Collaborations maps the history and theory of collective art-making from the avant-garde experiments of the 1960s and 1970s through to contemporary conceptual and sociological practice, tracing how shared authorship has functioned as both artistic method and social proposition.
About This Book
What does it mean to make work together — and what does that act of making together demand of the social structures that surround it? Collaborations addresses these questions by examining collective authorship across decades and disciplines, drawing on avant-garde movements as well as conceptual art and sociological thinking. The book moves beyond formal art-historical survey to interrogate how collaborative models might operate at a broader social level — a particularly urgent question as the foundational structures of shared life continue to dissolve. With a roster of artists spanning Fluxus, Viennese Actionism, performance, and institutional critique, it is essential reading for anyone engaged with art theory, curatorial practice, or the politics of creative labour.
Key Features
- 248 pages of critical texts, documentation, and artist case studies spanning collective and collaborative art practice
- Artists include: Art & Language, Marina Abramovic & Ulay, Anna & Bernhard Johannes Blume, George Brecht, Phil Collins, Die Damen, Robert Filliou, Rimma & Valeriy Gerlovin, Gilbert & George, Richard Hamilton & Dieter Roth, Haus-Rucker-Co, Irwin, On Kawara, Alison Knowles, Louise Lawler, Lucy R. Lippard, George Maciunas, Ree Morton, Yoko Ono, Stephen Prina, Daniel Spoerri, Franz Erhard Walther, and Wiener Gruppe
- Published by Walther König, ISBN 9783753302621
What You'll Discover
- How avant-garde movements of the 1960s and 1970s — from Fluxus to Viennese Actionism — established collective authorship as a radical challenge to the myth of the individual artist
- The tension between collaborative art practice and the dissolving social structures that once made sustained collective work possible
- How artists across performance, conceptual art, and institutional critique have used collaboration as both process and subject — from Abramovic & Ulay's durational works to Gilbert & George's total self-identification as living sculpture
- The relationship between conceptual and sociological approaches to art-making, and what each demands from participants, institutions, and audiences
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 248
- Dimensions: 240 × 170 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783753302621
- Publisher: Walther König
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Art theorists, curators, and practitioners interested in collective authorship, the politics of creative labour, and the social dimensions of avant-garde and conceptual art.