Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

What's new in the second edition of Stiles and Selz, revised by Kristine Stiles. While the first edition would be best used for a class covering art to 1970, the second edition can be used for a class covering up to the present day. It is more global (i.e., less centered on the U.S.).

The book is an astounding effort, the only one of its kind, a worthy successor to Herschel Chipp's Theories of Modern Art, and a steal at the asking price. It can be profitably browsed in conjunction with related books such as Art in Theory 1900-2000 (Harrison et al); Art Since 1900 (Foster et al); Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985 (Kocur and Leung); and Contemporary Art 1989 to the Present (Dumbadze and Hudson).

Section 1, "Gestural Abstraction," includes several new texts by (mostly) women artists:
* Pat Steir, "Interview with Barbara Weidle"
* Joan Snyder, "Statements"
* Elizabeth Murray, "Statement"
* David Reed, "Statement"
* Fiona Rae, "Interview with Simon Wallis"
* Julie Mehretu, "Interview with Lawrence Chua"

Section 2, "Geometric Abstraction," adds texts from Latin America, the European postwar neo-avant-garde, and contemporary artists:
* Boris Mikhailov, "From the Series 'On the Color Backgrounds'"
* Gyula Kosice, "Madi Manifesto"
* Grupo Ruptura, "The Ruptura Manifesto"
* Ferrera Gullar et al., "Neo-Concrete Manifesto"
* Lygia Clark, "The Death of the Plane"
* Hélio Oiticica, "Colour, Time and Structure"
* Piero Manzoni, "For the Discovery of a Zone of Images"
* Yves Klein, "Ritual for the Relinquishment of the Immaterial Pictorial Sensitivity Zones"
* Yayoi Kusama, "Interview by Grady Turner"
* Sean Scully, "Statement"
* Anish Kapoor, "Interview with John Tusa"
* Odili Donald Odita, "Third Color--Third Space"

Section 3, "Figuration," adds texts by Barkley L. Hendricks, Mark Tansey, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sherman Fleming, Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge, Luc Tuymans, Shahzia Sikander, Jenny Saville, Catherine Opie, Wangechi Mutu, Takashi Murakami, and M. F. Husain.

Section 4, "Material Culture and Everyday Life," has more African-American and global material, among other things. There are new texts by Komar and Melamid, Annette Messager, Charlemagne Palestine, Mike Kelley, David Hammons, Kara Walker, Kim Jones, Dinh Q. Lê, Enrique Chagoya, Chéri Samba, Blek Le Rat, Banksy, Maurizio Cattelan, and Damien Hirst.

Section 5, "Art and Technology," has more video, cyborg and biotech material, with new texts from Woody Vasulka, Douglas Davis, Gary Hill, Tony Oursler, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Pipilotti Rist, Gillian Wearing, Anri Sala, Shirin Neshat, Stan Douglas, Maurice Benayoun, Jordan Crandall, Stelarc, Eduardo Kac, and Orlan.

Section 6, "Installations, Environments, and Sites" has new texts from the post-1980s generation of international artists and others, including Ilya Kabakov, Dan Perjovschi, Alfredo Jaar, Doris Salcedo, Yinka Shonibare, Nicholas Hlobo, Mona Hatoum, Gabriel Orozco, Fred Wilson, Rachel Whiteread, Andrea Zittel, and Pierre Huyghe.

Section 7, "Process," has new texts from Bonnie Ora Sherk, Teresa Murak, Patrick Dougherty, Olafur Eliasson, Cai Guo-Qiang, Jeff Wall, Jolene Rickard, Susan Hillar, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Section 8, "Performance Art," is more global and multicultural, with new texts from Rasheed Araeen, Mike Parr, Joan Jonas, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Martha Wilson, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Coco Fusco, Katarzyna Kozyra, Jimmie Durham, William Pope.L, Ron Athey, Regina José Galindo, Zhang Huan, Matthew Barney, and Oleg Kulik.

Section 9, "Language and Concepts," has texts from Bernd and Hilla Becher, Cildo Meireles, Carrie Mae Weems, Francis Alÿs, Xu Bing, AA Bronson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Neue Slowenische Kunst, Walid Raad, Critical Art Ensemble, Arakawa and Madeline Gins, and Ai Weiwei.

Though it is a really thick book, it was worth it. I love reading the thoughts and reasons behind some of the work from the artists.

This book is a great resource for curious artists and non-artists alike. It's got so many great ideas and concepts presented in the chapter prefaces, while it doesn't go into a great deal of depth on each one, it is ample for general study and a great starting point for organization of an in depth personal study plan.

The interviews and artist writings are compelling and enlightening. I haven't read through the entire book yet, but find myself anxious to get back to it after having set it down.

The only thing that could've made it any better would be to have color reproductions of genre examples and each artist's work. It's helpful and enjoyable to link the concepts and ideas presented to the work.

Overall, great book! Glad I purchased the hardcover as I know I'll be hanging on to this one for years to come.