It is subtitled “a children’s book for adults”, which somewhat underplays the provocative political undertow of some of the projects described within, whether it is his epic reenactment of the “Battle of Orgreave” during the miners’ strike or his 2019 film Putin’s Happy, which captures the febrile atmosphere of the Brexit protests in Parliament Square. Whether it's stepping on Stonehenge's sacred ground, jumping on it or highlighting popular culture, evoking music fans or the British, it's all about mass creative power. The former, entitled Sacrilege, played host to children and ravers at various outdoor sites until it collapsed from wear and tear during a tour of Australia.

As with his famous drawing The History of the World, a flow diagram of how popular culture can sometimes shape the course of history, even predict it, his entire practice sometimes feels like an epic attempt to prove that everything is connected. Much of Deller's work is collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through the involvement of other people in the creative process. His projects over the past two decades, such as Battle of Orgreave (2001) and We're Here Because We're Here (2016), as well as the documentary Everybody in the An Incomplete History of Britain 1984–1992 (2019), have greatly influenced the map of contemporary art. Only 316 copies have been printed and each comes shrink-wrapped with a silk screen print by Jeremy, numbered and signed. Although artist and architects operate in very different contexts I feel there are a lot of sympathies between Deller’s creative process and the way we work at AOC.I wanted to see why they were like that, what had happened to make them so aggressively bound to this cause. His artworks, trans-historical and partisan of free expression as a vector of values ​​and meaning, initiate a dialogue between cultures, people, the past, the present and what could be the future. The book features work from across Deller’s life and art and includes Sacrilege, the inflatable Stonehenge, the Iggy Pop Life Class, The Battle of Orgreave, a recreation of a confrontation from the Miners’ Strike, bats (a subject in at least three of Deller’s works), Andy Warhol (whom he met in 1986), rave culture, hen harriers pecking out the eyes of a Tory MP, and a giant Chameleon slide. Art is Magic is artist Jeremy Deller's attempt to tie up the key works of his career alongside the art, pop music, film, politics and history that have inspired his work. Jeremy Deller won the Turner Prize in 2004, represented the UK at the Venice Biennale in 2013 – and participated in the first Folkestone Triennial in 2008.

With conversations between the artist and an eclectic mix of cultural figures and collaborators, from fashion provocateur Sportsbanger to classicist Mary Bear, the book offers an unpredictable and exhilarating tour of Deller’s life and works. Art is Magic is an artist’s monograph, presenting artworks from the last 30 years with a thematic structure. Like most of us, Deller experienced the actual event through the often chaotic news footage broadcast on television. All artwork deliveries from The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd require a signature and we accept no responsibility if the signature is not that of the recipient, or nominate recipient, and will consider the package correctly delivered. I meant more in terms of the art world, where he has always seemed out of step with the prevailing trends and apart from the ongoing carnival of commodification that began in earnest with the ascendancy of the YBA generation, of whom he is a contemporary.Interviews with figures as diverse as Mary Beard and Jonny Banger punctuate Deller’s reflections, as do artworks from numerous contemporaries of Deller’s, including Nick Abrahams, Tasha Amini, Olivier Antoine of Art Concept, Cecilia Bengolea and Sean Bidder.

Maya Lin’s memorial in Washington DC to 58,220 US military deaths in Vietnam is a celebrated piece of civic remembrance. I only really discovered Deller’s art relatively recently and I have to say I find his work absolutely fascinating. Having just rewatched Putin’s Happy, in which he engages with individuals amid the often unruly and threatening throngs of protesters, I’m not sure I agree.Art is Magic is an attempt to link the key works of Jeremy Deller’s career with the art, pop music, cinema, politics and history that have inspired his work.