Art critic Martha Schwendener has released a new book titled 'The Society of the Screen: Vilém Flusser’s Radical Prescience,' exploring the prophetic theories of the late philosopher Vilém Flusser. Flusser, a Prague-born thinker who lived in Brazil and Europe, argued in the 1980s that society was transitioning from a text-based culture to one dominated by 'technical images,' a shift he believed would fundamentally alter human consciousness and the function of the 'apparatus' in daily life.
This publication arrives at a critical juncture as contemporary society grapples with an unprecedented deluge of digital media and AI-generated imagery. By applying Flusser’s concepts of 'techno-imagination' to the current art world, Schwendener provides a theoretical framework for understanding how visual culture operates in a post-literate era, offering a vital guide for artists and critics navigating a media-saturated landscape.