Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy, art theory, and many engrossing examples. She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, sex, web sites, and research on the brain's role in perceiving art. It is up-to-date and future-oriented; devoting a chapter to art on the web, video art, art museum CD-ROMs and various theorists of the new media and of post-modern art. This clear, lively book will engage the public, introductory students, and teachers in the arts.

List of Illustrations; 1. Blood and Beauty; 2. Paradigms and Purposes; 3. Cultural Crossings; 4. Money, Markets, Museums; 5. Gender, Genius, and Guerrilla Girls; 6. Cognition, Creation, Comprehension; 7. Digitizing and Disseminating; Conclusion; References; Further Reading; Index

A Very Short Introduction Professor Cynthia Freeland, author of But is it Art?

`Review from previous edition So many of the questions that define us as a culture have been raised through and by the art of recent decades, that without coming to terms with our art, we can scarcely understand ourselves. Cynthia Freeland has written a very smart book, in which high philosophical intelligence is applied to difficult questions raised by real works of art. It immediately situates the reader where thought and action meet, and since the issues are inescapable, it should be required reading for everyone. I know of no work that moves so swiftly and with so sure a footing through the battle zones of art and society today.' Arthur C. Danto, Columbia University, author of After the End of Art