{"id":15906,"date":"2025-10-05T15:21:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T20:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?post_type=product&p=15906"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:54:14","slug":"total-art","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Total Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laura Paul<\/a><\/h2>\n

Total Art<\/h3>\n

ISBN: 978-1-956921-55-7<\/span>\u00a0(pbk.)<\/p>\n

(November 15, 2025)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI knew what it was to turn survival into an art, to know what it was to need art to survive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Total Ar<\/em>t<\/span>,<\/span> Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more. Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk<\/i>, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Paul pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains. By reckoning with our sharpest moments of brutality and our most extravagant displays of creativity, Paul shows that art isn\u2019t extraneous to survival, but at the very center of it. A timely examination for a frightening era, this book isn\u2019t only a bold argument about the need for beauty during upheaval, but is as compassionate as it is commanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cTotal Art<\/em>‘s project is the reversal of the atomization of not just art but of reality itself, and of the social fabric that binds us together.\u201d
\n\u2014Alex Tretbar, winner of the 2022 PEN America Prison Writing Contest in Poetry, finalist for the 2021 PEN\/Edward Bunker Prize in Fiction, author of toofarwandered<\/em> (Tilted House, 2026), According to the Plat Thereof<\/em> (Ethel, 2025) and Kansas City Gothic<\/em> (Broken Sleep, 2025).<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Paul<\/a>
\n9781956921557
\nExploring the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[236,16],"product_tag":[505,18,503],"class_list":{"0":"post-15906","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-books","7":"product_cat-lavender-ink","8":"product_tag-laura-paul","9":"product_tag-poetry","10":"product_tag-wit","12":"first","13":"instock","14":"taxable","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple","18":"berocket_lgv_grid","19":"berocket_lgv_list_grid"},"yoast_head":"\nIn Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T22:54:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"908\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lavender_ink_pr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/\",\"name\":\"In Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-05T20:21:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T22:54:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":908},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shop\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Total Art\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\",\"name\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"description\":\"Publisher of Contemporary Poetry and Literary Prose\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":183,\"caption\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/lavender_ink_pr\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","description":"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","og_description":"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/","og_site_name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-17T22:54:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@lavender_ink_pr","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/","name":"In Total Art, Laura Paul wrestles with issues of art and violence in a book-length meditation spanning the mediums of painting, photography, movies, music, and more, at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-05T20:21:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T22:54:14+00:00","description":"Inspired by the term Gesamtkunstwerk, the unification of multiple arts for one expressive aim, Laura Paul, in Total Art, pushes the limits of what it means to let art, or love, consume all of life until nothing else remains.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/total-art-cover-100.jpg","width":600,"height":908},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/total-art\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shop","item":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Total Art"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/","name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","description":"Publisher of Contemporary Poetry and Literary Prose","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization","name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg","width":800,"height":183,"caption":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/","https:\/\/x.com\/lavender_ink_pr"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15906"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16008,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15906\/revisions\/16008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=15906"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=15906"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=15906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}