Introduction to Akasegawa Genpei’s “The Objet after Stalin”

This introduction situates Akasegawa Genpei’s text “The Objet after Stalin” and the events surrounding his reproduction of the 1,000-yen note in the art-historical and political context of Japan’s postwar avant-gardes. It explores Akasegawa’s conception of the objet both in terms of its lineage within the history of Surrealism and its reception in Japan and of Akasegawa’s original theoretical claims concerning the political potential of artistic practice.

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