The Interventionists: Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life [Hardcover]

Nato Thompson (Editor), Gregory Sholette (Editor), Joseph Thompson (Foreword), Gregor Sholette (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 026220150X | ISBN-13: 978-0262201506 | Publication Date: September 1, 2006 | Edition: 2nd

Art made to attach to buildings or to be given away? Wearable art for street demonstrations or art that sets up a booth at a trade show? This is the art of the interventionists, who trespass into the everyday world to raise our awareness of injustice and other social problems. These artists don't preach or proselytize; they give us the tools to form our own opinions and create our own political actions. The Interventionists, which accompanies an exhibit at MASS MoCA, serves as a handbook to this new and varied work. It's a user's guide to art that is exciting, provocative, unexpected, inspiring (artistically and politically), and fun. From Michael Rakowitz's inflatable homeless shelter and William Pope.L's "Black Factory" truck with pulverizer, gift shop, and giant inflatable igloo to the Biotic Baking Brigade's political pie-throwing, the art of The Interventionists surveys a growing genre and offers a guide for radical social action.The book classifies the artists according to their choice of tactics: the Nomads, who create mobile projects; Reclaim the Streets, artists who act in public places; Tools for Resistance: Ready to Wear, artists who produce fashion for political action; and the Experimental University, artists whose work engages pedagogy and theory. The accompanying text includes essays by noted scholars putting the work in a broader cultural and social context as well as texts by the artists themselves.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Sholette is an artist, writer, cofounder of REPOhistory artists' collective and Batza Family Chair of Art and Art History at Colgate University.

Nato Thompson is Associate Curator at MASS MoCA and curator of the MASS MoCA exhibition Becoming Animal. He is the editor of The Interventionists (MIT Press, 2004) and was curator of the MASS MoCA exhibit it accompanied.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: MASS MoCA; 2nd edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026220150X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262201506
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Aweeesome Book, March 17, 2011

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Leslie D - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Interventionists: Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life (Hardcover)

I love this book and its perfect for the activist in all of us who want to make a little change happen in a unique way. The books mentions several projects, artist, collaborators, etc. I use it as a reference in my classes. It's not really what I would call a manual with step by step instructions, but it does show you the creativity that is possible if you think outside the art world box. There is no way you would be unhappy if you bought this book. I love it.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Interventionists: Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life, February 12, 2009

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H. WEBER "h weber" (normal, il USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Interventionists: Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life (Hardcover)

I received it by the deadline specified via Amazon and the Seller. The condition was exactly how the Seller said it would be -- brand new, complete with the plastic seal/covering. It is a wonderful book; very interesting, great ideas that were put into action by different artists. I bought this book for a class (I am a college student) and it may end up being one of the most unique/off-the-wall coffee table books that I own.