
Prophets at a Tangent
How Art Shapes Social Imagination
Geoff Mulgan(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 2. March 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
78 pages
978-1-009-32165-5 (ISBN)
Description
This Element asks if the arts can help us imagine a better future society and economy, without deep social gulfs or ecological harm. It argues that at their best, the arts open up new ways of seeing and thinking. They can warn and prompt and connect us to a bigger sense of what we could be. But artists have lost their role as gods and prophets, partly as an effect of digital technologies and the ubiquity of artistic production, and partly as an effect of shifting values. Few recent books, films, artworks or exhibitions have helped us imagine how our world could solve its problems or how it might be better a generation or more from now. This Element argues that artists work best not as prophets of a new society but rather as 'prophets at a tangent'.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight
120 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-32165-5 (9781009321655)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Geoff Mulgan
Prophets at a Tangent
E-Book
02/2023
Cambridge University Press
€22.49
Available for download

E-Book
02/2023
Cambridge University Press
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Content
Introduction: The Case for Tangential Imagination; 1. The Inherent Limitations of Art as a Tool for Social Imagination; 2. The Retreat from Prophecy: From Gods to Commentators, Direct to Indirect, Obvious to Opaque; 3. Ethos, Art and Social Imagination: Exploring the Tangents; 4. The Forms: How Can They Explore the Future?; 5. Collective Consciousness; 6. Dialectical Creativity; 7. Combining Order and Chaos in Tangential Imagination; Conclusions: Imagination at a Tangent; References.