After Art has generated significant scholarly discussion since its publication.
Building on Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the readymade, Joselit explores how modern artists use pre-existing cultural artifacts. The modern remix is about configuration—arranging existing things in a way that generates new power.
The chapter is notable for its engagement with contemporary architecture, which Joselit treats not as an adjunct to art but as a parallel field facing analogous pressures. He examines the work of firms such as OMA, Reiser + Umemoto, and Foreign Office Architects, showing how their designs emerge from “the dynamics of the circulation patterns they will house”. In parametric design, for instance, architectural surfaces adjust in response to information flows, effectively treating the building envelope as a format that processes real-time data. The Yokohama International Port Terminal by Foreign Office Architects becomes a key example: a structure whose form is generated from populations of informational inputs rather than preconceived aesthetic ideals. after art david joselit pdf
on the politics of "Image Justice." Let me know which platform or vibe you're going for! (PDF) Review of After Art by David Joselit (Princeton)
To grasp this transformation, one must understand Joselit's key conceptual framework: The chapter is notable for its engagement with
This refers to the process of changing an image from one format to another. A painting becomes a digital photo becomes a meme becomes a screensaver. Every time an artwork is transcoded, it loses some original information but gains new social meaning. Joselit is fascinated by the "glitch"—the artifacts of translation (low resolution, cropping, filters) become part of the work itself.
Perhaps the most radical claim in After Art is that . Joselit calls this the "Epistemology of Search"—the networked capability of art that makes complex and multivalent links. The Yokohama International Port Terminal by Foreign Office
Joselit references Walter Benjamin's concept of the "aura," which refers to the unique, authentic presence of an artwork. With digital technology, the aura of an artwork can be easily reproduced and disseminated online, challenging the traditional notion of art's uniqueness and value.