ON THINGS AS IDEAS

Robert Stadler & Alexis Vaillant (Eds.)

Man’s rich relationship with material things is the focus of this smart collection of more than thirty texts published between 1790 and the present. Conceived in response to the gradual breakdown of the divide between art and design that began over a century ago, this excellent reader sheds light on the many ways the concept of “thing as idea“ has been considered over time. Essays by artists and theorists are included next to exerpts from texts by Benjamin, Freud, Hegel, Heidegger and Kant exploring how things interact with materials, structures, and production processes, while also registering intangible qualities of the material world. The choice of texts assembled here was influenced by the philosophies and theories that shaped two exhibitions, Quiz and Quiz 2 at the Galerie Poirel, Nancy (2014) and Mudam Luxembourg (2016) where unrecognizable things from the worlds of art and design were shown in the form of a quiz. Contributions by Carl Andre, Charles Baudelaire, Barbara Bloemink, Jan Boelen, Louise Bourgeois, Sheldon Cheney and Martha Candler Cheney, Alex Coles, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Hal Foster, Dan Graham, Isabelle Graw, Sebastian Hackenschmidt and Dietmar Rübel, Graham Harman, Dave Hickey, Matthew Higgs, Donald Judd, Frederick J. Kiesler, Sven Lütticken, Alessandro Mendini, W. J. T. Mitchell, Jasper Morrison, Bruno Munari, Robert Nickas, Alice Rawsthorn, Jeff Rian, Richard Rinehart and Anthony Vidler.

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