• Books
  • Audiobooks
  • Events
  • Radio
  • Blog
  • Contact
Menu
  • Books
  • Audiobooks
  • Events
  • Radio
  • Blog
  • Contact
Search
0
  • No products in the basket.

Books

Pre-order
book

Which As You Know Means Violence: On Self-Injury as Art and Entertainment

by: Philippa Snow

£10.99

A few weeks before he died, Hunter S. Thompson left an answerphone message for Jackass’ Johnny Knoxville. “I might be coming to Baton Rouge,” he told the stuntman, “and if I do I will call you, because I will be looking to have some fun, which as you know usually means violence.”

Fun does not, of course, usually mean violence; those who choose to make a hobby, a career or an art practice out of injury are wired a little differently from most. In Which as You Know Means Violence, Philippa Snow — taking in the work of Buster Keaton, Marina Abramović, Jackass, Gina Pane, Bob Flanagan, Chris Burden, and various YouTube stunt performers — analyses the subject of pain, injury and sadomasochism in performance, from the more rarefied context of contemporary art to the considerably less rarefied context of a TV show where grown men hurl various objects at each other’s tenderest parts.

In a world where violence — the violence of climate change, say, or of capitalism — is part of our daily lives, Which as You Know Means Violence focuses on those who enact violence on themselves, for art or entertainment, and addresses the role that violence plays in twenty-first century art and culture.

by: Philippa Snow

SKU N/A Categories Art, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Music, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology
Clear

— OR —

Author
Book info
Reviews
Author

  • Philippa Snow

    Philippa Snow is a writer based in Norwich. Her reviews and essays have appeared in publications including Artforum, The Los Angeles Review of Books, ArtReview, Frieze, The White Review, Vogue, The New Statesman, The TLS, and The New Republic. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize.

Book info

Paperback with free eBook9781913462468
EBook9781914420825

Reviews

Joanna Walsh, author of Girl Online

“The best book I’ve read on art and pain since Maggie Nelson’s Art of Cruelty, and a worthy successor to that work.”

Olivia Sudjic, author of Asylum Road

“Snow writes with such kinetic, sensory power here, alongside her characteristic, roving intelligence, that I felt I’d (somewhat queasily) witnessed, as well as read, this gripping exploration of pain and performance. Which As You Know Means Violence is as smart, fearless and funny as its many sensitively drawn subjects. Brilliant.”

Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

”With her sharp insight and ferocious sense of fun, Philippa Snow is the rare critic with the daring necessary to juxtapose Jackass and feminist body art, to probe their entangled strains of suffering and liberation. These essays are feats of intellectual agility that feel eye-opening, risky, and all too relevant to our half-mad moment.”

Camilla Grudova, author of The Doll’s Alphabet

“A scintillating look at bodily harm in art and society, from Buster Keaton to Jackass, which puts the late 90s and 2000s in its rightful place as a historically and culturally important moment while showing how capitalist society is forever a sado-masochistic death cult. Snow is witty, funny and sharp as a knife.”

Natasha Stagg, author of Sleeveless: Fashion, Image, Media, New York 2011-2019.

“It is a true pleasure to become immersed in writing that is capable of connecting so many dots with such dexterity and grace.”

Stephanie La Cava, author of I Fear My Pain Interests You

“Snow has somehow created an enjoyable—indelible- book-length meditation on pain. Most notable is its critical analysis of hurt in the culture industry at large.”

Alice Ash, author of Paradise Block

“Provocative and intensely readable, humane and beautifully drawn parallels between subjects of violence and their disposition to harm. Absolutely captivating.”

Share:

Related Books

Related products

  • Pre-order
    Sereptie

    The Philosopher’s Tarot

    £19.99
    Available on: at
    Pre-Order Now
  • Pre-order
    Kelly Roberts, Michael Grasso, Richard McKenna

    We Are the Mutants: The Battle for Hollywood from Rosemary’s Baby to Lethal Weapon

    £10.99 Select options
  • Pre-order
    Herbert Marcuse, Ray Brassier

    Psychoanalysis, Politics, and Utopia: Five Lectures

    £7.99 – £10.99 Select options
  • Mark Fisher

    The Complete k-punk Collection

    £16.99 Add to basket
Back to top
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Distribution
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Menu
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Distribution
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

  • Books
  • Audiobooks
  • Events
  • Radio
  • Blog
  • Contact
Menu
  • Books
  • Audiobooks
  • Events
  • Radio
  • Blog
  • Contact