The Black Album: Writings on Art and Culture is a collection of writing by painter and writer Bradley Rubenstein. There was once a time when art, technology, science, and poetry collided with politics. Zola and Cézanne. Fénéon and Seurat. Balzac and Rodin. Jean Arp and Hans Arp. Anarchy and beauty combined. In our current moment it seems that we might be well served to remember this past; when art and culture are driven underground, new ideas emerge. Taking Joan Didion's collection of criticism, The White Album, as a point of reference, Rubenstein creates a new vocabulary for critiquing an age where art has wed technology, fiction has become reality, and images, like words, are not always meant to be trusted. Like Robert Smithson, Rubenstein eschews a personal writing style, instead using science fiction, comedy, and other genre styles to create a lively, continuously changing narrative.
