The Empire of Non-Sense: Art in the Technological Society

by Jacques Ellul

  • Year 1980
  • Type Book
  • Genre cultural criticism
  • Tradition Reformed
  • Original language French

For For readers interested in art and culture under technology; not for a reader wanting art history or theology.

Should I read this?

For the general reader
2 of 5 worth a look
For the researcher
4 of 5 important
Difficulty
4 of 5 hard

An argument that modern art reflects and serves technological society rather than escaping it.

How it proceeds
  • Philosophic 4 of 5
  • Scriptural 0 of 5
  • Experiential 0 of 5
  • Sociological 4 of 5
  • Historical 2 of 5

Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.

A study of art in technological society, published by the Presses universitaires de France in 1980 with the subtitle L'art et la société technicienne. Ellul argues that modern art, far from offering an escape from technique, reflects and serves it, and he examines contemporary art movements in that light. It was translated by Michael Johnson and David Lovekin as The Empire of Non-Sense: Art in the Technological Society (2014).

Report an Issue or Suggest an Edition

Catalog IDW.R9MB9H.W

Edition details and descriptions on this page were compiled with the aid of AI research tools. Readers are encouraged to verify specifics (publisher, translator, edition year) against the originating source before purchase or citation.

Tags: