THE ART THEORY OF BARBARA HERRNSTEIN SMITH

-- Edward Tufte, October 26, 2006

Response to Art theory cartoons: theorists speak out

The second caption could also read -

"When you put your ear to it, it sounds like an art theorist talking."

-- Andrew Nicholls (email), October 26, 2006

Artoons:Sources of ridiculous art theory quotations

For the artoon Art Theory: Joseph Kosuth, the quotation is from Joseph Kosuth,
"Art After Philosophy,"Studio International (October, 1969) and here.

In about half the sentences in Kosuth's essay, if the word not is appropriately placed
near the main verb so as to reverse its meaning, the revised sentence is approximately
as plausible as the original sentence. Indeed, for some sentences, the sentence and its
negation are both false or without meaning.

For the photocartoon Art Theory: Barbara Herrnstein Smith, the quotation is
from Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Contingencies of Value: Alternative Perspectives for
Critical Theory (Cambridge, 1988), 34; as quoted in David Lehman, Signs of
Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man (New York, 1991), 25.

-- Edward Tufte, October 28, 2006

-- Edward Tufte, October 30, 2006

What we talk about when we talk about art

A good essay by Roberta Smith:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/arts/design/23smit.html?ref=design

-- Edward Tufte, January 9, 2008