Art in the Age of Anxiety

Art in the Age of Anxiety invites the reader to consider how one's perception and decision-making has been deeply affected by the proliferation of internet access, which now surpasses 3 billion users worldwide.

This publication brings together some of the major thought leaders in the field of image and internet culture. They have each produced new critical writings that interrogate the digital realm from a variety of perspectives. Their writings are presented alongside beautifully produced artistic interventions to create a book that operates as an exhibition in its own right.

Themes explored within the publication include the future of money; the role of art in a post-COVID-19 era; mental health in the digital age; the mediation of image culture through the internet; the surfaces of exhibitions online; grieving online; and the thickening of the digital sphere. This book is a labour of love produced by a collective of writers, artists, designers, photographers and publishers. Ultimately, this pivotal piece of work seeks to ask: What is our collective future and how will humanity adapt to it?

This stand-alone reader has been published on the occasion of the exhibition, Art in the Age of Anxiety, organised by and presented at Sharjah Art Foundation. It has been edited by Omar Kholeif and includes contributions by Anonymous, Saira Ansari, Cory Arcangel, Jeremy Bailey, Douglas Coupland, Simon Denny, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Aruba Khalid, Omar Kholeif, Norman M. Klein, W. J. T. Mitchell, Todd Reisz, Danko Stjepanovic, and Marc Tuters.