Author: Ellen Dissanayake
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295998385
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Get Book Here
Book Description
Every human society displays some form of behavior that can be called “art,” and in most societies other than our own the arts play an integral part in social life. Those who wish to understand art in its broadest sense, as a universal human endowment, need to go beyond modern Western elitist notions that disregard other cultures and ignore the human species’ four-million-year evolutionary history. This book offers a new and unprecedentedly comprehensive theory of the evolutionary significance of art. Art, meaning not only visual art, but music, poetic language, dance, and performance, is for the first time regarded from a biobehavioral or ethical viewpoint. It is shown to be a biological necessity in human existence and fundamental characteristic of the human species. In this provocative study, Ellen Dissanayake examines art along with play and ritual as human behaviors that “make special,” and proposes that making special is an inherited tendency as intrinsic to the human species as speech and toolmaking. She claims that the arts evolved as means of making socially important activities memorable and pleasurable, and thus have been essential to human survival. Avoiding simplism and reductionism, this original synthetic approach permits a fresh look at old questions about the origins, nature, purpose, and value of art. It crosses disciplinary boundaries and integrates a number of divers fields: human ethology; evolutionary biology; the psychology and philosophy of art; physical and cultural anthropology; “primitive” and prehistoric art; Western cultural history; and children’s art. The final chapter, “From Tradition to Aestheticism,” explores some of the ways in which modern Western society has diverged from other societies--particularly the type of society in which human beings evolved--and considers the effects of the aberrance on our art and our attitudes toward art. This book is addressed to readers who have a concerned interest in the arts or in human nature and the state of modern society.
Author: Pamela Sachant
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 614
Get Book Here
Book Description
Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a deep insight and comprehension of the world of Art. Contents: What is Art? The Structure of Art Significance of Materials Used in Art Describing Art - Formal Analysis, Types, and Styles of Art Meaning in Art - Socio-Cultural Contexts, Symbolism, and Iconography Connecting Art to Our Lives Form in Architecture Art and Identity Art and Power Art and Ritual Life - Symbolism of Space and Ritual Objects, Mortality, and Immortality Art and Ethics
Author: Arthur C. Danto
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030017487X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Get Book Here
Book Description
One of America's most celebrated art critics offers a lively meditation on the nature of art.
Author: Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528769643
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Get Book Here
Book Description
Originally published in 1930, this book contains the widely respected essay 'What Is Art', by the well-known Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, and is highly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of any fan of his works. Many of these earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Author: Miguel Tamen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674067959
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Get Book Here
Book Description
This comic, serious inquiry into the nature of art takes its technical vocabulary from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. It is ridiculous to think of poems, paintings, or films as distinct from other things in the world, including people. Talking about art should be contiguous with talking about other relevant matters.
Author: Stefanie Bringezu
Publisher: Hatje Cantz
ISBN: 9783775735278
Category : Aesthetics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
Publication contains 27 questions posed by high school students and answered by art educators from the Fondation Beyeler, along with Swiss art experts.
Author: James Elkins
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415921138
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Get Book Here
Book Description
Here, Elkins argues that alchemists and painters have similar relationships to the substances they work with. Both try to transform the substance, while seeking to transform their own experience.
Author: Kyung An
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 0500773807
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Get Book Here
Book Description
A smart and playful introduction to the often-mystifying world of contemporary art What is contemporary art? What makes it contemporary? What is it for? And why is it so expensive? From museums and the art market to biennales and the next big thing, Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? offers concise and pointed insights into today’s art scene, decoding “Artspeak," explaining what curators do, demystifying conceptual art, exploring emerging art markets, and more. In this easy-to-navigate A to Z guide, the authors’ playful explanations draw on key artworks, artists, and events from around the globe, including how the lights going on and off won the Turner Prize, what makes the likes of Marina Abramovic and Ai Weiwei such great artists, and why Kanye West would trade his Grammys to be one. Packed with behind-the-scenes information and completely free of jargon, Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? is the perfect gallery companion and the go to guide for when the next big thing leaves you stumped.
Author: Joseph Beuys
Publisher: CLAIRVIEW BOOKS
ISBN: 1905570562
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 138
Get Book Here
Book Description
Joseph Beuys’s work continues to influence and inspire practitioners and thinkers all over the world, in areas from organizational learning, direct democracy and new money forms to new art pedagogies and ecological art practices. Here, in dialogue with Volker Harlan - a close colleague, whose own work also revolves around understandings of substance and sacrament that are central to Beuys - the deeper motivations and insights underlying ‘social sculpture’, Beuys’s expanded conception of art, are illuminated. His profound reflections, complemented with insightful essays by Volker Harlan, give a sense of the interconnectedness between all life forms, and the foundations of a path towards an ecologically sustainable future. This volume features over 40 b/w illustrations.
Author: Ellen Winner
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190863358
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Get Book Here
Book Description
"How Art Works explores puzzles that have preoccupied philosophers as well as the general public: Can art be defined? How do we decide what is good art? Why do we gravitate to sadness in art? Why do we devalue a perfect fake? Could 'my kid have done that'? Does reading fiction enhance empathy? Drawing on careful observations, probing interviews, and clever experiments, Ellen Winner reveals surprising answers to these and other artistic mysteries. We may come away with a new understanding of how art works on us."--Jacket.
