Design and Crime (And Other Diatribes) [Hardcover]

Hal Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2002

The role of design in a ‘near-perfect circuit of production and consumption.’

In the first half of this book, Hal Foster surveys our new 'political economy of design,' exploring the marketing of culture and the branding of identity, the development of spectacle-architecture and the rise of global cities. In the second half, he examines the historical relations of modern art and the modern museum, the conceptual vicissitudes of art history and visual studies, the recent travails of art criticism, and the double aftermath of modernism and postmodernism. Written in a lively style, Design and Crime offers historical sketches and contemporary test-cases in an attempt to illuminate the conditions for critical culture in the present.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Foster is spot-on … exactly the kind of book the design world should want. (Bookforum )

Design and Crime is cool, measured, and steady, like a Gunsmoke shootout. (Greil Marcus )

In these elegant and incisive essays, Foster argues that in recent years art culture has lost ground to business culture, and become a franchise of the pervasive global marketplace. (Boston Review )

In a polite and even schmoozy art world, Foster stands out for being willing to make barbed comments on design gods. (National Post )

Design and Crime is demanding, angry and gentle—a powerful antidote to cultural ennui. (Modern Painters )

About the Author

Hal Foster is Townsend Martin Professor of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. A co-editor of October magazine and books, he is the editor of The Anti-Aesthetic, and the author of Design and Crime, Recording, The Return of the Real, Compulsive Beauty and The Art-Architecture Complex.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Verso; Text is Free of Markings edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859846688
• ISBN-13: 978-1859846681
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critical, like Criticism should be, April 18, 2007

By 

R. Mclain "double libra" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design and Crime (And Other Diatribes) (Paperback)

Enjoyable, thought-provoking and concise volume from a dignitary of contemporary criticism. Foster nimbly steers clear the of condescension and pretentiousness that can plague high-minded Criticism of this sort, without sacrificing depth of insight and deliberation. Some may welcome the taking-to-task of Gehry, Koolhaas, and Mau - I did! Refreshing to read a critical analysis of the current state of contemporary art and culture that isn't overly prescriptive, dismissive, scathing, or glib and compliant, but is willing to consider that it nevertheless may not be the best of times.

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art can be saved, March 12, 2003

By 

Nadine Granoff (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Design and Crime (And Other Diatribes) (Hardcover)

Illunminating, but probably not for everyone. Foster's modestly-sized book looks like easy reading, but it's not. That's part of its appeal: it's not Recent Art History for Dummies. Nor is it pretentious. Foster does a good job of balancing references to contemporary culture with those to "high" art, and the prosaic with the enchanting. He does a dynamite job of picking out the salient points of Benjamin.