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Anthropology, Art and Cultural Production

Anthropology, Art and Cultural Production

Maruska Svasek

(2007)

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Book Details

Abstract

This book provides an introduction to anthropological perspectives on art.

Svasek defines art as a social process. We study not only the artefacts themselves and the values attributed to them, but also the process of production and its wider context.

Providing a critical overview of various anthropological theories of art, Svasek offers a new perspective which centres on the analysis of commoditisation, aestheticisation and object agency. She explores the process of collecting and exhibiting art works and how this relates to art's production, distribution and consumption in an increasingly global market.

The book outlines the significance of art and aesthetics in everyday life, and examines the shifting boundaries between art and other categories such as kitsch, souvenirs, propaganda and pornography.

Finally, Svasek argues for an anthropological perspective that links the production and consumption of artefacts to political, religious and other cultural processes.

Ideal as a teaching text, this book gives a detailed overview of themes that are central to the fields of art history, art sociology and cultural studies.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents v
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Part I: Theorising Art 1
1. Introduction 3
2. From Evolutionism to Ethnoaesthetics 16
3. From Visual Communication to Object Agency 38
Part II: Objects, Transit and Transition 65
4. Performances: The Power of Art/Efacts 67
5. Markets: Art/Efacts on the Move 88
6. Museums: Space, Materiality and the Politics of Display 123
7. Fine Art: Creating and Contesting Boundaries 154
8. Processual Relativism: Fante Flags in Northern Ireland 191
9. Conclusion 218
Notes 220
Bibliography 240
Index 257