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audreyhawkins

audreyhawkins

Ways of Seeing - John Berger An excellent review of ideas about art history in real-world (read: political and social) context. Berger synthesizes ideas from Walter Benjamin, Levi-Strauss, and other thinkers succinctly and to great effect. He powers through the obfuscatory bullshit of art historians to get to meaty ideas about power and wealth, though I will warn you about a leftward slant. Personally, I'm in complete agreement with him, but if you are in a different political camp, or if you subscribe to the aforementioned obfuscatory bullshit, this book will probably have you sputtering with indignation. Sputter away, friends. Although it was written in the 70's, I found most of it still very relevant, especially (and sadly) the essay on women. Only the last essay on advertising felt dated: not that it wasn't still true, only to a greater degree. I'd love to see the television shows on which the essays are based.