The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response
01 Jan 1989-The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (University of Chicago Press)-Vol. 49, Iss: 1, pp 85
TL;DR: Freedberg's "The Power of Images" as mentioned in this paper is an extraordinary critical achievement, exhilarating in its polemic against aesthetic orthodoxy, endlessly fascinating in its details, and is a powerful, disturbing book.
Abstract: "This learned and heavy volume should be placed on the shelves of every art historical library." E. H. Gombrich, "New York Review of Books" "This is an engaged and passionate work by a writer with powerful convictions about art, images, aesthetics, the art establishment, and especially the discipline of art history. It is animated by an extraordinary erudition." Arthur C. Danto, "The Art Bulletin" "Freedberg's ethnographic and historical range is simply stunning. . . . "The Power of Images" is an extraordinary critical achievement, exhilarating in its polemic against aesthetic orthodoxy, endlessly fascinating in its details. . . . This is a powerful, disturbing book." T. J. Jackson Lears, "Wilson Quarterly" "Freedberg helps us to see that one cannot do justice to the images of art unless one recognizes in them the entire range of human responses, from the lowly impulses prevailing in popular imagery to their refinement in the great visions of the ages." Rudolf Arnheim, "Times Literary Supplement""
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TL;DR: It is proposed that a crucial element of esthetic response consists of the activation of embodied mechanisms encompassing the simulation of actions, emotions and corporeal sensation, and that these mechanisms are universal.
Abstract: The implications of the discovery of mirroring mechanisms and embodied simulation for empathetic responses to images in general, and to works of visual art in particular, have not yet been assessed. Here, we address this issue and we challenge the primacy of cognition in responses to art. We propose that a crucial element of esthetic response consists of the activation of embodied mechanisms encompassing the simulation of actions, emotions and corporeal sensation, and that these mechanisms are universal. This basic level of reaction to images is essential to understanding the effectiveness both of everyday images and of works of art. Historical, cultural and other contextual factors do not preclude the importance of considering the neural processes that arise in the empathetic understanding of visual artworks.
755 citations
TL;DR: This framework demonstrates that a science of art appreciation must investigate how appreciators process causal and historical information to classify and explain their psychological responses to art and concludes that scientists can tackle fundamental questions about the nature and appreciation of art within the psycho-historical framework.
Abstract: Research seeking a scientific foundation for the theory of art appreciation has raised controversies at the intersection of the social and cognitive sciences. Though equally relevant to a scientific inquiry into art appreciation, psychological and historical approaches to art developed independently and lack a common core of theoretical principles. Historicists argue that psychological and brain sciences ignore the fact that artworks are artifacts produced and appreciated in the context of unique historical situations and artistic intentions. After revealing flaws in the psychological approach, we introduce a psycho-historical framework for the science of art appreciation. This framework demonstrates that a science of art appreciation must investigate how appreciators process causal and historical information to classify and explain their psychological responses to art. Expanding on research about the cognition of artifacts, we identify three modes of appreciation: basic exposure to an artwork, the artistic design stance, and artistic understanding. The artistic design stance, a requisite for artistic understanding, is an attitude whereby appreciators develop their sensitivity to art-historical contexts by means of inquiries into the making, authorship, and functions of artworks. We defend and illustrate the psycho-historical framework with an analysis of existing studies on art appreciation in empirical aesthetics. Finally, we argue that the fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure can be amended to meet the requirements of the framework. We conclude that scientists can tackle fundamental questions about the nature and appreciation of art within the psycho-historical framework.
239 citations
Cites background from "The Power of Images: Studies in the..."
...…described as basic (Ekman 1992) or primary (Damasio 1994) – such as anger, fear (Ledoux 1996; Walton 1978), disgust, and sadness – and other basic responses such as startle (Robinson 1995), erotic desire (Freedberg 1989), enjoyment, or feeling of empathetic engagement (Freedberg & Gallese 2007)....
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...Reciprocally, only a few art historians (Freedberg 1989; Freedberg & Gallese 2007; Gombrich 1960; 1963; 1979; Stafford 2007; 2011) and philosophers (Currie 1995; 2004; Dutton 2009; Kieran & Lopes 2006; Lopes 1996; 2004; Nichols 2006; Robinson 1995; 2004; 2005; Scharfstein 2009; Schellekens & Goldie…...
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TL;DR: The double question whether visual culture studies is a discipline or an interdisciplinary movement, and which methods are most suited to practice in this field, can only be addressed by way of the object as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The double question whether visual culture studies is a discipline or an interdisciplinary movement, and which methods are most suited to practice in this field, can only be addressed by way of the object. This article probes the difficulty of defining or delimiting the object of study without the reassuring and widespread visual essentialism that, in the end, can only be tautological.
185 citations
TL;DR: This paper used the controversy regarding the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas as a paradigm to challenge essentializing notions of an “Islamic” response to the image, and the role of the museum as the locus of a secular iconology characteristic of the modern nation-state.
Abstract: This article uses the recent controversy regarding the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas as a paradigm to challenge essentializing notions of an “Islamic” response to the image. Beginning with a history of premodern iconoclastic practice in the Islamic world, it explores the reception of the Bamiyan Buddhas in light of evidence for a complex range of responses to Buddhist and Hindu images in Afghanistan. Finally, it relates the destruction of Buddhist antiquities in 2001 not to a timeless theology of images but to the role of the museum as the locus of a secular iconolatry characteristic of the modern nation-state.
184 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an interpretive method drawing from social psychology, feminist theory and art criticism is developed to analyze contemporary images of gender, using a selection of ads from contemporary fashion magazines and catalogs to illustrate particular themes suggested by research on the representation of gender in advertising.
Abstract: An interpretive method drawing from social psychology, feminist theory and art criticism is developed to analyze contemporary images of gender. Utilizing and expanding upon visual research techniques, a selection of ads from contemporary fashion magazines and catalogs was assembled to illustrate particular themes suggested by research on the representation of gender in advertising. The body‐and what it expresses‐is a site of central concern, and discussion focuses on how female and male bodies are represented in advertising. The conventions of art history, when framed within a social science perspective, offer unique contributions to the study of advertising and gender, well suited for researchers interested in the culture of consumption.
169 citations