Krista A. Thompson
Shine
The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice
Duke University Press 2015
New Books in African StudiesNew Books in AnthropologyNew Books in ArtNew Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in Caribbean StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network March 4, 2016 Alejandra Bronfman

Shine: The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice (Duke University Press, 2015) is a gorgeous book. It’s about light and the practices of self representation in diasporic and Caribbean communities. Krista A. Thompson looks carefully and sees in the glittery surfaces of contemporary art, photographic and video practices in proms and dancehalls, and the visual culture of hip-hop the generative power of alternative modalities of being. Taking us to New Orleans, Jamaica, the Bahamas and on the global hip-hop circuit, this book engages with the discourses of art history and dissolves its Eurocentric bearings.
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