• 'profoundly refreshing and satisfying ... Freeland's energetic and engaging voice breezily guides the reader, while employing an astonishing array of examples to illuminate and activate her explications.' (Don Bacigalupi, Director, San Diego Museum of Art)
• Up-to-date and future-oriented: devotes a chapter to art on the web, video art, art museum CD-ROMs and various theorists of the new media and of postmodern art
• Illustrated with a wide range of salient images
• Discusses topical artists like Andres Serrano and Damien Hirst as well as more historical examples like Goya and Velazquez
• The style is clear, lively, and humorous

In today's art world many strange, even shocking, things qualify as art. In this Very Short Introduction Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy and art theory with many fascinating examples. She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, museums, sex, and politics, clarifying contemporary and historical accounts of the nature, function, and interpretation of the arts. Freeland also propels us into the future by surveying cutting-edge web sites, alongside the latest research on the brain's role in perceiving art. This clear, provocative book engages with the big debates surrounding our responses to art and is an invaluable introduction to anyone interested in thinking about art.