Anteaesthetics: Black Aesthesis and the Critique of Form

Rizvana Bradley's book "Anteaesthetics" argues that blackness cannot be represented in modernity's aesthetic regime but is nevertheless foundational to every representation. It problematizes the phenomenological and ontological conceits that underwrite the visual, sensual, and abstract logics of modernity and inaugurates a new method for interpretation. Bradley explores artistic practices that inhabit the negative underside of form, drawing from black critical theory, Continental philosophy, film and media studies, art history, and black feminist thought.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 406 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

In Anteaesthetics, Rizvana Bradley takes a bold stance by asserting that blackness cannot be fully represented within the confines of modernity's aesthetic regime. However, she argues that blackness is nonetheless essential to all forms of representation. Challenging the notion that the aesthetic realm is immune to the antiblack terror that lurks just beyond its boundaries, Bradley insists that blackness cannot find a place within the aesthetic itself, yet it serves as a threshold and aporia. The book delves into the phenomenological and ontological assumptions that underpin the visual, sensual, and abstract logics of modernity.

Bradley's exploration spans various historical periods, geographical locations, artistic mediums, and forms, ranging from nineteenth-century painting and early cinema to contemporary text-based works, video installations, and digital art by artists such as Glenn Ligon, Mickalene Thomas, and Sondra Perry. Through this diverse range of artistic expressions, Bradley inaugurates a new method of interpretation—anteformalism—which demonstrates how black art engages in a recursive deconstruction of the aesthetic forms that continue to shape modernity.

One of the central themes of Anteaesthetics is the foregrounding of the negativity associated with black art. Bradley argues that each of these artists reveals the racialized contours of the body, form, and medium, even questioning the very form of the world itself. By drawing from black critical theory, Continental philosophy, film and media studies, art history, and black feminist thought, Bradley explores artistic practices that inhabit the negative underside of form.

Through her meticulous analysis, Bradley challenges us to think philosophically with black art and with the philosophical invention that black art necessarily undertakes. Anteaesthetics invites us to engage in a profound exploration of the complexities and contradictions of our contemporary world, as seen through the lens of blackness. It is a testament to Bradley's intellectual rigor and her commitment to expanding the boundaries of artistic and philosophical inquiry.

Weight: 558g
Dimension: 152 x 230 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503637139