Realism Materialism Art

Copublished with Bard College s Center for Curatorial Studies, Realism Materialism Art (RMA) introduces a diverse selection of new realist and materialist philosophies and examines their ramifications on the arts. Thirty-five essays cutting across thematic interests and modes of investigation offer a snapshot of an emerging and rapidly changing set of ideas and practices in art, philosophy, culture, theory and science, among other fields. RMA serves as a primer on speculative realism, neo-materialist theories, object-oriented ontologies and neo-rationalist philosophies. Despite their differences, these philosophical positions propose that thought can and does think outside itself, that reality can be known without its being shaped by and for human comprehension. They explicitly challenge dominant assumptions of cultural practice and theoretical inquiry and open up new domains of research and artistic inquiry. Also included is a collection of images curated by Jenny Jaskey and Alicia Ritson.