Social Acupuncture: A Guide To Suicide, Performance and Utopia

Social Acupuncture: A Guide To Suicide, Performance and Utopia
By Daren O’Donnell

An insightful an often hilarious book that focuses on the state of social engagement and the arts, relational aesthetics and theater with a focus on the Canadian art scene and O'Donnell’s practice.

“A really effective intervention recognizes that improving conditions for others must also somehow improve conditions for yourself. In this way, selfishness is recouped in the name of wider social good.” (p38)

“In all artistic practice-even that of civic engagement- a by-product is social capital: fame. At the bottom, the desire for fame is the desire to be loved unconditionally by a lot of people, most of whom you don’t know. It’s the desire to be able to be yourself wherever you are and have that expression accepted and supported. ” (p39)

“Avoiding art and artistic practices that don’t directly and tangibly question the material differentials and how they play out in the global economic field would not be absolute, but the guide for a temporary strategy.” (p44)