A compelling call to rediscover the transformative power of art in an age of distraction, coercion, and spectacle
29th September 2025
Hardcover
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Summary
A compelling call to rediscover the transformative power of art in an age of distraction, coercion, and spectacle
Description
A compelling call to rediscover the transformative power of art in an age of distraction, coercion and spectacle - with a new introduction by Donna Tartt
In Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, J. F. Martel offers a compelling and incisive meditation on the nature of art in a world dominated by invasive media, rampant consumer culture, and artificial intelligence. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from Paleolithic cave art to contemporary cinema, Martel argues that true art reveals the unseen forces shaping our existence-forces that transcend politics, technology, and even culture. In contrast to artifice, which seeks to manipulate or distract, authentic art calls us back to the essence of things, opening "rifts" onto the sublime and the weird and reconnecting us with the radical mystery at the heart of the world.Featuring a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Donna Tartt, this edition also includes a new afterword by the author, reflecting on the continued relevance of art in our increasingly mediated world.Critic Reviews
Leaping gracefully from Coleridge to Kubrick, from the Bible to Baudrillard, J.F. Martel offers us a lovely and powerful reminder that the greatest art presents the world through mystery rather than manipulation. Arguing that art's prophetic promise comes from its capacity to rupture the workaday world of means and ends, Martel calls for a visionary return to the imaginal rifts of a novelty beyond artifice Erik Davis, author of TechGnosis
A key work for the soul of our time, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice is for the seasoned artist and the novice alike, for all those who dare to walk in, as J.F. Martel writes, an 'excess of meaning.' We need those today who would dare to live this way, and this book is a resounding call to return to the Imaginal life. 'Sing in me muse,' spoke Homer, and Martel has writ this large across the pages Jeremy D. Johnson, editor at Reality Sandwich
J.F. Martel is an incisive cultural critic with a penetrating vision of art. His book is a quiet manifesto for the creative act, reminding us of the numinous quality of the aesthetic object, as well as the intrinsic strangeness of our lives in the world Daniel Pinchbeck, author of Breaking Open the Head
The complete colonization of the mind is the final frontier of capitalist domination. As Martel is aware, this domination proceeds, at ever-increasing speed, through the reduction of the imagination to that which can be predicted and controlled. Far from being merely the commodification of the aesthetic, this project is engineered to eliminate the ineffability and uniqueness of human existence, as such. This book is a beautifully written lament and a passionate, prophetic plea for what remains not only of art but also of humanity Joshua Ramey, author of The Hermetic Deleuze
Drawing his examples from across cultures, history and genres, Martel celebrates mystery, the imagination-and, above all, art's power to testify to the individual consciousness. An ambitious, exciting debut. Highly recommended James Arthur, assistant professor, Johns Hopkins University
About the Author
J. F. Martel is a writer and lecturer on art, culture, and philosophy. With musicologist Phil Ford, he co-hosts the popular art and philosophy podcast Weird Studies. He lives in Ottawa, Canada.
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29th September 2025
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