Description
A few weeks before he died, Hunter S. Thompson left an answerphone message for Jackass' Johnny Knoxville: "I might be coming to Baton Rouge... 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, mean violence for most people. Those who choose to make a hobby, a career or an art practice out of injury are wired differently - subject to unusual motivations, and quite often powered by an ardent death-drive. In Which as You Know Means Violence, writer and art critic Philippa Snow analyses the subject of pain, injury and sadomasochism in performance, from the more rarefied context of contemporary art to the more lowbrow realm of pranksters, stuntmen and stuntwomen, and uncategorisable, danger-loving YouTube freaks. In a world where violence - of the market, of climate change, of capitalism - is part of our everyday lives, Which as You Know Means Violence focuses on those who enact violence on themselves, for art or entertainment, and analyses the role that violence plays in twenty-first century culture.
About the Author
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.
Reviews
"The best book I've read on art and pain since Maggie Nelson's Art of Cruelty, and a worthy successor to that work."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"It is a true pleasure to become immersed in writing that is capable of connecting so many dots with such dexterity and grace."
"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."
"Provocative and intensely readable, humane and beautifully drawn parallels between subjects of violence and their disposition to harm. Absolutely captivating."
"A brilliant, bracing and often funny debut, Philippa Snow's Which As You Know Means Violence casts a compassionate but rigorous critical lens on self harm as art and art as accident. The smartest book I've read all year, and one I will return to for years to come."
"Philippa's writing makes me feel like I am rolling around in the mud wearing pearls. You are in the muck of glamour! I can think of few people writing now who give 'the great feminine' the kind of gritty and glorious thinking it deserves, which is what Philippa does."
"Which As You Know Means Violence is a surprisingly moving, life-affirming book, in part because it's about life, art, performance, being pushed to its limits. Here, we discuss the current landscape for criticism, subconscious creativity, and the value of humour."
"No one gets celebrity better than writer, critic and i-D contributor Philippa Snow. Her first book [is] a thrilling work of cultural criticism about the peculiar place aestheticised violence occupies in contemporary art and culture."
"I reread Snow's essays in an afternoon and wished for more. If we're lucky, perhaps she'll pull a Sontag and offer a second set."
"Snow's ability to move from niche performance art to the messianic iconography of millennial Americana is one of the book's greatest strengths."
"Svelte and smart analysis... Snow has a witty and sleek style, approaching the subjects of life, art and performance pushed to their extremes with sensitivity and care. This is a book about pain and hurt that, somehow, is both provocative and immensely pleasurable to read."
"A short, sharp stiletto of a book that gets to the point of how our inner pains become public across the highs and lows of (un)popular culture."
"I wish I could write like Philippa Snow. Every essay she writes does exactly what she's trying to get it to do; every text she writes about is transformed, new; and it's funny, it's all so funny and sad and right. For goodness' sake, buy this book."
Book Information
ISBN 9781913462468
Author Philippa Snow
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint Repeater Books
Publisher Watkins Media Limited
About the Author
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.
Reviews
"The best book I've read on art and pain since Maggie Nelson's Art of Cruelty, and a worthy successor to that work."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"It is a true pleasure to become immersed in writing that is capable of connecting so many dots with such dexterity and grace."
"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."
"Provocative and intensely readable, humane and beautifully drawn parallels between subjects of violence and their disposition to harm. Absolutely captivating."
"A brilliant, bracing and often funny debut, Philippa Snow's Which As You Know Means Violence casts a compassionate but rigorous critical lens on self harm as art and art as accident. The smartest book I've read all year, and one I will return to for years to come."
"Philippa's writing makes me feel like I am rolling around in the mud wearing pearls. You are in the muck of glamour! I can think of few people writing now who give 'the great feminine' the kind of gritty and glorious thinking it deserves, which is what Philippa does."
"Which As You Know Means Violence is a surprisingly moving, life-affirming book, in part because it's about life, art, performance, being pushed to its limits. Here, we discuss the current landscape for criticism, subconscious creativity, and the value of humour."
"No one gets celebrity better than writer, critic and i-D contributor Philippa Snow. Her first book [is] a thrilling work of cultural criticism about the peculiar place aestheticised violence occupies in contemporary art and culture."
"I reread Snow's essays in an afternoon and wished for more. If we're lucky, perhaps she'll pull a Sontag and offer a second set."
"Snow's ability to move from niche performance art to the messianic iconography of millennial Americana is one of the book's greatest strengths."
"Svelte and smart analysis... Snow has a witty and sleek style, approaching the subjects of life, art and performance pushed to their extremes with sensitivity and care. This is a book about pain and hurt that, somehow, is both provocative and immensely pleasurable to read."
"A short, sharp stiletto of a book that gets to the point of how our inner pains become public across the highs and lows of (un)popular culture."
"I wish I could write like Philippa Snow. Every essay she writes does exactly what she's trying to get it to do; every text she writes about is transformed, new; and it's funny, it's all so funny and sad and right. For goodness' sake, buy this book."
Book Information
ISBN 9781913462468
Author Philippa Snow
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint Repeater Books
Publisher Watkins Media Limited
