The texts of Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) cross many different fields of creative and intellectual inquiry. A dominant figure internationally, few thinkers of the late twentieth century factor so prominently in any consideration of the larger debates delineating contemporary critical theory. The term 'deconstruction', a word Derrida first used some forty years ago, has by now become so pervasive that not only is it a word heard regularly in regard to academic fields, but also it has become a regular feature of studio discourse. The term is even bandied about on a regular basis within popular culture, on television shows, the Internet or cinema. Whether in the artist's studio or the corporate mass media, the prevalence of 'deconstruction' as a word in contemporary culture makes a familiarity with the texts of Derrida that much more vital to students wishing to understand contemporary cultural trends, as well as gain insight into some of the enduring structures ordering the visual arts.