{"title":"David Balzer","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Balzer's works explore the interplay between knowledge, culture, and education, inviting readers to reconsider the ways ideas evolve and influence society. His writing blends scientific insight with thoughtful analysis, appealing to those interested in \u003cem\u003eEducation \u0026amp; Reference\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eScience \u0026amp; Nature\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough titles like \u003cstrong\u003eCurationism\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eThis is Not New\u003c\/strong\u003e, Balzer challenges conventional wisdom and encourages a fresh perspective on how information is curated and understood in the modern world.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"this-is-not-new-by-david-balzer-9780745342702","title":"This is Not New","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat does it mean to call something 'new'? Why is Western culture, even after postmodernism, still so obsessed with the concept? What are the political consequences of relying on this culture to bring about social change?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this provocative book, David Balzer argues that Western culture was never designed to produce truly new or original artefacts. Rather, the West moves from fixation to fixation, trend to trend—a cycle of creation and destruction with deep origins in Judeo-Christianity and the paganism that preceded it. The culture industry is rooted in a resource-scarce economy, which promises its own form of change while preserving many other things exactly as they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the New Jerusalem to the New Left, Vannevar Bush to Kate Bush, \u003cem\u003eThis Is Not New\u003c\/em\u003e takes a dynamic approach, asking difficult questions about the role of culture not in making change, but in delaying—even preventing—it. Balzer urges us to look at the Western culture industry for what it is, lest it become all there is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855330103532,"sku":"9780745342702","price":40.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4f1eb62f479b6db5c3c9a4b0a3e17678.jpg?v=1759278907"},{"product_id":"curationism-by-david-balzer-9780745335971","title":"Curationism","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWinner of the ICA Book of the Year, 2015\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow that we 'curate' even lunch, what happens to the role of the connoisseur in contemporary culture?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Curate' has become a buzzword, applied to everything from music festivals to artisanal cheese. Inside the art world, the curator reigns supreme, acting as the face of high-profile group shows in a way that can eclipse the contributions of individual artists. At the same time, curatorial-studies programmes continue to grow, and businesses are adopting curation as a means of adding value to content. Everyone, it seems, is now a curator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut what is a curator, exactly? And what does the explosive popularity of curating say about our culture's relationship with taste, labour and the avant-garde? In this vibrant book, David Balzer travels through art history to explore the cult of curation, where it began, how it came to dominate museums and galleries, and how it emerged at the turn of the millennium as a dominant mode of thinking and being.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecalling such landmark works of cultural criticism as Tom Wolfe's \u003cem\u003eThe Painted Word\u003c\/em\u003e and John Berger's \u003cem\u003eWays of Seeing\u003c\/em\u003e, Balzer asks whether curationism has finally reached its own limits, where its widespread success has paradoxically led to its own demise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47470368555244,"sku":"9780745335971","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780745335971-curationism.jpg?v=1775217511"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/david-balzer.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}