Specialism

Book excerpt: It is widely assumed that everyone is "interdisciplinary" nowadays, that everyone works at the intersections of conventional disciplines. But if being flexible, multiskilled and polymathic are the prerequisites of survival in today's world, why do educators and art marketeers tend to maintain conditions that advocate and encourage specialist outcomes? The aim of this new anthology in the Occasional Table series is to critically reflect upon the role of specialism in art and society. Why do some seek to transcend the parameters of specialization, and others maintain that deep levels of achievement can only be attained with highly focused methods and forms? Edited by David Blamey, Specialism includes texts by Matthew Cornford, Neil Cummings, Dan Fox, Anouchka Grose, Mingyuan Hu, Stephen Knott, Frances Loeffler, Nina Power, Rick Poynor, Alistair Rider, Andrew Robinson, Irit Rogoff and Ruth Sonderegger, Chris Watson, Jon Wozencroft and Ian Whittlesea.