The Hard Question of Art: Cognitive Futures

An essay on perception as the centre of art, set against inequality, climate challenges and artificial intelligence.

Metahaven holds that art operates in the space between the image formed by the artist and the cognitive effort required to complete it. Through conceptual experiments the book follows art across cognition, empathy, complexity and physics. It asks whether aesthetic value still matters, whether art serves a moral purpose, how AI might change artistic forms, and what capacities art requires of audiences whose attention is under pressure. Verso published it in August 2026.

Metahaven is the authorial name on the cover and the only one credited on the publisher's page.