the contradictory formal, ideological, and political conditions during this period that made American art predominant throughout the world. Social and cultural transformations rooted in mass media technologies--photography, television, video, and the Internet--elevated consumer commodities to the status of legitimate art subjects, as in pop and installation art, and also brought about a mechanization of the creative act. Canonical movements and figures are discussed at length--Pollock, Rothko, Krasner, Oldenburg, Johns, Warhol, Paik, Ruscha, Sherman, Schnabel, Koons, Barney, and others--in juxtaposition with lesser known contemporary artists and practices.