Rosalind Krauss Reinventing The Medium Pdf ((top)) May 2026

Rosalind Krauss’s 1999 essay "Reinventing the Medium" defines the "post-medium condition" by arguing that artists must replace traditional material-based mediums with technical supports derived from obsolete technologies. The text highlights artists like James Coleman and William Kentridge who use these constraints to create a "differential specificity" in their work. The full text is available for download at Critical Inquiry.

For Krauss, the crisis of modern art occurred when artists could no longer blindly rely on these conventions. The old supports (the canvas, the pedestal) became hollow. If art was to survive, it couldn't just abandon the idea of a medium—it had to reinvent it. rosalind krauss reinventing the medium pdf

“The post-medium condition does not imply the negation of the medium. On the contrary, it opens the way for the medium’s reinvention.” For Krauss, the crisis of modern art occurred

. Krauss argues that for art to be meaningful, it must work within a set of constraints—it must have "rules" that the artist can follow or break. “The post-medium condition does not imply the negation

, she suggests that when a technology becomes obsolete (like 35mm film or slide projectors), it is freed from its commercial utility, allowing artists to rediscover its utopian and aesthetic potential. Differential Specificity:

Summary: The Takeaway

Rosalind Krauss’s "Reinventing the Medium" is a call to move beyond nostalgia. It is a challenge to artists: