Customer Reviews

Technicians of Ecstasy: Shamanism and the Modern Artist

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Although the casual reader (that is, a lazy reader looking for easy, New-Agey content) might find Levy's book too rigorous and academic, I felt that he was scrupulous and thorough in making a case for his theory that many contemporary artists use traditional shamanic techniques to achieve the spiritual and metaphysical content in their work. The profiles of individual artists and their specific uses of certain techniques or processes was especially illuminating, and I appreciated the fact that he included seminal figures like Joseph Beuys and performance artists like Karen Finley-- whose radical content sometimes obscures the powerful social critique it carries. Levy was clear in revealing how work by an individual can heal or benefit an audience of viewers or an entire community. The sections in the back of the book wherein he describes specific shamanic techniques in detail for those who want to experiment with them was especially valuable. Contrary to what another reviewer wrote, there was nothing spacey, indulgent or Druidic about this scholarly work!

TECHNICIANS OF ECSTASY: SHAMANISM & THE MODERN ARTIST by Mark Levy

A Review by Lanier Graham, Director, University Art Gallery California State University, Hayward

What is the relationship between shamanic art and Modern art? Until recently, most people in the art world would have answered: "little or none." Specialists have known for a long time that the relationship actually is very important. But the literature has been small, largely because most art historians have not known enough about shamanism to discuss it in critical terms. Levy is an exception, and his book is an excellent introduction to the subject. There are good reasons why his book has received very positive reviews from noted authorities on shamanism. Not only is he an unusually well-informed art historian, he also has studied the shamanic tradition extensively with highly respected teachers.

Levy guides us to the origins of Modernism among the Symbolist poets and painters when Mallarmé was arguing for the shamanic spirit of Orphism, and when Rimbaud and van Gogh were engaged in private, painful "vision quests" in their secular search for the sacred. Few artists regarded tribal art as beautiful until Gauguin, the Fauves, and the Expressionists looked with new eyes. Picasso and the Cubists also were moved by shamanic art, but their interest was primarily formal. Not until the Surrealists did modern artists look for the shamanic psychology behind the forms. By the era of Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s & `50s, a large number of leading artists were starting to compare themselves to shamans. The curtain between worlds was being lifted.

With the development of Postmodernism in the second half of the 20th century, Neo-shamanism spread to the far corners of the contemporary art world. In a series of penetrating profiles, Levy focuses on semi-shamanic techniques used by a variety of visual and performing artists who do not have the arrogance to call themselves "shamans," but have drawn on the wisdom of our tribal ancestors to bring rays of light into a dark world. The artists discussed offer important clues to how art can help us through the poisoning clouds of self-centered rationalism toward a fuller, richer humanity.

I found Mr. Levy's work on shamanic techniqes as it applies to contempoary artists particularly fascinating. His research navigates the theory that mondern artists (visual as well as performance) such as Van Gogh, Kahlo, Dali and others were able to produce the transcendental content of their work through classic shamanic practices. Mr. Levy clearly illustrates the multiplicity of the creative process therein giving reverence and relevance to shamanic techniqes and towards the comprehension and appreciation of modern art. A must read for any art appreciator!

I found Mr. Levy's work on shamanic techniqes as it applies to contempoary artists particularly fascinating. His research navigates the theory that mondern artists (visual as well as performance) such as Van Gogh, Kahlo, Dali and others were able to produce the transcendental content of their work through classic shamanic practices. Mr. Levy clearly illustrates the multiplicity of the creative process therein giving reverence and relevance to shamanic techniqes and towards the comprehension and appreciation of modern art. A must read for any art appreciator!

A riveting, lucid, and well-researched work which pulled me into the shaman artist's multidimensional world. I especially enjoyed the sections on Van Gogh, Alex Grey and Mary Beth Edelson. As a healer/shaman/teacher, I create as the artists do by my own forays into the Unknown. My function is as a "multiple reality tour guide". I highly recommend this unique book. Mark Levy breaks new ground by helping the layman to consider stretching his/her belief systems of any preconceived, rigid patterns and boundaries of what constitutes "reality". This author really understands the shamanic world.

TECHNICIANS OF ECSTASY takes the reader on a scintillating, scholarly tour through the work of several artists. While not all artists see the world as shaman do, there are some artists who see, dream, and perform in much the same way as the shaman. Some of the 27 artists included in TECHNICIANS OF ECSTASY are: Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Alex Grey, Henri Rousseau, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Ann McCoy, and Jonathan Borofsky.

What makes this book so fabulous is the way it demonstrates ways that spiritual meaning and wisdom is at the heart of much of the world's best art. The world's best artists know how to break out of habitual modes of looking, and in sharing their visions, empower all who view their art by helping people open their eyes to new ways of seeing. Author Mark Levy explains, "In shifting attention from common sense or 'consensus reality,' artists as shamans succeed in expanding their consciousness and the consciousness of their communities and offer blueprints for spiritual development." I particularly loved the shamanic techniques mentioned to stimulate creativity, as these exercises indeed are part of the core of all shamanic training: isolation, not-doing, prolonged looking, the strong eye, and setting up dreaming.

TECHNICIANS OF ECSTASY is essential reading for everyone who is excited by meaningful art, as well as for anyone wishing to better understand how to see the world through the artist's and the shaman's eyes. I give this book my highest recommendation!

I had to read this for a course I was taking and really did not care for it at all. I'm afraid I can't think of anything I gleaned from it. It was a tough read for me.

One would expect that a book like this would lay out a clear framework for comparing shamanism and art, by first putting forward some theories of each, and then exploring from there. Well nothing of the sort happens here. From paragraph four of the book we are into the trees with a letter from Rimbaud to make a point about use of drugs, then to a dubious bit about druids, then to Greek poetry, then to metamorphosing into animals - and so it goes - with the flimsiest of introductions, without any proposed plan or structure, we are off onto a long ramble from artist to artist, picking a fragment here to link to chakras, a bit here to link to brain enzymes, etc. And that's all that happens throughout the book, unless you count a two page conclusion at the end. And most of the observations are strained attempts to link something about the artist to almost any aspect of the New Age that is conceivable. Utter drivel. This book, according to the foreword, was assembled out of lectures given to undergraduates. One can only pity the poor souls who had to sit through this.