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Product Description
Ambitious in scale and far-reaching in scope, How Art Made the World is a fresh introduction to the history of art and, through the visual image, the history of humankind.
Embarking with the motto 'Everyone is an artist', Nigel Spivey takes us on a quest to find out when and how we humans acquired and then exploited our unique capacity for symbolic representation. In the late nineteenth century, the first discoveries of prehistoric painting were greeted with incredulity. How could there have been such deft and skilful artists in the world over 30,000 years ago?
The exploration of this mystery leads to a trail of further intriguing problems. Images came to us before the written word so how did we use images to tell stories? The representation of our human form has been a preoccupation of artists through the centuries so why is it that from the very beginning we have preferred images of the body with distorted or exaggerated features? By what means did we define some supernatural presence as immortal and invisible, and then attempt to visualize it? And when did our environment become styled as a landscape? In answering these questions and many more, Nigel Spivey takes us on a journey that also reveals how art has been used as a means of mass persuasion, essential to the creation of hierarchical societies, and finally, the extent to which art has served as a mode of terror management in the face of our inevitable death.
Packed with new insights into ancient wonders and fascinating stories from all around the globe, How Art Made the World is a compelling account of how humans made art and how art makes us human.
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Customer Reviews
Its been a criticism that Nigel Spivey takes too simple an approach to a complex series of issues. However it works to his favour and the strength of the programme. In fact his approach to art is similar to Simon Schama's approach to history. Its a subjective view of events, conveying complex ideas while giving credit to the audience's intelligence.
While not being an art expert, many of the ideas concerning the development of early art and its manifestations today were very convincing and motivated me to learn more about the subject area. His language is clear and straight forward, he guides us through the labyrinth of art history. In addition his obvious passion for the subject comes through. And the approach to the subject of death in art was very potent and eye opening.
I will probably never be an art expert but this series has been a sort of enlightenment for me. It made me see that art did indeed have key role in shaping the world today.
A fascinating and original piece of work.
Listmania!
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