Overlooking Damage: Art, Display, and Loss in Times of Crisis

Overlooking Damage explores the relationship between beauty and violence, suggesting that a thoughtful reaction to images of damage can lead to a new reckoning. It examines the ways in which concepts of beauty intersect with periods of epochal violence in an attempt to resist the separation of broken things from the worlds in which they have come to be embedded.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 28 June 2022
Publisher: Stanford University Press

Overlooking Damage delves into the profound relationship between beauty and violence, exploring the intricate connections between these two seemingly opposing forces. From the Roman triumphs to the iconoclasm of ISIS and the Taliban, to the aerial views of looted landscapes and destroyed temples visible on Google, the interplay between these two elements is far more intimate than we often realize. Jonah Siegel makes a daring argument that our response to images of damage need not be limited to melancholy but can lead us to a new reckoning. He suggests that the objects we admire would be more beautiful if they were not injured or displaced, if they did not remind us of the unbearable violence that has shaped our world.

Siegel takes up writers from the time of the French Revolution to the present day who have reacted to the depredations of revolutionary iconoclasm, imperial looting, and industrial capitalism. He proposes that these authors offer valuable resources for navigating our contemporary situation.

Overlooking Damage employs the methods of literary studies to engage with important debates in the study of heritage, archaeology, and visual culture. It reflects on the ways in which concepts of beauty intersect with periods of epochal violence, seeking to resist the separation of broken things from the worlds in which they have come to be embedded.

In conclusion, Overlooking Damage is a thought-provoking book that challenges us to reevaluate our relationship between beauty and violence. It encourages us to look beyond the surface and to consider the deeper implications of the objects we admire and the world we inhabit. By exploring the complex interplay between these two forces, Siegel offers us a way to resist the separation of broken things from the worlds in which they have come to be embedded and to find hope in the face of adversity.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503632158