spoken and accessible, rather than locked behind disciplinary boundaries.

An ontological and epistemological framework and foundation for the psychological symptom 'neurosis'.

A collection of the site''s very best reviews on art, culture & theory.

From the ruins of communism, Boris Groys emerges to provoke our interest in the aesthetic goals pursued with such catastrophic consequences by its founders.

The theorists of art and film commonly depict the modern audience as aesthetically and politically passive.

Since the decidedly bleak beginning of the twenty-first century, art practice has become increasingly politicized.

Shortlisted for the Architectural Book of the Year Award 2025Is architecture an art, like literature or music?

The seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza-also known as Benedict or Bento de Spinoza-spent the most intense years of his short life writing.

High modernism is now as far from us as antiquity was for the Renaissance.

On the New looks at the economies of exchange and valuation that drive modern culture's key sites: the intellectual marketplace and the archive.

In this fascinating work of cultural theory and philosophy, Robert Pfaller explores the hidden cost of our contemporary approach to pleasure, belief and illusion.

Hal Foster, author of the acclaimed Design and Crime, argues that a fusion of architecture and art is a defining feature of contemporary culture.

Winner of the 2014 Annual Book Prize of the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (USA).

The definitive statement on aesthetics and the history of modernism from one of France's most renowned philosophers.

"e;We benefit from Saltz's rare ability to articulate the mysterious alchemy of great art.

"e;The Colour Bible is one to return to again and again.

What is contemporary art, and how did art come to be what it is today?

'the mundane becomes special as soon as you pay attention to it' - Susan HillerThis essential guide delves into the techniques, routines and mindsets of boundary-shifting artists, and the ways in which seeing differently can lead to creating something original.

A new study of the early Renaissance portraitIn fourteenth-century Italy, ever more women and mennot only clergy but also laityintroduced their own portraits into sacred paintings.

This book argues that the films of David Lynch pose a radical challenge to conservative and absolutist ideologies.

The Awakening Artist: Madness and Spiritual Awakening in Art is an art theory book that explores the collision of human madness and spiritual awakening in art.

Charting new directions for cultural theory and practice and offering alternatives to the project of neoliberal class restoration.

The Politics of Aesthetics rethinks the relationship between art and politics, reclaiming "e;aesthetics"e; from the narrow confines it is often reduced to.

The Politics of Aesthetics rethinks the relationship between art and politics, reclaiming "e;aesthetics"e; from the narrow confines it is often reduced to.

Print is an exciting and dynamic design area, with new analogue and digital technologies opening up a wealth of creative possibilities for designers in textile and non-textile media.

Regenerating Forests and Livelihoods in Nepal: A New Lease on Life documents the success story of an innovative rural development programme in the Himalayan foothills, Nepal.

Regenerating Forests and Livelihoods in Nepal: A New Lease on Life documents the success story of an innovative rural development programme in the Himalayan foothills, Nepal.

William Hogarth wrote his Analysis of Beauty in 1753, during the Age of Enlightenment.

An intimate, revealing biography of a talented artist who lived life on her own terms.