Tiré du site Internet de JRP/Ringier: "Since the mid-1990s, Henrik Olesen (*1967 Denmark, lives and works in Berlin) has used media such as collage, sculpture, and minimalistic spatial intervention to investigate the social construction of identity and its historiography. Through the appropriation of source images and contextual shifts not dissimilar to the method invented by Aby Warburg for his "Mnemosyne Atlas," Olesen probes the associations between homosexuality and its criminalization in the past, as well as in the present. His archival work sheds light on the enduring existence of spaces for Others, and inscribes homosexual subculture once more into the history of art and culture. Published with the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich."
The Aesthetic Animal answers the ultimate questions of why we adorn ourselves, embellish our things and surroundings, and produce art, music, song dance, and fiction. Humans are aesthetic animals that spend vast amounts of time and resources on seemingly useless aesthetic activities. However, nature would not allow a species to waste precious time and effort on activities completely unrelated to survival, reproduction, and the well-being of that species. Consequently, the aesthetic impulse must have some important biological functions. A number of observations indicate that the aesthetic impulse is an inherent part of human nature, and therefore a primary impulse in its own right with several important functions: The aesthetic impulse may guide us toward what is biologically good for us, and help us choose the right fitness enhancing items in our surroundings. It is a valid individual fitness indicator as well as a unifying social group marker, and aesthetically skilled individuals get more mating possibilities, higher status and more collaborative offers. The book is written in a lively and entertaining tone, with beautiful color illustrations. It covers a wide field of aesthetic behaviors from cave art, graffiti, tattoos, and piercings over fashion, design, music, song, and dance. It presents an original and comprehensive synthesis of the empirical field, synthesizing data from archeology, cave art, anthropology, biology, ethology, behavioral- and evolutionary psychology and neuro-aesthetics. It is a must-read for people interested in biology, psychology, anthropology, architecture, design, fashion, body culture, art, and the evolution of aesthetics.
A queer theory of visual art - based on extensive readings of art works Queer Art traces the question of how strategies of denormalization initiated by visual arts can be continued through writing. In the book's three chapters art theoretical debates are combined with queer theory, post-colonial theory, and (dis-)ability studies, proposing the three terms radical drag, transtemporal drag, and abstract drag. The works discussed include those by Zoe Leonard, Shinique Smith, Jack Smith, Wu Ingrid Tsang, Ron Vawter, Bob Flanagan, Henrik Olesen, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Sharon Hayes, and Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz.
"Henrik Olesen (*1967 in Esbjerg) is one of Denmark's most prominent contemporary artists. This publication features a retrospective selection of his works from the past fifteen years. In his collages, demontages, and spatial interventions, with a focus on homosexuality Olesen calls the power structures in our society and historiography into question. He draws on both contemporary as well as historical material from a wide variety of different fields, such as architecture, law, economics, the natural sciences, and art history. Olesen incorporates the homosexual body into spaces and interiors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, calling attention to the general repression of homosexuality as well as the ways it has been misleadingly represented by history."--Publisher website.
Human nature is enigmatic. Are we cruel, selfish creatures or good merciful Samaritans? This book takes you on a journey into the complexities of human mind and kind, from altruism, sharing, and large-scale cooperation, to cheating, distrust, and warfare. What are the building blocks of morality and sociality? Featuring contributions from leading researchers, such as Christophe Boesch, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, Azar Gat, Dennis Krebs, Ara Norenzayan, and Frans B. M. de Waal, this fascinating interdisciplinary reader draws on evolutionary and comparative perspectives, and is essential reading for any students interested in the unique characteristics that define humanity and society.
Published in conjunction with the biennial exhibition Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only, organized by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. This monograph honors the recipient of the Mohn Award 2016, Adam Linder, featuring color images and newly commissioned texts illuminating five of the dancer and choreographer's works for the stage.
