The beauty of a social problem : photography, autonomy, economy

253 Pages·2015·2.365 MB·English

by  Michaels, Walter Benn

The Beauty of a Social Problem

The
Beauty
of a
Social
Photography,
Problem
Autonomy,
Economy
Walter
Benn
Michaels
The University of
Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Walter Benn Michaels is professor of English at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 21026- 1 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 21043- 8 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226210438.001.0001
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015936984
o This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper).
For Ruth Leys
and Michael Fried

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
1 Formal Feelings 1
2 Neoliberal Aesthetics 43
3 The Experience of Meaning 71
4 The Art of Inequality:
Then and Now 105
5 Never Again, or Nevermore 153
Acknowledgments 173
Notes 177
Index 217

Illustrations
illustrations
illustrations
Plates (following page 98)
1 Jeff Wall, Mimic (1982)
2 Viktoria Binschtok, Wand I (2006)
3 Viktoria Binschtok, Das große Medieninteresse (2008)
4 Phil Chang, Two Sheets of Thick Paper on Top of Two Sheets of Thin
Paper (2010)
5 Phil Chang, Monochrome. Exposed (2011)
6 Arthur Ou, View 1 (2008)
7 Brian Ulrich, Circuit City, Ponderosa Steakhouse (2008)
8 Amanda Gordon, “Liz Deschenes’s photograms reflect the
crowd” (2012)
Figures
1 Viktoria Binschtok, Spektakel (2008) 65
2 Frank Eugene, The Horse (ca. 1890) 86
3 Arthur Ou, Earthworks 1 (2007) 87
4 Arthur Ou, Untitled [Screen Test] 1 (2006) 89
5 Arthur Ou, On Every New Thing There Lies Already the Shadow of
Annihilation (2006) 91
6 Brian Ulrich, Montgomery Ward Door Pulls (2011) 92
7 Arthur Ou, Test Screen 2 (2011) 96
8 Brian Ulrich, Retail 15, Chicago, Illinois (2002) 106
9 Brian Ulrich, Randall Park Mall (2008) 107