– Joline Blais, Jon Ippolito
I originally got this as research materials for some writing, but the specific component it had which I needed turned out to be very small. Fortunately, the rest of the book was still alright.
It reads like a second-generation art historian trying to understand the impact of digital technologies and the Internet upon art; “second” generation implying they have enough research, breadth, and depth to avoid the common pratfalls of looking at a new thing and drawing hasty conclusions. It's the type of book I wish I had when I was grappling against FLARF, Goldsmithian uncreative, and other Oulipo-derivative styles of writing back in my undergrad seminars. Blais and Ippolito's phrasings on proceduralism and process versus/over product put the questions I had on generative art in a much clearer way.