In 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, Ben Davis takes on a broad array of contemporary art's most persistent debates: How does creative labor fit into the economy? Is art merging with fashion and entertainment? What can we expect from political art? Davis argues that returning class to the center of discussion can play a vital role in tackling the challenges that visual art faces today, including the biggest challenge of all--how to maintain faith in art itself in a dysfunctional world.

Named after one of earth's African-American abolitionists and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth, who was born into chattel slavery but escaped to freedom in AD 1826, the Jaunt-Ship Sojourner whose name was chosen by the family that would pilot her, was created to be one of the first human ships of the late 22nd-Century to use "jaunt" technology reverse-engineered from their alien opponents in the so-called Earth-Xeria War several years before. Sojourner would allow the Strong family to journey across the wide open reaches of outer space with the aptly-named Strong family ready to...

At the age of twenty-two, Ben Davis weighed over 360 pounds. Depressed, addicted to food, and morbidly obese, he thought he'd lost all hope. But after a conversation with his grandmother, Ben promised himself that he would finally take control of his life.
Ben decided to -do life, - and so can you.
He started running. At first, he couldn't run a mile, but before long he was running five, ten, and then twenty miles at a time. His father and brother joined him, and as a team they ran a marathon and went on to complete one of the hardest physical competitions in the world,...

New York's repertory movie houses specialized in presenting films ignored by mainstream and art house audiences. Curating vintage and undistributed movies from various countries, they educated the public about the art of film at a time when the cinema had begun to be respected as an art form. Operating on shoestring budgets in funky settings, each repertory house had its own personality, reflecting the preferences of the (often eccentric) proprietor. While a few theaters existed in other cities, New York offered the greatest number and variety. Focusing on the active years from 1960 through...