The Contemporary Condition

What do we mean when we say that something is contemporary? And what should the designator contemporary art refer to? What constitutes the present present or the contemporary contemporary? Introductory Thoughts on Contemporaneity and Contemporary Art, the first book in the Contemporary Condition series, introduces key issues concerning contemporaneity as a defining condition of our historical present and calls for a deep rethinking of the structures of temporalization.

Can we speak of composition when we are in a state of decomposition? Art being made today as the world spins into chaos and disorder defies coherent categorization. Revising his well-known histories of contemporary art, Terry Smith argues that visual artists must respond to the compelling need for order and composition during this time of divisive difference. This second volume in the Contemporary Condition series traces how visual artists across the globe are rising to this challenge.

This book contains three interconnected palimpsest essays on the backstory of a meta font updated by Dexter Sinister and used in this book series, a broad history of the rationalization of letterforms that considers the same typeface from a higher point of disinterest, and a proposal for a sundial designed to operate in parallel physi- cal and digital realms. All of the essays contemplate the ambiguous nature of our shared idea of time itself.

In the media theatre of contemporary culture, a drama unfolds: While the human sense of "the present" is challenged by the immediacy of analog signal transmission and the delays of digital data processing, a different (non-)sense of time unfolds within technologies themselves. At that moment, human-related phenomenological analysis clashes with the media-archaeological close reading of the technological event, in an impossible effort to let the temporeal articulate itself. The Contemporary Condition series edited by Geoff Cox and Jacob Lund, Volume 04 Copublished with Aarhus University and ARoS Art Museum

The contemporary moment is comprised of many overlapping speeds, rhythms, and periods of time. A central theme of Jussi Parikka's book concerns slowness instead of acceleration: a different sort of a temporal horizon in order to understand some of the environmental temporalities that media and technological arts are involved in. This is approached through art and design practices that unfold this multiplicity of time, closely entwined with contemporary concerns in aesthetic theory, to understand and engage with the planetary time scales of slow environmental violence. The third volume of the Contemporary Condition series continues the investigation into contemporaneity as a defining condition of our historical present. The series aims to question the formation of subjectivity and concept of temporality in the world now. It begins from the assumption that art, with its ability to investigate the present and make meaning from it, can lead to an understanding of wider developments within culture and society. Addressing a perceived gap in existing literature on the subject, the series focuses on three broad strands: the issue of temporality, the role of contemporary media and computational technologies, and how artistic practice makes epistemic claims. The Contemporary Condition series edited by Geoff Cox and Jacob Lund, Volume 03 Copublished with Aarhus University and ARoS Art Museum

Contemporary Research Intensive was an event organized in the context of the 57th Venice Art Biennale to investigate the concept of "contemporaneity." Gathering together artists/ curators/researchers through an open call, we asked how the temporal complexity that follows from the coming together of different temporalities in the same present could be made known in the context of contemporary art research, and particularly through practices that involve exhibitionary forms. The book is both part and result of the intensive sharing of ideas to produce something that captures the spirit of both discussions at that time and the publication process as a temporal form. Contributors Mara Ambrozic, Anastasia Chaguidouline, Nicola Guastamacchia, Anne Kølbæk Iversen, Camma Juel Jepsen, Johanne Løgstrup, Clarissa Ricci, Camilla Salvaneschi, James Schofield, Trine Friis Sørensen, Sevie Tsampalla, Marianna Tsionki, Andy Weir; with Michael Birchall, Geoff Cox, Joasia Krysa, Jacob Lund, Simon Sheikh, Angela Vettese The Contemporary Condition series edited by Geoff Cox and Jacob Lund, Volume 10 Copublished with Aarhus University and ARoS Art Museum

William Connolly, one of the best-known and most important political theorists writing today, is a principal architect of the “new pluralism.” In this volume, leading thinkers in contemporary political theory and international relations provide a comprehensive investigation of the new pluralism, Connolly’s contributions to it, and its influence on the fields of political theory and international relations. Together they trace the evolution of Connolly’s ideas, illuminating his challenges to the “old,” conventional pluralist theory that dominated American and British political science and sociology in the second half of the twentieth century. The contributors show how Connolly has continually revised his ideas about pluralism to take into account radical changes in global politics, incorporate new theories of cognition, and reflect on the centrality of religion in political conflict. They engage his arguments for an agonistic democracy in which all fundamentalisms become the objects of politicization, so that differences are not just tolerated but are productive of debate and the creative source of a politics of becoming. They also explore the implications of his work, often challenging his views to widen the reach of even his most recently developed theories. Connolly’s new pluralism will provoke all citizens who refuse to subordinate their thinking to the regimes in which they reside, to religious authorities tied to the state, or to corporate interests tied to either. The New Pluralism concludes with an interview with Connolly in which he reflects on the evolution of his ideas and expands on his current work. Contributors: Roland Bleiker, Wendy Brown, David Campbell, William Connolly, James Der Derian, Thomas L. Dumm, Kathy E. Ferguson, Bonnie Honig, George Kateb, Morton Schoolman Michael J. Shapiro, Stephen K. White

Whilst the body has recently assumed greater sociological significance, there has been less engagement in social work and social care on the bodily experience of health, illness and disease. This innovative volume redresses the balance by exploring chronic illness and social work, through the specific lens of autoimmunity, engaging in wider debates around vulnerability, resistance and the lived experience of ongoing ill-health. Moving beyond existing conceptualisations of vulnerability as an issue of mental distress, ageing, child protection and poverty, Price and Walker demonstrate the role that society has to play in actively engaging the physical body, rather than working around and through it. The book focuses on auto-immune conditions such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma. Conditions like these allow for an exploration of the materiality of illness which exacerbates social and economic vulnerability and may precipitate personal and social crises, requiring a variety of interventions and support. The risks and challenges associated with chronic illness include disruptions to a sense of self and identity, altered relationships and the renegotiation of roles and responsibilities in a variety of relationships in addition to an economic impact, with the potential for disruption to employment status and financial insecurity. This text opens up a range of debates around some of the central concerns of the social work profession, including vulnerability, ill-health, and independence. It will be of interest to scholars and students of social work, nursing, disability studies, medicine and the social sciences.