To illustrate this, the PDF used the example of the famous "Tank Man" photograph from Tiananmen Square. Joselit pointed out that the power of that image wasn't just in the bravery of the man or the skill of the photographer. Its power lay in its ability to circulate. It became a format
The text is a call to move past "institutional critique" and embrace the power of . It suggests that for art to remain relevant, it must capitalize on its ability to project visibility and create new social and political circuits.
Written in 2012, After Art anticipated many phenomena that are now mundane. When Joselit wrote about "compressed time" and "image proliferation," Instagram was only two years old. Looking back, the book reads as eerily prophetic.
Implications for practice and criticism