Customer Reviews

Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory

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Reading this book modified my self-image and expanded my understanding of the image-making industry. The text is a little disjointed because it's a rough draft (the author did not live to see it edited or published), but Gell's brilliance and humor are nonetheless transmitted by the book. Hang in there. Although some conflicting portions of the text have since been pointed out by scholars, Gell's case is solid enough to serve as a springboard for a theory of "understanding" art that could be applicable globally. Who else has done that? The lowest common denominator Gell found looks pretty math-like (we put math models in space capsules because it's a "universal" language), but the book is NOT math-boring. Delightful, eclectic examples illustrate his ideas. I recommend this book for humanities students, artists, art historians and those who are searching for a connection between math and the arts.