German artist and 2017 Turner Prize nominee Andrea Büttner examines depictions of beggars in visual culture in an artist’s book about poverty, art history, theology, and the politics of social benefits. Büttner, whose work addresses notions of shame, vulnerability, and dignity, presents a recent series of woodcuts, as well research conducted at the Warburg Institute in London, including sixteenth-century vignettes from the “Liber Vagatorum” and a visual essay on the iconography of shepherds and kings in nativity scenes.

With contributions by Andrea Büttner, Anne Carson, Christopher P. Heuer and Linda Nochlin.

From shaming and shamefulness to shame-avoidance and shamelessness, the experience of shame influences our social behaviours, decision making abilities, and desires. Shame determines what we show and what we hide. And yet, as an emotion that begs for its own concealment, what is the structure and appearance of shame? How does shame interact with the realm of the visible, and where does it surface in visual culture? In this extensive historical and contemporary analysis of shame and its power, artist Andrea Büttner probes the definitions and representations of shame. The book includes close readings of Sigmund Freud’s writings on play and fantasy, challenges theoretical approaches to Andy Warhol’s queer performativity on film, and frames Dieter Roth’s representations of shame in his writing and moving image work.

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