Art/Commerce

... with Maria Slowinska

1. 1. »Books that the world does not need to read.« Why is your book different?

I think books that encourage readers to question and evaluate their everyday reality by providing unusual perspectives on the culture we live in are always worth reading.

2. What new perspective does your book provide?

The book focuses on particular phenomena but provides a wide perspective. To develop a critical understanding of how art and commerce are converging, it is useful to look at scholarship from different fields, such as art history, marketing, aesthetics, critical theory and economics. It also helps to consider what we see today in the context of major social and cultural developments since WWII, and to concede that such developments aren't always chronological, but rather complexly interrelated.

3. How does your book influence contemporary research within this area of focus?

The book takes a strongly interdisciplinary approach and suggests that the much-criticized convergence of art and commerce is a two-way street. It is not just monetary interests that are making art more commercial and commerce more ›artistic‹. Aesthetic theory and practice are also engaging with commercial reality, actively breaking down traditional boundaries. What this means for the idea of autonomy – in art and more generally – is one of the core issues of contemporary culture.

4. Who would you want discuss your book with?

Readers with a keen observation and a critical mind who like to think about the world we live in and who have an interest in contemporary culture, art, the creative industries, and/or marketing aesthetics. People who think that while our contemporary reality is complex, endlessly layered, and ambiguous, it is still worth peeling away some of these layers to form your own critical opinion about what's going on.

5. Describe your book in one sentence:

Correlated thoughts on how and why art and commerce often look alike today and what this means for art and autonomy in contemporary culture.