Working Aesthetics addresses the relationship between labour and art work under capitalism. The subject of work within art was largely muted within the historical narratives of modernism, due to the privileging of the artist's hand and personality in analyses of art. The rise and dominance of collective artistic practice within the neoliberal period, has allowed for this analysis to reconsider how artists work collectively. This book presents new readings of social models of artistic labour alongside the ideological changes accompanying contemporary capitalism. When did labour disappear from art production, or accounts of art history? Can we consider the dematerialization of art in the 1960s in relation to the deskilling of work? And how has neoliberal management theory adopting the artist as model worker affected artistic practices in the 21st century? Working Aesthetics examines key moments in which labour and art intersect under capitalism.
 
With the increased popularity of collectivity in galleries and art discourse today, Working Aesthetics takes a step back to ask why these practices have become dominant in contemporary art, and explore what this means for aesthetic culture today.