The Everyday and Everydayness | Author: Julie Mehretu & Henri Lefebvre

Like public space, Lefebvre argued, the everyday is a social structure concurrent with modernity: 'the everyday is a product, the most general of products in an era where production engenders consumption.'

In this edition of Lefebvre’s classic but largely unavailable text, New York-based artist Julie Mehretu responds to Lefebvre’s 1987 essay, reflecting upon its implications during a time when conceptions of 'the everyday' are both heightened and obscured.The work of French Marxist sociologist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre radically transformed the discourse of political geography. Witness to the rapid urbanisation of the 20th century, Lefebvre conceptualised public space as socially produced - a mirror image of capitalist ideology - and levied a humanitarian slogan in response: 'the right to the city'.

Mehretu identifies thematic connections between his text and her own work, casting into relief the enduring relevance of Lefebvre’s consideration of time, space and place.

Softcover
15.2 x 21 cm
64 pages