Artist at Work: Proximity of Art and Capitalism Bojana Kunst Zero Books c/o John Hunt Publishing, Ltd. Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK www.johnhuntpublishing.com PR: [email protected] 9781785350009, $25.95, 241pp, www.amazon.com Synopsis: The main affirmation of artistic practice must today happen through thinking about the conditions and the status of the artist's work. Only then can it be revealed that what is a part of the speculations of capital is not art itself, but mostly artistic life. In "Artist at Work: Proximity of Art and Capitalism", philosopher, dramaturg and performance theoretician Bojana Kunst (a professor at the Institute for Applied Theater Studies in Justus Liebig University, Giessen, where she is leading an international master program in Choreography and Performance) deftly examines the recent changes in the labor of an artist and then addresses them from the perspective of performance. Critique: As informed and informative as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, "Artist at Work: Proximity of Art and Capitalism" is exceptionally well written and will prove to be of immense interest to both scholars and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the role and condition of the artist in a capitalist society. A work of impeccable scholarship, "Artist at Work" is very highly recommended for professional, community, and academic library collections. For personal reading lists it should be noted that "Artist at Work" is also available in a Kindle edition ($13.59). Mary Cowper Reviewer ~ Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review

"This critically coruscating exposure of what it means to have come 'after the event' yet always prepared to work on contemporary art's implications, is everything one might have hoped from one of Europe's most incisive performance writers. Like all treasures it shines with the brilliance of a wholly unexpected economy." ~ Alan Read, Professor of Theatre, Director Performance Foundation, King's College London

"Bojana Kunst, one of the most compelling writers today, has produced a book that will inform the critical discourse on art’s political ambitions for years to come. Artist At Work is a vital, searching treatise on the relation between artistic work and artistic labor in the proximity of capitalism. By challenging and scrutinizing the conditions of artistic practice, Kunst re-affirms artistic life with an unflinching determination and a tireless level of expertise, attentiveness and care." ~ Lin Hixson, Professor, Performance, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Director, Every house has a door

"Artist At Work by Bojana Kunst turns the neoliberal perspective upside down and thus has a perfect timing, i.e. in the period of austerity measures. It draws its conclusions mainly from the argument that art no longer ne eds to re-affirm itself as a socially relevant and useful activity because this would lock it with in immanent capitalist and populist production of value. Instead, art has to rediscover its material basis and 'occupy' exactly those abstractions which enable the preservation of the capitalist system and reproduction of capital." ~ Goran Sergej Pristaš, Dramaturg, BADco, Zagreb