Off Track: Art and philosophy as triggers for system change

In Off Track art and philosophy are the inspiration to look differently at daily life and organizations. The book is a plea to approach the complexity of the current world with new metaphors. The author calls this ‘thinking around’. She sees that in ‘square worlds’ there is a need for tools to approach entrenched patterns and systems differently and to get thought processes moving. Sarai van de Boel challenges the reader to look at one’s own systems from the inside with a philosophical approach.

In eight chapters there are eight ‘tracks’ to follow, but it is also possible to go off the rails. More than fifty works of art by well-known and lesser-known artists and designers play a role in these traces. The author questions the essence of their works and asks philosophical questions about phenomena they evoke. With Marlene Dumas, Marinus Boezem, L.A. Raeven, Ed Atkins, Wong Ping, Kazumasa Nagai, Remy Jungerman, Otto Piene, Eiko Ishioka, Campana brothers, Ann Demeulemeester and Kara Walker.

The book ends with the Art & Philosophy Strategy, a theoretical framework for the use of art and philosophy.