Seams: Art as a Philosophical Context

Stephen Melville is one of the most thoughtful critics to emerge in recent years. He has applied the tools developed by Jacques Derrida and Jacques Lacan to the problems of contemporary art. With his roots in Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger, he reopens questions of art's reception, interpretation, and commentary. Not only does he articulate the limitations of these catagories, and how they are set into motion - stasis and balance are not the goal. He demonstrates how the territory of each of these discourses in maintained by their relationship to one another. Melville's texts not only represent the complexity of his subject, but also the intricate interface between the art object, history, and philosophical interpretation.

Stephen Melville has taught at Reed College, Syracuse University, and Bryn Mawr College, and is currently Associate Professor in the History of Art at Ohio 5tate University.