This volume investigates how the emergence of performativity in art theory and practice necessitates a fundamental shift in how we interpret visual culture. Editors Amelia Jones and Andrew Stephenson assemble a series of essays that challenge the static nature of traditional art criticism, arguing that interpretation itself is a dynamic, contingent act. By drawing on historical and contemporary examples, the contributors propose a framework where the viewer's engagement is recognized as an active, performative component of the artwork's meaning.

Scholars and art historians frequently cite this text as a significant contribution to the discourse on performativity in visual studies. The prose is noted for its academic rigor and its challenge to conventional museum-based interpretive methods.