"What do we gain from visual art and what do we stand to lose without it?". "For many of the contributors, visual art makes us see what we haven't seen before; it surprises, transforms, and comforts us. There are other perspectives too: critic Dave Hickey claims that art has no deep moral purpose, and that the artist should not have to work under the burden. Art, he writes, is just a whole lot of fun and therein lies its revolutionary potential. For anyone who has felt moved by the visual, this collection offers a range of views on how and why art matters in our psychic, social, and political lives."--BOOK JACKET.