The art market has been booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description, and, for some, a kind of alternative religion. In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of the Venice Biennale. She reveals the new dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life. A judicious and juicy account of the institutions that have the power to shape art history, based on hundreds of interviews with high-profile players, Thornton's entertaining ethnography will change the way you look at contemporary culture.

Is being an artist a radical form of entrepreneurship or a vocational calling like the priesthood? Is it an extension of philosophy or an offshoot of entertainment? In three richly interlinked but distinct 'acts' - Politics, Kinship and Craft - Sarah Thornton compares and contrasts answers to the simple but profound question: what is an artist? 33 Artists in 3 Acts draws on hundreds of personal encounters with the world's most important artists, to ask what it means to be making artworks in different parts of the world today. With Thornton as expert guide and trusted insider, we have unprecedented access to the lives of the artists, from late-night Skype chats with Ai Weiwei to taxi rides with Maurizio Cattelan on the way to and from the show that announces his death. We join Thornton as she rummages through artists' studios, homes and solo shows, inquiring about everything from their bank accounts to their bedrooms. The result is a series of cinematic experiences, which juxtapose artists in thought-provoking ways, and build up narratives that end with epiphanies. 33 Artists in 3 Acts is a generational touchstone, a powerful triptych and gripping anti-monograph about truth, integrity, credibility and recognition. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art, this masterful act of storytelling will also delight any reader seeking to understand creative lives.

Sarah Thornton's vivid ethnography an international hit, now available in fifteen translations reveals the inner workings of the sophisticated subcultures that make up the contemporary art world. In a series of day-in-the-life narratives set in New York, Los Angeles, London, Basel, Venice, and Tokyo, ?Seven Days in the Art World? explores the dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life."

¿Qué es ser un artista? ¿Tal vez una forma radical de espíritu emprendedor o una vocación profesional como el sacerdocio? ¿O más bien una rama de la filosofía o una forma más de entretenimiento? En tres «actos» distintos, aunque interrelacionados –Política, Afinidades y Oficio–, Sarah Thornton compara y contrasta las respuestas a la simple pero a su vez complicada pregunta ¿Qué es un artista? 33 artistas en 3 actos está contruida a partir de centenares de encuentros personales que Thornton ha tenido con los artistas más importantes del mundo, momento en que les preguntaba lo que significa para ellos crear trabajos artísticos, en diferentes partes del mundo, hoy en día. Con Thornton como guía experta y privilegiada, en este libro por primera vez tenemos acceso directo a la vida de artistas destacados, ya sea a través de charlas a altas horas de la noche, por Skype, con Ai Weiwi, o de viajes en taxi con Maurizio Cattelan de camino hacia el espectáculo donde va a anunciar su muerte. Así, vamos de la mano con la autora mientras hurga en los estudios o los propios shows de los artistas, lanzándoles pregunta sobre cualquier cosa, desde sus cuentas bancarias a la intimidad de su dormitorio. El resultado: una serie de experiencias cinematográficas de todos los artistas, de una forma yuxtapuesta que ayuda a reflexionar y, así, construir una narración que termina a modo de epifanía…