Particular Cases

Particular Cases is not a theory about artists and artwork, but a response to art. Philosopher, art critic and media theorist Boris Groy s responds to 20th-century artworks and artists that have pushed his thinking and writing in a new direction. His striking, original and lucid arguments do not look for an artwork’s singular content or message but treat art as a mind-changing practice—as if contemporary artists can inspire a sort of conversion in the soul of the spectator. Focusing on artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, David Fischli/Peter Weiss, Olga Chernysheva and Pawel Althamer, Groys writes about topics ranging from the readymade to (digital) video art and Soviet and post-Soviet artistic practices. A Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NY U and Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany, Groys has authored several books including the e-flux publication Moscow Symposium (2010).