Kazimir Malevich: Bog ne skinut. Iskusstvo, tserkov’, fabrika (1922) [Russian]

“Through transforming the world I move towards my own transformation and, perhaps, in the last day of my conversion I will transform into a new form leaving my current image in the fading green animal kingdom… And the most economical is a square..”

God Is Not Cast Down: Art, Church, Factory [Бог не скинут: искусство, церковь, фабрика], a pamphlet written in 1920 during Malevich’s days as director of the Vitebsk Academy. The artist attempts to summarize his philosophy of art. For Malevich, this is an exercise just as important, or even more important, than painting. The resulting collection of theses provides for difficult but thought-provoking reading. Published in 2000 copies.

Publisher Unovis, Vitebsk, 1922
43 pages

Malevich on Monoskop wiki
google books

PDF (updated on 2012-11-19)

Isabelle Stengers: Power and Invention: Situating Science (1997)

Explores the interplay between science, society, and power.

One of the most penetrating and celebrated thinkers writing about the philosophy of science today, Isabelle Stengers here provides a firsthand account of the meeting of science and history. Concerned with the force and inventiveness of scientific theories, this work offers a unique perspective on the power of those theories to modify society, and vice versa.

Foreword by Bruno Latour
Translated by Paul Bains
Publisher University of Minnesota Press, 1997
Theory Out Of Bounds – Volume 10
ISBN 0816625174, 9780816625178
249 pages

publisher
google books

PDF (updated on 2012-7-17)

Amanda Taub (ed.): Beyond Kony2012: Atrocity, Awareness, & Activism in the Internet Age (2012)

This book is for those who know a little about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, and want to know more.

Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 has become the most viral video ever. Concerned citizens around the world, from middle school students to celebrities like Oprah and Justin Bieber, watched the film and shared it with their friends. It has now been viewed more than 87 million times.

That success was soon met by a critical backlash. Critics nearly as varied as the campaign’s supporters pointed out that Invisible Children was offering an oversimplified, even misleading narrative. They faulted the campaign for failing to provide a context for the LRA conflict, and pointed out that the video portrayed Africans as either helpless victims, or heartless killers.

This book is both a collection of that criticism, and a constructive response to it. The authors each wrote a short essay offering information that they felt was missing from the video, or explaining how they thought the campaign could be improved.

The first several chapters provide historical and political context. Adam Branch, Daniel Kalinaki, and Ayesha Nibbe explain the roots of the conflict, and how it has persisted for so many years. Alex Little and Patrick Wegner discuss various attempts to end the conflict through peace negotiations, ICC arrest warrants, and military operations, and why they have not been successful.

Later chapters consider the ethics and effectiveness of awareness campaigns like Kony 2012. Glenna Gordon and Jina Moore draw on their experiences as journalists to critique the video’s portrayal of Africa and the people who live there. Rebecca Hamilton, Laura Seay, Kate Cronin-Furman, and Amanda Taub examine the weakness of “awareness” advocacy. Alanna Shaikh explains the ethical dangers of bad aid work. Teddy Ruge offers a different view of Africa, as a place of dynamic innovation instead of violence and helplessness. And youth activist Sam Menefee-Libey describes his frustration with the tone and substance of the campaign meant to target his generation.

With contributions by Adam Branch, Daniel Kalinaki, Ayesha Nibbe, Alex Little, Patrick Wegner, Jina Moore, Glenna Gordon, Rebecca Hamilton, Laura Seay, Alanna Shaikh, Kate Cronin-Furman and Amanda Taub, TMS Ruge, Sam Menefee-Libey

Self-published on Leanpub, April 2012
159 pages

authors

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