The task of examining the position of art, design and theory within the context of visual culture is a precarious one. On the one hand there are those who recognise the autonomy of art and think the attempt to instrumentalise lays alien claim to it. On the other hand there are those who start with social and political realities and look to both art and design for critical strategies with which to safeguard an open society. The publication tries to go beyond this dialectic of visual culture as private endeavour or public work. Discussions of practical strategies indicate the viability for an independent position for the intellectual and the image-maker.
Including essays by Hugues C. Boekraad, Hauke Brunkhorst, Stuart Ewen, Andrea Fisher, Elisabeth Lenk, Martin Lucas, Heinz Paetzold, Jon Thompson and Jan van Toorn.
