Andrew's review
Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy by Dave Hickey
Here's what's great - it's theory without being getting caught up in the jargon and allusion of theory that requires you to be an expert before you even begin. And hell it's theory that speaks to concrete ideas and objects and people. Funny, smart and erudite without being shitty. There's enough going on here that you can read entirely different things than I did - I saw mostly cultural critique than art, and I've heard others talk about the optimism and perscription for the art world that I didn't see. I can also imagine someone more involved in jazz or music to find that to be Hickey's main thrust. I'm also touched by Hickey's modesty - his name dropping isn't name dropping, and his descriptions of the incredible things he's done don't feel patronizing or bragging.
But when he gets out of the concrete examples, I get a bit confused. Hickey's primary concerns are democracy (everything from the democratization of art to the democracy that must exist in jazz) and sincerity, and...more
But when he gets out of the concrete examples, I get a bit confused. Hickey's primary concerns are democracy (everything from the democratization of art to the democracy that must exist in jazz) and sincerity, and...more
