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Storytelling is one of the most innate expressions of human nature. It is also the means by which we store, retain and invent our collective and personal histories. This use of language has shifted dramatically over time, from the oral storytelling methods of the ancients to the invention of linear scripts, and finally, the advent of technology and cyberspace. How have these shifts been visualized in the work of art? How has the element of language affected our notions of what art is and vice versa? This book examines such questions via a critical assessment of the works of revolutionary image-makers in the contemporary arts. A shift in consciousness is developing. As proposed by new-media theorists, the possibilities imparted with the invention of cyberspace have set the stage for an endless exploration of alternative identities, histories and modes of understanding. Overlaying cybernetically charged fields of visualization upon the established oral methodologies of the ancients, these artists and critics lay the basis for our narrative (r)evolution.

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Kara Rooney is a New York-based artist, writer and critic. She is the Managing Art Editor for The Brooklyn Rail and faculty member at the School of Visual Arts where she teaches art history. Her writings have been published in various national periodicals. Kara earned her M.F.A in Art Criticism and Writing from the School of Visual Arts in 2008.

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