If what we call art has never been

so important to (Western) societies

as it is today, the question that

lies at the heart of How to Do Things

with Art takes on an ever greater

urgency: how does art become

politically or socially significant?

Dorothea von Hantelmann addresses

this issue on a theoretical level,

and indicates, through the analysis

of works by James Coleman, Daniel

Buren, Jeff Koons, and Tino Sehgal,

how artists can create and shape

social relevance; in other words, she

provides what could be called a

pragmatic understanding of art's

societal impact today.