Edward de Bono invented the term lateral thinking and defined it as such: "1.You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper. 2.Lateral Thinking is for changing concepts and perceptions instead of trying harder with the same concepts and perceptions. 3.In self-organizing information systems, asymmetric patterns are formed; Lateral Thinking is a method for cutting across from one pattern to another." As the title of this book, Lateral Thinking refers to the non-traditional approach that the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, has applied to building its collection. Curatorially independent, striking a balance between the regional and the global, the emerging artist and the established figure, the MCA has always worked to represent important developments in mainstream art while also identifying significant developments that fall outside of conventional categories. The museum's efforts to illuminate a new axis mapping the contemporary art world -- one running north and south through North, Central, and South America instead of east and west through the United States and Europe. Featuring the work, in virtually all media, of more than 65 artists including Matthew Barney, Jose Bedia, Vanessa Beecroft, John Currin, David Hammons, Gary Hill, Gabriel Orozco, Edward Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, and Lisa Yuskavage.