Third Text

Rasheed Araeen

The crisis of art today is that of its reduction to picture or object-making for the global spectacle of fetishism. Art is now going round in circles – like a dog chasing its own tail – generating tremendous energy but only to maintain the dynamics of the art market which deals in precious commodities while the world is facing environmental catastrophe. In this pioneering work Rasheed Araeen suggests a uniquely radical way of dealing with this crisis: he offers a body of concepts whose dynamics and vision will not only steer art back on its historical course but also intervene in the world at large to resolve the problems of climate change.

Published in 2010
ISBN 10 0947753109 Hardback
ISBN 13 9780947753108 Paperback

About the Author: Rasheed Araeen is an artist, writer and founding editor of Third Text. As an artist, he began his journey in 1953, while also studying civil engineering. In 1964 he left for Europe and has since lived in London. In the late 1960s and 1970s he became active in various groups supporting liberation struggles, democracy and human rights, which led him to write ‘A Black Manifesto’; and then to found the journals Black Phoenix (1978), Third Text (1987) and Third Text Asia (2008).

Art Beyond Art - Ecoaesthetics: A Manifesto for the 21st Century can be purchased from Central Books