The New Philistines (Provocations)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (772 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1785901273 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-02-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The New Philistines takes readers deep inside a cultural scene where all manner of ugly, inept art is celebrated so long as it toes the ideological line, and where the glories of the Western canon are revised and disfigured to fit the rigid doctrines of identity politics. Contemporary art is obsessed with the politics of identity. Mystery, individuality and beauty are out; radical feminism, racial grievance and queer theory are in. The result is a drearily predictable culture and the narrowing of the space for creative self-expression and honest criticism, the things that draw most people to art in the first place.Sohrab Ahmari's book is a passionate cri de coeur against this state of affairs. Visit any contemporary gallery, museum or theatre, and chances are the art on offer will be principally concerned with race, gender, sexuality, power and privilege.The quest for truth, freedom and the sacred has been thrust aside to make room for identity politics. Pop culture is under assault, too: compliance with identity politics is the m
The artsy-fartsy emperor has no clothes! Great language, especially in comparison to the gibberish of the artsy folks' talk the author is quoting to make his point. Modern art has lost meaning for him, he sees no beauty. Art, and the ex-bourgeois artists and their sycophants have become messengers or even missionaries for the improvement of the marginalized (real or imagined). The art objects, so the author, are full of message, and bare of beauty, worse than under the socialistic governments art industry.Some 20 years ago I overheard a museum tour guide pointing at a completely white, about two by three meter size paintin. ""The Olympics of Identity Politics" LOL" according to Cryo Dunce. Short. A bit too focused on just a few individual "Gauchistes". By invoking their names constantly the author probably gives them more ink than they deserve. But he's right about the problem. The vital importance of the "establishment" as a group devoutly to be raged against. The present-day bourgeoisie, who have imbibed the dregs of Foucault, infused in a Starbucks six-dollar latte. The hilarious consequences of "intersectionality"; that is, of competing identity status (who wins, the book asks: a lesbian college professor or a student of color from a former colony?) And of course . "The spiritual discernment of the author is obvious, as" according to Beau Tox. The spiritual discernment of the author is obvious, as is his derision of that modern cult of identity politics. His 'scientific method' of attending the various showcases and art openings might be considered wickedly provocative. The book, however, is not much more than a long essay on his subject, and doesn't even approach the completeness of rigor which we would require of an academic thesis. The 'thesis' could examine all of the arts in the same way, beyond just the plastic and performance varieties. I give it a 'The spiritual discernment of the author is obvious, as Beau Tox The spiritual discernment of the author is obvious, as is his derision of that modern cult of identity politics. His 'scientific method' of attending the various showcases and art openings might be considered wickedly provocative. The book, however, is not much more than a long essay on his subject, and doesn't even approach the completeness of rigor which we would require of an academic thesis. The 'thesis' could examine all of the arts in the same way, beyond just the plastic and performance varieties. I give it a '4' instead of a '5' because it was just too durn short.. ' instead of a '5' because it was just too durn short.
"Sohrab Ahmari's polemic against the contemporary art world is angry, witty, uncompromising, and utterly unanswerable Tremendously entertaining and thought-provoking." - Andrew Roberts, Commentary; "An elegant and necessary salvo in a new culture war." - Quillette; "An ambitious new series that tackles the controversy of the topics explored with a mixture of intelligence and forthright argument from some excellent writers." The Observer; "This short book is reminiscent of pre-novelist Tom Wolfe books like The Painted Word and From Bauhaus to Our House, which told amusing but depressing tales about lefty politics making their way into the art world, making both art and politics worse in the process." - National Review
He has testified before the British Parliament and appears regularly on broadcast media on both sides of the Atlantic, including the BBC, Sky News, France 24, Deutsche Welle and the Fox News Channel.. He joined the Journal in New York as an assistant books editor in 2012. Sohrab Ahmari is an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, based in London. Prior to that, he earned a law degree at Northeastern University in Boston, se