Clement Greenberg’s modernism demanded that art be faithful to its specific medium (paint’s flatness, steel’s gravity). Joselit declares this obsolete. In the digital age, art is . A painting by Wade Guyton isn’t about oil on canvas; it is about the printer, the JPEG, the burn mark—the format that bridges the physical and the digital.
Some critics argue that After Art is too panoramic. By focusing on circulation, Joselit sometimes neglects the material resistance of objects. Others note that his examples (predominantly Western, white, male NY-based artists) don’t fully deliver on the promise of “global networks.” Furthermore, writing in 2012, he could not fully account for the 2020s AI image generators or blockchain art (NFTs), though his framework predicts them eerily well.
David Joselit’s "After Art" (2013) argues that the traditional, unique art object has been replaced by the "image"—a unit of digital content defined by its ability to circulate and be reformatted within global networks. The text suggests that contemporary art functions through "image diplomacy," where artists act as curators who sort and reformat existing content to establish power in a digitally networked world. A detailed review of the work is available at Academia.edu . (PDF) Review of David Joselit, After Art - Academia.edu after art david joselit pdf
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: Many academic libraries provide electronic access to After Art . The book is available through platforms like RNIB Bookshare (accessible format, requiring login) and various university library portals. The University of St Andrews library catalog lists it as an electronic book, as do many other academic institutions. A painting by Wade Guyton isn’t about oil
by David Joselit is a landmark text in contemporary art theory. Published in 2012 by Princeton University Press, the book challenges traditional notions of artistic production. Instead of focusing on the creation of new images, Joselit examines how existing images circulate, power networks, and gather value.
: Joselit suggests we move past the debate of "medium specificity." Instead, we should look at "formats"—the various ways an image is packaged to travel through different social and economic circuits. Image Populations Others note that his examples (predominantly Western, white,
These buildings are designed to be highly photogenic. They are built to be converted into digital images that circulate on tourism blogs, architectural magazines, and social media. In this way, physical buildings function exactly like digital formats, attracting global capital and transforming the identity of entire cities through their visual circulation. 5. Why "After Art" Matters Today
As Joselit writes: "The more points of contact an image is able to establish, the greater its power will be." In that sense, After Art itself has achieved considerable power—circulating through academic syllabi, critical essays, and the search histories of curious readers around the world.
David Joselit’s After Art is a concise, incisive investigation into how artworks circulate and gain meaning in the networked present. Below is a ready-to-publish blog post you can use or adapt.
The process of condensing vast amounts of data, history, and meaning into a single visual node or artwork. 3. Real-World Examples: Art in the Network