Books in the Documents of Contemporary Art series

Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface, dividing and connecting humans, who carry saltwater in their blood, sweat and tears. At the same time, oceans represent a powerful nonhuman force, rising, flooding, heating, and raging in unprecedented ways as the climate crisis unfolds. The sea has long enthralled artists, who have envisioned it as a sublime wilderness, a home to countless mythical creatures as well as bizarre real species, a source of life and death, a site of new beginnings and tragic endings, a force both wondrous and disastrous. From migration to the melting of the polar ice caps, the sea is omnipresent in international news and politics, leaking into popular culture in the wake of the 'Blue Planet effect' and proliferating in contemporary art and visual culture. This collection gathers together some of today's most exciting contemporary artists and writers to address the ocean not only as a theme but as a major agent of artistic and curatorial methods. Artists surveyed include Bas Jan Ader, Eileen Agar, John Akomfrah, Eva Barois De Caevel, Betty Beaumont, Heidi Bucher, Marcus Coates, Tacita Dean, Mark Dion, Ellen Gallagher, Ayesha Hameed, Barbara Hepworth, Klara Hobza, Isuma, Brian Jungen, Ana Mendieta, Kasia Molga, Eleanor Morgan, Wangechi Mutu, Jean Painleve and Genevieve Hamon, Zineb Sedira, Shimabuku, Christine & Margaret Wertheim, Alberta Whittle. Writers include Stacy Alaimo, Michelle Antoinette, Bergit Arends, Erika Balsom, Karen Barad, Rachel Carson, Marion Endt-Jones, Kodwo Eshun, Vilem Flusser, Paul Gilroy, Epeli Hau'ofa, Eva Hayward, Stefanie Hessler, Luce Irigaray, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Celina Jeffrey, Koyo Kouoh, Lana Lopesi, Jules Michelet, Astrida Neimanis, Celeste Olalquiaga, Ralph Rugoff, John Ruskin, Marina Warner.

The Cute tracks the astonishing impact of a single aesthetic category on post-war and contemporary art, and on the vast range of cultural practices and discourses on which artists draw. From robots and cat videos to ice cream socials, The Cute explores the ramifications of an aesthetic 'of' or 'about' minorness - or what is perceived to be diminutive, subordinate, and above all, unthreatening - on the shifting forms and contents of art today. This anthology is the first of its kind to show how contemporary artists have worked on and transformed the cute, and in ways that not only complexify its meaning, but reshape their own artistic practices. Artists surveyed include Peggy Ahwesh, Cosima Von Bonin, Nayland Blake, Paul Chan, Henry Darger, Adrian Howells, Juliana Huxtable, Larry Johnson, Mike Kelley, Dean Kenning, Wyndham Lewis, Jeff Koons, Sean-Kierre Lyons, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Tala Madani, Annette Messager, Mariko Mori, Charlemagne Palestine, Mika Rottenberg, Allen Ruppersberg, Jack Smith, Carolee Schneeman, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Yoshitomo Nara Writers include Sasha Archibald, Roland Barthes, Leigh Claire La Berge, Ian Bogost, Lauren Berlant, Jennifer Doyle, Lee Edelman, Stephen Jay Gould, Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, Bridget Minamore, Juliane Rebentisch, Frances Richard, John Roberts, Friedrich Schiller, Peter Schjeldahl, Kanako Shiokawa

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. This anthology explores the ethical, aesthetic and political significance of practices, positions and theories connected to health in contemporary art.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. A timely and engaging set of writings for those wanting to critically reflect and build upon the relationships between science fiction and contemporary art.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. An essential collection of texts reflecting on the cultural and political complexities of translation in global contemporary artistic practices.

Examines and contextualizes a critical turn towards ethics in contemporary art across the world.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. Explores the processes and techniques which function within the field of contemporary art yet challenge its boundaries and even its existence.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. Contextualises a recent focus on the subject of work in art, addressing work's meaning both within art and in its wider economic and social context.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art.

This volume is the first sourcebook to provide, through original critical writings and artists' statements, a genealogy of sonic pathways into the arts; philosophical reflections on the meanings of noise and silence; dialogues between art and music; investigations of the role of listening and acoustic space; and a comprehensive survey of sound work

This anthology establishes failure as a core concern in contemporary cultural production.

Part of the acclaimed series of anthologies which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. Contextualizes the impact of the artist's magazine as an alternative medium and critical space from the early avant-gardes to the present.