Thomas Hirschhorn (Contemporary Artists)

Rating:
Summary: An Artist and his Critics
Review: The art-critical establishment has planted its flag in Thomas Hirshhorn's tin-foil debris. BHD Buchloh's essay is a barely readable apology for Bolshevism, and during her interview, Alison Gingeras can't elude being a naif through disquotation: "I've heard people making critical comments say, 'Thomas Hirschhorn has not read all the works of Deleuze and Bataille'"(!?!) The interview is truly revelatory, though. Hirschhorn is an actual Spinozist, and so serious that you have to wonder why critics from the Artforum and October crowd dare engage him. His statements are empty of irony; he sounds like a highly-read hyped-up professional athlete when he celebrates "the will to confrontation and the assertion of its [the artwork's] autonomy!" The book is big and full of photographs, as well as containing a selection from his personal correspondence. Take the jacket off and let the white cover's simple black lettering announce its contents.