Model collapse

European contemporary art in a time of democratic crisis

By: Lindsay Caplan (Editor), Kerry Greaves (Editor)

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eBook | 2 December 2025

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A ground-breaking exploration of how art responds to democratic crisis.

Is democracy over? Did we ever really have it? Most people would agree that today democracy finds itself in crisis. As this crisis has intensified, art has emerged as an important means of experimenting with new democratic processes and possibilities.

In Model collapse, an incisive group of art historians and theorists investigate the relationship between art and democracy since the 1990s. Exploring a wide range of artistic responses, from interactive public sculptures to autonomous curatorial projects, critical engagement with electoral politics and creative street protest, they offer fresh insights into the limits of representation, the appeal of collaboration and the role of the nation-state in post-national frameworks.

'Model collapse' is what happens when large language models start learning from their own generated data and lose all connection to reality. This book examines the multiple, intersecting crises that shape the conditions for artistic practice and define its socio-political aims. It advances our understanding of how art can contribute to one of the most vital political issues of our time.