This book is a comprehensive anthology of 40 major art projects commissioned by the organisation Artangel over the last decade. It represents a unique perspective on boundary-breaking art projects through a compilation of the work of filmmakers, writers, visual artists, composers, choreographers and performers.

I was one of a number of London writers who were commissioned to write essays that provide a theoretical context to the projects. Other participants included Claire Bishop, Alex Coles, Lynn MacRitchie, Alan Read, Jonathan Romney, Adrian Searle and Marina Warner. The project represents a very detailed snapshot of the range of cultural prosecution generated by a major commissioning body, providing an invaluable insight into the concerns and ambitions of contemporary and recent British art.

My essay placed significant London-based commissions by three artists - Janet Cardiff, Rachel Lichtenstein and Richard Wentworth - within a broad theoretical exploration of cartography, subjectivity and urban knowledge. It demonstrated how the work of these and other artists within this anthology represent a compelling critique of the modernist urban paradigms of order and comprehension. It represented a significant manifestation of an ongoing collaboration between myself and artist Richard Wentworth that has included a joint essay in Borden, Kerr, Rendell, eds, The Unknown City (MIT, 2001) and a series of lectures and symposia (Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Museum of London).