Activating the Transformative Potential of Commons in the Arts
Text by Vera Hofmann, Johannes Euler, Linus Zurmühlen, Silke Helfrich.
A much-needed contribution to the literature on commoning, offering pragmatic, structured and transformative strategies to rethink and reshape the arts
First published in German in 2022, Commoning Art has since become a standard reference in debates on art, commons and cultural self-organization. Discussed in academic contexts, artist-run spaces and cultural institutions, the book has shaped how commoning is theorized and practiced in the arts. This English edition now makes that discourse accessible to an international readership. Commoning Art develops a methodology that advances an ontological reorientation of art, understanding it as a shared infrastructure, collectively stewarded through practices of co-creation, peer decision-making and mutual support. This reorientation opens pathways toward supportive legal, organizational and material conditions that allow artistic work to be sustained with reduced dependence on market- and state-based arrangements. The book combines conceptual clarity with a wide range of situated examples, case studies and ideas drawn from real work in art and culture.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 7/21/2026
This title is not yet published in the U.S. To pre-order or receive notice when the book is available, please email orders @ artbook.com
FORMAT: Pbk, 6.25 x 9 in. / 136 pgs. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $41.95 ISBN: 9789083657516 PUBLISHER: Set Margins’ publications AVAILABLE: 7/21/2026 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Forthcoming AVAILABILITY: Awaiting stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR ME
Commoning Art Activating the Transformative Potential of Commons in the Arts
Published by Set Margins’ publications. Text by Vera Hofmann, Johannes Euler, Linus Zurmühlen, Silke Helfrich.
A much-needed contribution to the literature on commoning, offering pragmatic, structured and transformative strategies to rethink and reshape the arts
First published in German in 2022, Commoning Art has since become a standard reference in debates on art, commons and cultural self-organization. Discussed in academic contexts, artist-run spaces and cultural institutions, the book has shaped how commoning is theorized and practiced in the arts. This English edition now makes that discourse accessible to an international readership.
Commoning Art develops a methodology that advances an ontological reorientation of art, understanding it as a shared infrastructure, collectively stewarded through practices of co-creation, peer decision-making and mutual support. This reorientation opens pathways toward supportive legal, organizational and material conditions that allow artistic work to be sustained with reduced dependence on market- and state-based arrangements. The book combines conceptual clarity with a wide range of situated examples, case studies and ideas drawn from real work in art and culture.
