This is Not New

Praise forCurationism: Balzer writes with zest, scepticism and sly humour Sheila Heti, author ofPure ColourWhat does it mean to call something new? Why is Western art and culture, even after postmodernism, still so obsessed with the concept? What are the consequences of relying on culture to bring about social change?In this provocative book, David Balzer argues that Western culture was never designed to produce truly new or original artefacts. Rather, we move from fixation to fixation, trend to trenda cycle of creation and destruction with deep origins in Judeo-Christianity and the paganism that preceded it. The culture industry promises its own form of change while preserving existing systems of power exactly as they are.From the New Jerusalem to the New Left, from Vannevar Bush to Kate Bush,This is Not Newasks difficult questions about the role of culture not in making change, but in delayingeven preventingit.David Balzer is a writer, lawyer, editor, and educator. He is the author ofContrivances and Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else. His critical writing has appeared in theGlobeandMail, theGuardian,Artforum, andFrieze. He lives in Canada.