Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985

Zoya Kocur is an independent scholar based in New York. She has taught at New York University and the Rhode Island School of Design, and is the former Associate Curator of Education at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Her publications include Global Visual Cultures: An Anthology (2011) and, as co-editor, Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (1996).Simon Leung is an artist based in New York and Los Angeles, and Professor of Studio Art at the University of California, Irvine, where he heads the New Genres area. His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, Venice Biennale, and the Guangzhou Triennial.

• Text, Figure, and Plate Credits viiiHow To Use this Book xviNotes on Contributors xixIntroduction 1Part I The Field of Contemporary Art 71 The Intellectual Field: A World Apart (1990) 13Pierre Bourdieu2 When Form Has Become Attitude – And Beyond (1994) 21Thierry de Duve3 One Place After Another: Notes on Site Specificity (1997) 34Miwon Kwon4 Biennials without Borders? (2009) 56Chin-Tao Wu5 Periodising Contemporary Art (2009) 64Alexander Alberro6 Contemporary Art and the Politics of Aesthetics (2009) 72Jacques RancièrePart II Practices and Models/Rethinking Form and Medium 877 A Note on Gerhard Richter’s October 18, 1977 (1989) 94Benjamin H. D. Buchloh8 Notes on Surface: Toward a Genealogy of Flatness (2000) 102David Joselit9 Informe without Conclusion (1996) 118Rosalind Krauss10 Video Projection: The Space Between Screens 131Liz Kotz11 How to Provide an Artistic Service: An Introduction (1994) 146Andrea Fraser12 Conversation Pieces: The Role of Dialogue in Socially-Engaged Art (2003) 153Grant Kester13 Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics (2004) 166Claire BishopPart III Culture/Identities/Political Agency 19514 The War on Culture (1990) 203Carole S. Vance15 AIDS: Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism (2002) 211Douglas Crimp16 Architecture of the Evicted (1990) 220Rosalyn Deutsche17 Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion (1993) 235Judith Butler18 Looking for Trouble (1993) 252Kobena Mercer19 The Mythology of Difference: Vulgar Identity Politics at the Whitney Biennial (1993) 263Charles A. Wright, Jr20 Haunted TV (1992) 280Avital Ronell21 The Architecture of Porn: Museum, Urban Detritus, and Cinematic Stag-rooms (2012) 289Beatriz Preciado22 Cultural Workers as Organic Intellectuals (2008) 299Chantal MouffePart IV Postcolonial Critiques 30923 The Marco Polo Syndrome: Some Problems around Art and Eurocentrism (1993) 314Gerardo Mosquera24 In the “Heart of Darkness” (1993) 322Olu Oguibe25 The Syncretic Turn: Cross-Cultural Practices in the Age of Multiculturalism (1996) 329Jean Fisher26 Authenticity, Reflexivity, and Spectacle: Or, the Rise of New Asia is not the End of the World (2004) 338Lee Weng Choy27 All-Owning Spectatorship (1991) 354Trinh T. Minh-Ha28 Ruins, Fragmentation, and the Chinese Modern/Postmodern (1998) 371Wu HungPart V Art Subjects/Historical Subjects 38129 Re-politicizing Art, Theory, Representation and New Media Technology (2008) 388Marina Gržinić30 Miming the Master: Boy-Things, Bad Girls, and Femmes Vitales (1996) 395Mary Kelly31 Zones of Indistinction: Giorgio Agamben’s ‘Bare Life’ and the Politics of Aesthetics (2009) 416Anthony Downey32 The Database (2001) 435Lev Manovich33 For the Love of Abstraction (2008) 455Blake Stimson34 The Politics of Sustainability: Art and Ecology (2009) 466T. J. DemosAppendix: Letters and Responses Contingent Factors: A Response to Claire Bishop’s “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics” 486Liam GillickIndex 498