Author Description

The publication elucidates the work of Manu Luksch, Mukul Patel and collaborators as part of the wave of critical art that has emerged alongside the rise of digital networks. Interrogating the social and political transformations of the late 20th/early 21st centuries, their practice bridges art and activism, and recalls aspects of the 1910s-20s avant-garde and 1960s-70s conceptual and systems art. A major essay by media theorist Armin Medosch situates the work of the London-based artists amidst the rise of the 'creative industries' idea, inner-city regeneration, and the dot-com boom. Medosch also discusses critical art in the light of 'open source culture' and offers an analysis that draws on systems theory. Other contributors to the book include independent media activist Keiko Sei on the 'camcorder revolution' in Burma; policy consultant and writer Naseem Khan on grass-roots regeneration in East London; activist/artist Siraj Izhar on praxis as process; and philosopher/dramaturge Fahim Amir on techno-democracy.