“Disassembled” Images

The canonical legacy of Allan Sekula in contemporary visual art

“Disassembled” Images takes as a point of departure Allan Sekula’s productive approach of disassembling elements in order to reassemble them in alternative constellations. Some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as human labor in a globalized economy or the claim for radical democracy, are recurrent themes in Sekula’s oeuvre and are investigated by a wide range of experts in this book. Addressing a variety of artworks, both by Sekula and other artists, the collected essays focus on three crucial aspects within recent politically engaged art: collecting as a tool for representing folly and madness, the confrontation of the maritime space of ecological disasters and geopolitical processes with alternative models of solidarity, and what Sekula named “critical realism” as a reflective method in search of new social agencies and creative freedom. A text–image portfolio by Marco Poloni completes this profound reflection on Sekula’s influential legacy within contemporary visual art.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

ContributorsAnthony Abiragi (University of Colorado), Barbara Baert (KU Leuven), Edwin Carels (School of Arts KASK/HoGent/M HKA), Ronnie Close (American University in Cairo), Bart De Baere (M HKA), Stefanie Diekmann (Hildesheim University), Carles Guerra (Fundació Antoni Tàpies), Clara Masnatta (ICI Berlin), W. J. T. Mitchell (University of Chicago), Marco Poloni (Berlin), Anja Isabel Schneider (KU Leuven/ M HKA), Stephanie Schwartz (University College London), Jonathan Stafford (Nottingham Trent University), Alexander Streitberger (UC Louvain), Hilde Van Gelder (KU Leuven), Benjamin Young (Parsons School of Design)

Assistant editorFederica Mantoan

"“Disassembled” Images" was edited by Alexander Streitberger and Hilde Van Gelder.

Alexander Streitberger is professor of art history at UCLouvain.

Hilde Van Gelder is professor of art history at KU Leuven.

Yes, "“Disassembled” Images" is part of the "Lieven Gevaert Series" series. It's book 27 in the series.

Acknowledgements
Alexander Streitberger and Hilde Van Gelder, Introduction W.J.T. Mitchell, Planetary Madness: Globalizing the Ship of Fools
Part 1. Collecting Folly Bart De Baere and Anja Isabel Schneider, Allan Sekula: TheDouble Helix of an Activist Stance and of Curating Stefanie Diekmann, The Stuff in the Studio: On Chris Larson’sLand Speed Record (2016) Ronnie Close, Reframing the Aesthetics of Censorship Edwin Carels, An Archive of Intensities: Vava’s Video Barbara Baert, Mining Allan Sekula: Four Exercises
Part 2. Maritime Failures and Imaginaries Marco Poloni, The Land Seen by the Sea Clara Masnatta, Senses at Sea: For an Amphibian Cinema Jonathan Stafford, Breaking Open the Container: The LogisticalImage and the Specter of Maritime Labor Carles Guerra and Hilde Van Gelder, “Do not Trespass.”An Interview Conversation on the Genesis of Allan Sekula’s BlackTide/Marea negra (2002–03)
Part 3. Critical Realism in Dialogue Alexander Streitberger, “Cultural work as a Praxis.”The Artist as Producer in the Work of Victor Burgin, Martha Rosler,and Allan Sekula Stephanie Schwartz, The Face of Protest Anthony Abiragi, Reading Against the Grain: Allan Sekula and theRhetoric of Exemplarity Benjamin J. Young, “Decolonize This Place”: Realism andHumanism in Photography of Israel-Palestine
About the Authors A Note on Allan Sekula’s Life A Note on Allan Sekula’s Works Discussed in the Present Volume
Plates