The Emancipated Spectator

The role of the viewer in art and film theory revolves around a theatrical concept of the spectacle. The masses subjected to the society of spectacle have traditionally been seen as aesthetically and politically passive—in response, both artists and thinkers have sought to transform the spectator into an active agent and the spectacle into a performance.

In this follow-up to the acclaimed The Future of the Image, Rancière takes a radically different approach to this attempted emancipation. Beginning by asking exactly what we mean by political art or the politics of art, he goes on to look at what the tradition of critical art, and the desire to insert art into life, has achieved. Has the militant critique of the consumption of images and commodities become, instead, a melancholic affirmation of their omnipotence?

“His art lies in the rigor of his argument—its careful, precise unfolding —and at the same time not treating his reader, whether university professor or unemployed actress, as an imbecile.” — Kristin Ross

“It’s clear that Jacques Rancière is relighting the flame that was extinguished for many—that is why he serves as such a signal reference today.” — Thomas Hirschhorn

“In the face of impossible attempts to proceed with progressive ideas within the terms of postmodernist discourse, Rancière shows a way out of the malaise.” — Liam Gillick

Jacques Rancière is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII. His books include The Future of the Image, Hatred of Democracy and On the Shores of Politics (all from Verso), The Politics of Aesthetics, Short Voyages to the Land of the People and The Nights of Labor.