The absence of work

"Considered to be a founding father of institutional critique, Broodthaers created hundreds of objects, books, films, photographs, and exhibitions ... In [book title], [author] argues that all of Broodthaers's art is defined by its relationship to language. His perception of his poetry's "failure to communicate" led him to explore in his art the noncommunicative, nontransparent uses of words. By showing us the ways in which it is instrumentalized across society--used for its efficiency despite the complexities it introduces into communication--Broodthaers shows us how we imagine language to work and points us to its hidden operations."--Book jacket.