Distributed Objects

<p> One of the most influential anthropological works of the last two decades Alfred Gell's <em>Art and Agency </em>is a provocative and ambitious work that both challenged and reshaped anthropological understandings of art agency creativity and the social. It has become a touchstone in contemporary artifact-based scholarship. This volume brings together leading anthropologists archaeologists art historians and other scholars into an interdisciplinary dialogue with <em>Art and Agency</em> generating a timely re-engagement with the themes issues and arguments at the heart of Gell's work which remains salient and controversial in the social sciences and humanities. Extending his theory into new territory - from music to literary technology and ontology to technological change - the contributors do not simply take stock but also provoke critically reassessing this important work while using it to challenge conceptual and disciplinary boundaries.</p>