'Charissa Terranova follows the development of the modernist design movement from Bauhaus to MIT and discovers a smart, healthful, and integrated view of humans and nature. Gone is the monolithic view of modernism as environmentally and socially destructive. Instead, Art as Organism offers a thoughtful piece of scholarship that reverses conventional design and art history, thanks to its novel affective lens.' - Peder Anker, Associate Professor of History of Science, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University; 'In this innovative text, Charissa Terranova exposes the crucial impact that biology, systems theory and cybernetics had on twentieth century art and the significance of that influence for aptly understanding the modernist narrative. By meticulously tracing the emergence of the digital image through the lens of science and technology, Art as Organism beautifully recounts the prehistory of contemporary visual culture.' - Associate Professor Hadas A. Steiner, Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York