Contemporary Absurdities, Existential Crises, and Visual Art

Some have called this an age of absurdity, and assuch Contemporary Absurdities, Existential Crises,and Visual Art presents the contributions of artists,theorists, and scholars whose words and worksinvestigate the absurd as a condition of, a tacticfor, and a subject in the contemporary. The absurdis a lens on the disturbances of our moment and achallenge to the propositions about and solutionsfor the world. The absurd shakes off the paralysisthat what we know must be the only thing we(re)produce. Those willing to recognize that andconfront it, rather than flee from it, are therebyintroduced to the political writ large. This editedcollection adopts ideas and practices associatedwith the absurd to explain how the contemporarymoment is absurd and how absurdity is a useful,potentially radical tool within the contemporary. Critical art allows the absurd a space within whichaudiences can observe their own tendencies andassumptions. The absurd in art reveals ourinculcation into hegemonic belief structures andthe necessity to question the systems to which wesubscribe. Today we see the absurd in memes,performative politics, and art, expressing the confusion and disorientation wrought by theendless, emerging crises of our 24/7 relations.