Share

Art and Agency

Download Art and Agency PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 1998-07-09
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 451/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Art and Agency by : Alfred Gell

Download or read book Art and Agency written by Alfred Gell. This book was released on 1998-07-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alfred Gell puts forward a new anthropological theory of visual art, seen as a form of instrumental action: the making of things as a means of influencing the thoughts and actions of others. He argues that existing anthropological and aesthetic theories take an overwhelmingly passive point of view, and questions the criteria that accord art status only to a certain class of objects and not to others. The anthropology of art is here reformulated as the anthropology of a category of action: Gell shows how art objects embody complex intentionalities and mediate social agency. He explores the psychology of patterns and perceptions, art and personhood, the control of knowledge, and the interpretation of meaning, drawing upon a diversity of artistic traditions—European, Indian, Polynesian, Melanesian, and Australian. Art and Agency was completed just before Alfred Gell's death at the age of 51 in January 1997. It embodies the intellectual bravura, lively wit, vigour, and erudition for which he was admired, and will stand as an enduring testament to one of the most gifted anthropologists of his generation.

Art and Agency

Download Art and Agency PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 1998
Genre : Art
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 130/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Art and Agency by : Alfred Gell

Download or read book Art and Agency written by Alfred Gell. This book was released on 1998. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Art and Agency, Alfred Gell formulates an anthropological theory of visual art that focuses on the social context of art production, circulation, and reception. As a theory of the nexus of social relations involving works of art, this work suggests that in certain contexts, art-objects substitute for persons and thus mediate social agency. Diversely illustrated and based on European, Polynesian, Melanesian, and Australian sources, Art and Agency was completed just before Gell's death at the age of fifty-one in January 1997. It embodies the intellectual bravura, lively wit, vigor, and erudition for which he was admired, and will stand as an enduring testament to one of the most gifted anthropologists of his generation.

Games

Download Games PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2020
Genre : Games & Activities
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 082/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Games by : C. Thi Nguyen

Download or read book Games written by C. Thi Nguyen. This book was released on 2020. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Games are a unique art form. The game designer doesn't just create a world; they create who you will be in that world. They tell you what abilities to use and what goals to take on. In other words, they specify a form of agency. Games work in the medium of agency. And to play them, we take on alternate agencies and submerge ourselves in them. What can we learn about our own rationality and agency, from thinking about games? We learn that we have a considerable degree of fluidity with our agency. First, we have the capacity for a peculiar sort of motivational inversion. For some of us, winning is not the point. We take on an interest in winning temporarily, so that we can play the game. Thus, we are capable of taking on temporary and disposable ends. We can submerge ourselves in alternate agencies, letting them dominate our consciousness, and then dropping them the moment the game is over. Games are, then, a way of recording forms of agency, of encoding them in artifacts. Our games are a library of agencies. And exploring that library can help us develop our own agency and autonomy. But this technology can also be used for art. Games can sculpt our practical activity, for the sake of the beauty of our own actions. Games are part of a crucial, but overlooked category of art - the process arts. These are the arts which evoke an activity, and then ask you to appreciate your own activity. And games are a special place where we can foster beautiful experiences of our own activity. Because our struggles, in games, can be designed to fit our capacities. Games can present a harmonious world, where our abilities fit the task, and where we pursue obvious goals and act under clear values. Games are a kind of existential balm against the difficult and exhausting value clarity of the world. But this presents a special danger. Games can be a fantasy of value clarity. And when that fantasy leaks out into the world, we can be tempted to oversimplify our enduring values. Then, the pleasures of games can seduce us away from our autonomy, and reduce our agency."--

The Anthropology of Art

Download The Anthropology of Art PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2009-02-04
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 329/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Anthropology of Art by : Howard Morphy

Download or read book The Anthropology of Art written by Howard Morphy. This book was released on 2009-02-04. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology provides a single-volume overview of the essential theoretical debates in the anthropology of art. Drawing together significant work in the field from the second half of the twentieth century, it enables readers to appreciate the art of different cultures at different times. Advances a cross-cultural concept of art that moves beyond traditional distinctions between Western and non-Western art. Provides the basis for the appreciation of art of different cultures and times. Enhances readers’ appreciation of the aesthetics of art and of the important role it plays in human society.

Art's Agency and Art History

Download Art's Agency and Art History PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2008-04-15
Genre : Art
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 273/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Art's Agency and Art History by : Robin Osborne

Download or read book Art's Agency and Art History written by Robin Osborne. This book was released on 2008-04-15. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Art's Agency and Art History re-articulates the relationship of the anthropology of art to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics. Explores important concepts and perspectives in the anthropology of art Includes nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists Covers a wide range of periods, including Bronze-Age China, Classical Greece, Rome, and Mayan, as well as the modern Western world Features an introductory essay by leading experts, which helps clarify issues in the field Includes numerous illustrations

You may also like...