Decoys and Disruptions Selected Writings, 1975-2001

by Rosler, Martha

• ISBN13: 9780262681582
• ISBN10: 0262681587
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-17
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Decoys and Disruptionsis the first comprehensive collection of writings by American artist and critic Martha Rosler. Best known for her videos and photography, Rosler has also been an original and influential cultural critic and theorist for over twenty-five years. The writings collected here address such key topics as documentary photography, feminist art, video, government patronage of the arts, censorship, and the future of digitally based photographic media. Taken together, these thirteen essays not only show Rosler's importance as a critic but also offer an essential resource for readers interested in the issues confronting contemporary art. The essays in this collection illustrate Rosler's ongoing investigation into means of exposing truth and provoking change, providing a retrospective of characteristic issues in her work. Mixing analysis and wit, Rosler challenges many of the fundamental precepts of contemporary art practice. Her influential essay "In, around, and afterthoughts: on documentary photography" almost single-handedly dismantled the myth of liberal documentary photography when it appeared. Many of the essays in this volume have had a similarly wide-ranging influence; others are published here for the first time. Illustrating the essays are 81 images by Rosler and other artists and photographers.

Author Biography

Martha Rosler lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She has taught and lectured on photography since the mid-1970s. Her work was the subject of a major retrospective, "Martha Rosler: Positions in the Life World," in 2000. She is the author of 14 books and numerous essays.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Situated in Context
For an Art Against the Mythology of Everyday Life	3	(6)
Lookers, Buyers, Dealers, and Makers: Thoughts on Audience	9	(44)
Video: Shedding the Utopian Moment	53	(36)
Strategies of Production
The Figure of the Artist, the Figure of the Woman	89	(24)
Lee Friedlander, an Exemplary Modern Photographer	113	(20)
Notes on Quotes	133	(18)
Photography as Image and Trace
In, Around, and Afterthoughts (on Documentary Photography)	151	(56)
Post-Documentary, Post-Photography?	207	(38)
Wars and Metaphors	245	(14)
Image Simulations, Computer Manipulations: Some Considerations	259	(62)
Censorship and Power
Theses on Defunding	321	(14)
The Suppression Agenda for Art	335	(14)
Place, Position, Power, Politics	349	(30)
Photo Credits	379	(2)
Index	381