THINKING WITH THINGS by Esther Pasztory ( 9780292706910 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

THINKING WITH THINGS
TOWARD A NEW VISION OF ART

By:

Esther Pasztory

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£28.99

Our price:

£24.64

Discount:

15% off

You save:

£4.35

ISBN 10:

029270691X

ISBN 13:

9780292706910

Availability:

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Stock:

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Publisher:

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS

Pub. date:

1 August, 2005

Pages:

264

Description:

Offers a way of understanding what art is and why human beings create it. This book asserts that humans create things in order to work out ideas. It draws on examples from several societies to argue that the art-making impulse is primarily cognitive and only secondarily aesthetic. It is intended for those who creates or thinks about works of art.

Synopsis:

What is "art"? Why have human societies through all time and around the globe created those objects we call works of art? Is there any way of defining art that can encompass everything from Paleolithic objects to the virtual images created by the latest computer technology? Questions such as these have preoccupied Esther Pasztory since the beginning of her scholarly career. In this authoritative volume, she distills four decades of research and reflection to propose a pathbreaking new way of understanding what art is and why human beings create it that can be applied to all cultures throughout time.At its heart, Pasztory's thesis is simple and yet profound. She asserts that humans create things (some of which modern Western society chooses to call "art") in order to work out our ideas-that is, we literally think with things. Pasztory draws on examples from many societies to argue that the art-making impulse is primarily cognitive and only secondarily aesthetic. She demonstrates that "art" always reflects the specific social context in which it is created, and that as societies become more complex, their art becomes more rarefied.Pasztory presents her thesis in a two-part approach. The first section of the book is an original essay entitled "Thinking with Things" that develops Pasztory's unified theory of what art is and why we create it. The second section is a collection of eight previously published essays that explore the art-making process in both Pre-Columbian and Western societies. Pasztory's work combines the insights of art history and anthropology in the light of poststructuralist ideas. Her book will be indispensable reading for everyone who creates or thinks about works of art.

Illustrations:

145 b&w illus.

Publication:

Imprint:

University of Texas Press

Returns:

Returnable

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