TRUTH IS CONCRETE
- A HANDBOOK FOR ARTISTIC STRATEGIES IN REAL POLITICS

Edited by STEIRISCHER HERBST,
FLORIAN MALZACHER
Published by Sternberg Press
English
336 pages
16 x 22 cm
Hardcover
ISBN 978-3-943365-84-9

Price: 750 lei (€150)

Texts by STEPHEN DUNCOMBE and STEVE LAMBERT, ALANNA LOCKWARD, FLORIAN MALZACHER, CHANTAL MOUFFE, GERALD RAUNIG, JONAS STAAL

Contributions by ARTÚR VAN BALEN / TOOLS FOR ACTION, THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN ACTIVITIES, KALLE LASN / ADBUSTERS, JONATHAN ALLEN, UDI ALONI, MARINA NAPRUSHKINA / OFFICE FOR ANTI-PROPAGANDA, SUSAN SCHUPPLI / FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, HECTOR ARISTIZÁBAL, CORINA L. APOSTOL / ARTLEAKS, COLLECTIVE AUTHORSHIP, KATHERINE BALL, PHILIPP RUCH / CENTER FOR POLITICAL BEAUTY, LEAH BORROMEO, ANDREW BOYD, ANDREA BRANZI, TANIA BRUGUERA, SRĐA POPOVIĆ / CANVAS, THE VACUUM CLEANER, JASMINA METWALY / MOSIREEN COLLECTIVE, MINERVA CUEVAS, NEIL CUMMINGS, DMITRY VILENSKY / CHTO DELAT?, DIEDRICH DIEDERICHSEN, CHARLES ESCHE, JOANA MAZZA / OBSERVATÓRIO DE FAVELAS, INNA SHEVCHENKO / FEMEN, NOAH FISCHER, ANDREA FRASER, GABRIELLA CSOSZÓ / FREEDOC, ISABELLE FREMEAUX, CHRISTINE GAIGG, GANZEER, FEDERICO GELLER, MARINA GRŽINIĆ, NÚRIA GÜELL, ERDEM GÜNDÜZ, HANS HAACKE, STEFANO HARNEY, CARL HEGEMANN, JUSTIN HOFFMANN, KHALED HOURANI, ICONOCLASISTAS, THE LABORATORY OF INSURRECTIONARY IMAGINATION, SHARED INC., JANEZ JANŠA, KHALED JARRAR, ANNA JERMOLAEVA, JOHN JORDAN, KOSTIS STAFYLAKIS / KAVECS, JANICE KERBEL, JISUN KIM, LUCIFER / CHURCH OF KOPIMISM, OMER KRIEGER, NEUE SLOWENISCHE KUNST, ANDRÉ LEPECKI, LAWRENCE LIANG, GEERT LOVINK, MATTEO LUCCHETTI, LEXXUS LÉGAL, OLIVER MARCHART, LEÓNIDAS MARTÍN, TOMISLAV MEDAK, THOMAS MEINECKE, ANDY BICHLBAUM / THE YES MEN, ANTANAS MOCKUS, FRANK APUNKT SCHNEIDER / MONOCHROM, JEAN-LUC MOULÈNE, PUBLIC MOVEMENT, RABIH MROUÉ, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLITICAL MURDER, MICHAL MURIN, JEUDI NOIR, GUILLERMO GÓMEZ-PEÑA / LA POCHA NOSTRA, OCCUPRINT, ROBYN ORLIN, THE HAIRCUT BEFORE THE PARTY, SIBYLLE PETERS, SÉRGIO MIGUEL FRANCO / PIXADORES, RAIVO PUUSEMP, BENJAMIN FOERSTER-BALDENIUS / RAUMLABORBERLIN, RICHARD REYNOLDS, YEKATERINA SAMUTSEVICH / PUSSY RIOT, IRIT ROGOFF, NED ROSSITER, FLORIAN SCHNEIDER, GREGORY SHOLETTE, REVEREND BILLY & THE CHURCH OF STOP SHOPPING, THE PINKY SHOW, STEVPHEN SHUKAITIS, TOMA SIK, MLADEN STILINOVIĆ, KUBA SZREDER, CLAIRE TANCONS, LIBERATE TATE, CORRUPT TOUR, MIERLE LADERMAN UKELES, ULTRA-RED, AHMET ÖĞÜT / THE SILENT UNIVERSITY, SANTIAGO CIRUGEDA / RECETAS URBANAS, SAKI BAILEY / TEATRO VALLE, MARINA VISHMIDT, JOANNA WARSZA, WOCHENKLAUSUR, KRZYSZTOF WODICZKO, JACOB WREN, STEPHEN WRIGHT, KÀDDU YARAAX, SALAM YOUSRY, WU YUREN, SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK less
An interview with ETCETERA, NATO THOMPSON, and WHW
Coedited by ANNE FAUCHERET, VERONICA KAUP-HASLER, KIRA KIRSCH, ANDREAS R. PETERNELL, JOHANNA RAINER

How does art play a role in social and political struggles all over the world? Can art be a tool with which to shape the world, rather than just reflect it?

Truth Is Concrete: A Handbook for Artistic Strategies in Real Politics takes the possibility of concrete truth as a working hypothesis and looks for direct action and concrete knowledge: for an art that not only represents and documents, but engages in specific political and social situations—and for an activism that not only acts for the sake of acting but searches for intelligent, creative means of self-empowerment. This book is the second manifestation under this title; the first materialized as a twenty-four-hour, seven-day marathon camp that took place in the frame of the steirischer herbst festival in Graz, Austria, in September 2012.

This handbook is a stand-alone publication, emphasizing the “usefulness” of the different artistic approaches collected. It is a toolbox and a manual with contributions by key protagonists in this field. One hundred texts describe very different strategies and tactics, written by their inventors and/or practitioners from all over the world, mapping the broad field of engaged art and artistic activism today. Additional essays focus on the philosophy, structures, and modalities behind the many battles to make this world a better place.