Proximate Difference in Aesthetics: Jacques Derrida and Institutional Critique

Jacques Derrida and Institutional Critique explore interconnections between Derrida's texts and works related to Institutional Critique, revealing shared investments in questions about the archive, institutional frames for art, and the collision of aesthetics, economics, and the law. These juxtapositions lead to insights into the relevance of Derrida's work to contemporary aesthetics and how Institutional Critique offers a way of thinking through issues raised by Derrida's texts. By being against traditional aesthetics, Derrida and the artists under consideration create productive frictions that expose the foundational fictions and premises of their respective fields and offer an alternative means of approaching philosophy, art, and aesthetics.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 12 September 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Proximate Difference in Aesthetics: Jacques Derrida and Institutional Critique explores the interconnections between the writings of Jacques Derrida and works associated with Institutional Critique in art. At a point of intersection between philosophy and art, texts by Derrida such as "Différance," "Parergon," "Economimesis," and "Force of Law," as well as works by Marcel Broodthaers, Michael Asher, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Fred Wilson, Louise Lawler, Andrea Fraser, Maria Eichhorn, and Cameron Rowland, reveal shared interests in questions surrounding the archive, the institutional frameworks for art, and the collision of aesthetics, economics, and the law. These juxtapositions yield insights not only into the relevance of Derrida's work to contemporary aesthetics but also into how the approaches of Institutional Critique offer a means of thinking through the issues raised by Derrida's texts. By challenging traditional aesthetics, Derrida and the artists under consideration engage with the foundational assumptions of the institutions of philosophy, aesthetics, and art, generating productive tensions that expose not only the foundational fictions and premises of their respective fields but also an alternative approach to philosophy, art, and aesthetics. The subtle distinctions that Derrida and these artists establish through their practice fundamentally reshape ways of thinking about their respective institutions, fields, and traditions.

Weight: 558g
Dimension: 239 x 157 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793624628