reflection

Brian Eno Releases Book ‘What Art Does’ On Importance of Expression: ‘Nearly All of Us Are Creative’

The artist's latest book features illustrations by Bette Adriaanse and is subtitled "An Unfinished Theory"

By Jonathan Zavaleta

Jonathan Zavaleta

Contact Jonathan Zavaleta by Email

View all posts by Jonathan Zavaleta

March 25, 2025

Add us as a Google Preferred Source

What Art Does book on gray background

Amazon

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Legendary musician, songwriter, and composer Brian Eno seems to be in a reflective mood. Last year, he released his experimental documentary, Eno, and now he’s releasing a new book. What Art Does arrives today from Faber & Faber, and is available as a hardcover or Kindle.

What Art Does, co-written by Bette Adriaanse, is Eno’s first book in nearly three decades. Subtitled “An Unfinished Theory,” the book is “an inspiring call to imagine a different future,” according to the publisher. It’s available now from retailers like Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble.

Brian Eno Releases New Book on Creative Process: Where to Buy

What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory

$18.55

Buy Now at bookshop.org

Buy Now on amazon

Eno rose to fame as a founding member of Roxy Music, before embarking on a solo career, while also producing albums for artists like David Bowie and Talking Heads. Eno also composed film scores and works as a visual artist.

What Art Does is a slender 128 pages and features illustrations that reflect on the meaning and importance of art. In an Instagram post, Eno said, “The overall hope I have for this book is that it might demystify art in a certain way. Nearly all of us are creative a lot of the time, but we do it in ways that aren’t called art”

Eno was interviewed by The Guardian ahead of the book’s UK release, telling the publication what his motivations were to write the book, “I would read everything I could about ‘what is art’, and the answers were so unconvincing to me. They were ridiculously romantic: ‘art is the central truth of human existence’, and bollocks like that. I wanted some sort of biological, psychological grip on why people did it. Because the thing that’s unavoidable is … everybody is living in art.” You can order it now from retailers like Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble

In this article:

More News

Read more

Top stories newsletter

A Cultural Force That Transcends Generations

Enter your Email

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.