When You Make No Art

Wen-You Cai shares an autobiographical account of moving to America as a child, and growing up in the art world. Each chapter holds inspirations and vignettes from museums, travels, and random encounters around the world that inspired her later endeavors with the formation of Special Special as an art project space and community platform. 

Cai conceptualizes the idea of a “reluctant artist,” or someone who is immersed in the arts but has trouble making work. The third edition includes a preface written by the author reflecting on this book ten years later.