Lifework
On the Autobiographical Impulse in Contemporary Art, Writing, and Theory

Edited by Moran Sheleg

ISBN13: 9781526194787

Imprint: Manchester University Press

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Published: 20/01/2026

Availability: Not yet available

Description
Following the critical scepticism surrounding the notion of the ‘self’ as a singular entity during the 1960s, many artists and writers sought to test the apparent problem posed by autobiography as both a traditional genre and as a way of working. Considering the consequent emergence of autotheory, Lifework traces this shift in artistic and literary production during the late twentieth century and beyond, examining a set of diverse practices that mine the line between what it is to make art and what it is to live life. The book’s chapters connect a variety of artistic strategies that cut across medium, geography and time, uncovering how the historical marginalisation of first-person experience has taken on larger social, cultural and political implications in the contemporary moment and how the work of living might still relate to the work of art. -- .
Introduction: the life of work, the work of life – Moran Sheleg Part I: Working lives 1 Diaristic diagrams – Margaret Iversen 2 Inarticulations – Susan Morris 3 Valuing life – Alistair Rider Part II: Enveloping me 4 Folds – Rye Dag Holmboe 5 The perversity of her envelopes, or, Kathy Acker’s sick clothes and kleptomaniac close writing: a reply to sender – Alice Butler Part III: Autotheory as medium and message 6 At the altar of her divine: on Audre Lorde and Tee Corrine – Teresa Carmody 7 Autotheorising the unself – Marquis Bey Part IV: Conceptualising the self 8 ‘Sources questionable at best’: Ree Morton’s notebooks and sketchbooks – Abi Shapiro 9 ‘Hey Mom, I made it and I’m OK’: self-help and 1970s conceptual art – Lucy Bradnock Part V: I remember… remember me 10 A wall for apricots: dedication and loss in Anne Truitt’s minimalism – Miguel de Baca 11 Ode to forgetting – Moran Sheleg 12 A life’s work – Jo Applin Index -- .
  • History of art / art & design styles
  • Interdisciplinary studies
  • General (US: Trade)
  • Professional & Vocational
  • Tertiary Education (US: College)
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List Price: £30.00