► Why is art made? How is it enjoyed? What is its social function? What is the logic and purpose of its public funding? What is avant-garde art? What is critical art? Does art have any real social significance, and should it even be expected to have a social impact? Artistic research has become its own field of academic study in recent years, but what exactly is it? What, moreover, is art’s relationship to knowledge, philosophy, politics, death, climate change and posthumanism?
This anthology of essays by Teemu Mäki reflects on basic questions concerning the production and enjoyment of art from both an individual and social perspective. Mäki writes in-depth, but comprehensibly and accessibly based on his experience as a creator, theoretician and consumer of art. This book is equally suited to professionals working in the field of art production, philosophy, education and policy as well as the wider public and all art consumers.
Originally published in 2017, this popular volume is now being republished in an updated, expanded third edition comprising wholly new material.
Teemu Mäki (b. 1967, PhD, Fine Arts, 2005) is a multi-faceted artist and theoretician. This publication draws on his extensive experience as a writer, visual artist, director (film/opera/dance/theatre), teacher, researcher and cultural influencer. Mäki has worked as a freelance artist since 1990, excluding his 2008-2013 professorship in fine arts at Aalto University. He has chaired the Artists’ Association of Finland since 2018, and as of 2022 he has also chaired the International Association of Art (IAA) Europe, the transnational umbrella organization of European (visual) artist associations.