A Concise Companion to Visual Culture

Provides an up-to-date overview of the present state Visual Cultural Studies, featuring new original content, topics, and methods

The Wiley Blackwell Concise Companion to Visual Culture brings together original research by both established scholars and new voices in the dynamic field, exploring the history, current state, and possible future directions of visual cultural studies. Organized as a series of non-traditional keyword essays, this innovative volume engages readers with a diversity of ideas and perspectives to broaden and enrich their understanding of visual culture and its operations.

This accessible, reader-friendly volume begins with a brief introduction to the history and practices of visual studies, featuring interviews and conversations with key figures such as W.J.T. Mitchell and Douglas Crimp. The majority of the text explores key concepts within a broad framework of history, ecologies, mediations, agencies, and politics while placing particular emphasis on interdisciplinarity and intersectionality. Essays cover keyword topics including Identities, Representation, Institutions, Architectures, Memes, Environment, Temporality, and many more. Offering a unique approach to the subject, this timely resource:

• Presents new work from a diverse group of scholars with a broad range of social, cultural, and generational perspectives
• Emphasizes the importance of activism and political urgency in humanities scholarship
• Discusses engaging objects and discourses beyond film and art, such as architecture, video games, political activism, and the nonhuman
• Highlights the diverse and interconnecting elements of visual culture scholarship
• Includes case studies and short introductions that provide context and reinforce core concepts

The Wiley Blackwell Concise Companion to Visual Culture is essential reading for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars in the fields of visual studies, art history, film studies, and media studies.

A. Joan Saab is the Susan B. Anthony Professor of Art and Art History and the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, University of Rochester, USA. She is the author of For the Millions: American Art and Culture Between the Wars, Objects of Vision: Making Sense of What We See, and the digital project Searching for Siqueiros.

Aubrey Anable is Associate Professor of Film Studies, School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She is the author of Playing with Feelings: Video Games and Affect. Her research on digital media history and aesthetics, video games, and theories of affect has appeared in the Feminist Media Histories, Afterimage, Television & New Media, Ada, and various edited collections.

Catherine Zuromskis is Associate Professor, School for Photographic Arts and Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. She is the author of Snapshot Photography: The Lives of Images and The Factory. Her writings on photography, film, and visual culture have appeared in American Quarterly, Archives of American Art Journal, Art Journal, The Velvet Light Trap, Photography & Culture, Criticism, and various edited volumes.

Acknowledgements

Notes on Contributors

Introduction, A. Joan Saab, Aubrey Anable, and Catherine Zuromskis

Part I: Scenes from the Institutionalization of the Field

1. “Practices of Visual Culture Pedagogy,” Lisa Cartwright and Marita Sturken

2. “Horizontal Thinking and the Emergence of Visual Culture,” Louis Kaplan

3. An Interview with W.J.T. Mitchell

4. A Conversation with Douglas Crimp

5. “A Dialogue,” Richard Meyer and Jon Davies

6. “Scene Selection: Objects Lost and Found,” Sharon Willis

Part II: Key Concepts

A. Histories

Introduction, A. Joan Saab

7. “The Archive,” Jane Blocker

8. “Observance,” Marquard Smith

9. “Temporality,” Joel Burges

10. “Ephemerality,” Kate Palmer Albers

B. Ecologies

Introduction, Catherine Zuromskis

11. “Environment,” Ross Barrett

12. “Architectures,” Irene Cheng

13. “Sites,” Norman Vorano

14. “Vernaculars,” James J. Hodge

C. Mediation

Introduction, Aubrey Anable

15. “The Document,” Franny Nudelman

16. “Form,” Eugenie Brinkema

17. “Play,” Braxton Soderman

18. “Memes,” Margot Bouman

D. Agencies

Introduction, A. Joan Saab

19. “Subjects,” Eve Meltzer

20. “Making,” Laurie Beth Clark and Michael Peterson

21. “Institutions,” Sarah E.K. Smith

22. “Species,” Gloria Kim

E. Politics

Introduction, Catherine Zuromskis

23. “The Social,” Lane Relyea

24. “Identities,” Derek Conrad Murray

25. “Representation,” Chad Elias

26. “Feelings,” Scott C. Richmond

27. “Action,” T.J. Demos

Index

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