Abstract

In this provocative book, Kariel offers a pessimistic meditation on the postmodern art and aesthetics that have emerged in reaction to the oppressive structures of our society and that represent, he feels, a desperate effort to revive that which is deadened by technology and instrumentalism. Kariel identifies a pragmatic aesthetics that links playful activities in all domains, arguing that only by fusing spontaneous and instrument action and by continually deconstructing, reviewing, and regrouping our centering sources can we defuse the oppressive elements of our modern cultural landscape.