Anthropology and Art Practice

Arnd Schneider is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway.Christopher Wright is a lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK where he teaches visual anthropology.

"A major virtue of the book is the way it is possible, given the accessible writing styles and each chapter’s length ... to simply browse through as one might do when reading a set of short stories to seek out one’s own favourite chapter(s), although I found too many favourites to mention them all. - Qualitative Research - Karen Henwood, Cardiff University, UKThis little collection of essays by artists employing a variety of media is magical! It captivates the reader by its reach, but also by its depth, and the reflectiveness of the short essays of which it is comprised. So regardless of whether the objet d’art is a film, a photography series, or a multimedia installation, the thoughtfulness of analysis that the artists reveal in their words is challenging and enthralling ... The third volume in a remarkable series. - Visual Anthropology ReviewThis volume is an exciting contribution to a burgeoning literature on the ways that artists and anthropologists operate in shared spaces ... and is therefore relevant reading for visual artists and cultural anthropologists alike ... Scholars in the art world, contemporary artists, and visual anthropologists would all benefit from reading this text. - Museum Anthropology Review - Elizabeth Derderian, Northwestern University, USThe approaches offered in this volume afford relief from a critical orthodoxy that has insisted on imposing on emergent phenomena theoretical formulations elaborated in response to very different historical conditions and applied with an oppositional certitude that seriously constrains one’s ability to productively navigate the circumstances one wishes to understand. For this reason, above all, this volume makes a very welcome contribution. - Museum Anthropology - Pamela G. Smart, Binghampton University, USThose familiar with the two previous outstanding collections edited by Schneider and Wright, examining the relationships between art and anthropology, will find this addition, making a trilogy, equally indispensable. The distinctive value of this collection is indeed its close examination of 'practice' amid the growing importance of thinking and experiment that blurs the boundaries between anthropological research and artistic intervention. No other work better shows, rather than tells, what 'keywords' like performance, collaboration, participation, installation, and curatorial/ ethnographic method mean in this lively realm of the senses, imagination, and contemporary curating. - George E. Marcus, Director, Center for Ethnography, University of California, IrvineOne of the most promising directions for new research into contemporary art practice can be found in the rapprochement between art history and anthropology, as artists increasingly find themselves working in complex social contexts beyond the confines of galleries and museums. Schneider and Wright's collection provides an invaluable compendium of current research at this important disciplinary intersection. - Grant Kester is Professor of Art History at UCSD, USA and author of 'The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context'"

• Introduction - Arnd Schneider & Christopher WrightAgit-kino: Iteration No.2 - Craig Campbell, University of Texas at Austin, USAEntrada Prohibida (Forbidden Entry) - Juan Orrantia, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa In Conversation with Christopher Wright - Anthony Luvera, Independent Australian Artsist, Writer and Educator based in London, UKTraversing Art Practices and Anthropology: Notes on Ambiguity and Epistemological Uncertainty - Thera Mjaaland, Independent Photographer and Social Anthropologist, NorwaySurgery Lessons - Christina Lammer, University of Applied Arts Vienna, AustriaA Word is Not Always Just a Word, Sometimes It is an Image - Kathryn Ramey, Emerson College, USAOut of Hand: Reflections on Elsewhereness - Robert Willim, Lund University, SwedenOn Collections and Collectivity - Brad Butler & Karen Mirza, Independent Artists and Filmmakers, UKIn Conversation with Christopher Wright - Raul Ortega Ayala, Independent Artist, MexicoIn-between - Jennifer Deger, The Australian National University, AustraliaAn Imaginary Line: Active Pass to IR9 - Kate Hennesey, Simon Fraser University, CanadaDancing in the Abyss - Living with Liminality - Ruth Jones, Artist and Curator based in Wales, UKIn Conversation with Helen Lundbye Petersen - Yvette Brackman, Independent Artist, DenmarkWith(In) Each Other: Sensorial Practices in Recent Audiovisual Work - Laurent Van Lancker, Freie Universitat Berlin, GermanyIn Praise of Slow Motion - Caterina Pasqualino, researcher, CNRS/LAIOS, FranceSky-larks: an Exploration of a Collaboration Between Art, Anthropology and Science - Rupert Cox, University of Manchester, UK & Angus Carlyle, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, UKBibliographyIndex