Art as Abstract Machine: Ontology and Aesthetics in Deleuze and Guattari (Studies in Philosophy)

The aim of the book is to understand what Deleuze and Guattari mean by 'art'. Stephen Zepke argues that art, in their account, is an ontological term and an ontological practice that results in a new understanding of aesthetics. For Deleuze and Guattari understanding what art 'is' means understanding how it works, what it does, how it 'becomes' and finally how it lives. This book illuminates these philosophers' discussion of ontology from the viewpoint of art - and vice versa - in a thorough questioning of aesthetic criteria as they are normally understood.

The aim of this book is to understand what Deleuze and Guattari mean by "art." Stephen Zepke argues that art, in their account, is an ontological term and an ontological practice that results in a new understanding of aesthetics. For Deleuze and Guattari understanding what art "is" means understanding how it works, what it does, how it "becomes," and finally, how it lives. This book illuminates these philosophers' discussion of ontology from the viewpoint of art-and vice versa-in a thorough questioning of aesthetic criteria as they are normally understood.

The artist-philosopher : Deleuze, Nietzsche, and the critical art of affirmation Spinoza, mystical atheism, and the art of beatitude We need new signs : towards a cinematic image of thought A freedom for the end of the world : painting and absolute deterritorialisation Songs of molecules : the chaosmosis of sensation The agitations of a convulsive life : painting as flesh Conclusion a break, a becoming, a belief. Repressing the body Interrogating philosophy : the bared breast incident The most forgotten alien land : the body in Adorno's essay on Kafka The transfigured body : feminist negative dialectics. First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company