num_pages: 192
description: Writer and urbanist Paul Virilio is considered to be one of the most important and incisive contemporary critics of technology and its moral, political, and cultural implications. His latest catalogue, published to accompany an exhibition he has conceived for the Fondation Cartier in Paris, examines the philosophical issues raised by our confrontation with accidents and their impact on our world. Accidents capture our attention, surprise or shock us, disrupt or ultimately alter the course of our existence. Whether significant or insignificant, benign or disastrous, accidents always reveal something about ourselves and the systems we construct. For Virilio, to invent the ship is to invent the shipwreck, to invent electricity is to invent electrocution. Accidents are consequently, in his view, inherent in all technological systems. This catalogue features over 200 illustrations, including press photographs, paintings, and engravings representing natural and industrial accidents from the past three centuries. It also contains reproductions of the works of the many artists included in the exhibit, most notably Lebbeus Woods, Nancy Rubins, Stephen Vitiello, Cai Guo Qiang, Bruce Conner, Tony Oursler, Jonas Mekas, and Jem Cohen. Paul Virilio has also invited visionary architect Lebbeus Woods and award-winning journalist Svetlana Aleksievitch to contribute texts to this catalogue. Distributed on behalf of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. 200 color illustrations.
language: English
title: Unknown Quantity
titlecomplete: Unknown Quantity
genres: Theory, Art, Philosophy
ratings_count: 23
publisher: Thames & Hudson