Art And Agency

Clicks: 1
ID: 290168
1998
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Abstract
Abstract 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.
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openalex_W4388358549 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Alfred Gell
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 1998
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780198280132.001.0001
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198280132.001.0001
Keywords Keywords not found

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