Rebecca Hackemann's new book is a superb and indispensable account of

the creative and critical exploration of stereoscopy, 3-D and VR by a wide range

of artists since the early 20th century.  Especially now, at a moment when powerful technology corporations are massively commodifying and routinizing VR and 3-D products, Hackemann's study provides a crucial resource for sustaining oppositional and counter-practices of visuality and perceptual experience. 

Johnathan Crary, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory, Columbia University


 

A critical survey of artistic practices that involve the use of 3-D, which is emerging as a scholarly field in its own right.
 
Though we see in three dimensions, we tend to notice 3-D when it is artificially created, as with a stereoscope. Rather than tell the history of 3-D through technique and technology, Rebecca Hackemann brings a conceptual, artistic, and critical view to her topic, unpacking its use in conceptual art, sculpture, and other mediums. Bringing together artists who were inspired by three-dimensional imagery and their theories, Hackemann surveys sixty years of 3-D in contemporary art for indicators of a turn in visual culture, foregrounding meaning and content. Her analysis spotlights 3-D as it comes into its own as a scholarly and artistic field that borders on new media, photography, and film.

 

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