Art Scenes

Book excerpt: In this provocative new book, Pablo Helguera argues that contemporary art makes us perform self-conscious or instinctive interpretive acts; and that the construction of value in artworks is determined less by the objects themselves than by the nature of our interpretive performances, having a trickle-down effect on practically every aspect of art in society. Based on many years of observations, Art Scenes aims to contribute to the neglected area of the sociology of contemporary art, proposing the inauguration of a field described as "Art World Studies." Pablo Helguera is a visual artist living in New York. He is the Director of Adult and Academic Programs at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is the author of many books including The Pablo Helguera Manual of Contemporary Art Style, What in the World ( A Museum's Subjective Biography) and Education for Socially Engaged Art.