Elkins asks about objects that are too violent, too sexually charged, or too beautiful to look at directly. When we see a naked body, we either stare lasciviously or. For the art historian James Elkins, there is no such thing as “just looking. inconsistent, and undependable, he says in The Object Stares Back. In Elkins’s view, even the simplest, most reductive statement that can be made about seeing, “the beholder looks at the object,” is charged with.
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Check out the top books of stres year on our page Best Books of Sometimes he is successful, such as in his discussions of animals’ protective camouflage. Every time I hear the phrase “Just looking” I think about this book. Impressions wash across my awareness. The author, with various examples from across the world and centuries, illustrates how, even though it seems complete and seamless, our view of the world is fragmented and incomplete.
The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing – James Elkins – Google Books
Two The Object Stares Back. The world is flooded with light, and everything is available to be seen. After finishing that chapter, I wanted more so I bought the book and read its entirety.
Jul 13, Dave-O rated it it was amazing. Elkins has a cool conversational tone He goes into different reasons for this fragmentation, some physical and some social.
E45 Jammes Illustrated English Show 0 more libraries Five What Is a Face? See 1 question about The Object Stares Back…. May 04, Z rated it it was amazing.
You will learn how to better see the world around you. Be the first to add this to a list. Very philosophical and reminded me of my college days studying art history.
Common terms and phrases achromatopsia analogies animals art historian artists aware beautiful become begin bird blind spot blue peacock body color crepuscular rays dark death drawing entirely eunuch tye example experience expression eyes eyespots face feel field of vision figure Franz von Lenbach front gaze glance Hallucigenia happens hard head human idea imagine ink brush insects inside interesting invisible Jacques Lacan Jan Six Jonny kind landscape lantern fly Leo Steinberg light metaphors microscope mind Mona Lisa moths motion mouth move naked never normally nose notice object pain painting peacock Perhaps person photograph picture pomegranate pornography possible problem proprioception radar remember Roger Caillois scene seems seen sensation objsct sexual shape sight skin someone sometimes strange sun dogs tell things thought tree turn understand viewers visible visual walk wall watch whole woman word.
Apr 10, Jenn rated it it was amazing. Elkins proposes seeing as a metaphor for the life cycle: Apr 15, Anna rated it really liked it.
The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt. For example, I had no idea there was a condition called achromotopsia, an inability to see color. This is a highly interdisciplinary monograph of great use in not jamss Art History, but Media Studies, Cultural Studies and media literacy paradigms. Elkins’ thoughts on sight and seeing is a multifaceted deconstruction on how we view and are viewed by objects we encounter. An incredible read for anyone who’s interested in the theory of sight, perception, and cognition.
Tags What are tags? We just point our eyes where we want them to go, and gather in whatever there is to see. May 16, Rebecca rated it liked it.
The object stares back : on the nature of seeing / James Elkins. – Version details – Trove
I liked a few chapters a lot. A Writer’s Diary Virginia Woolf. As fascinating as this book is, there are times when I quibbled with the author’s reading of certain acts. I also found good insights in the discussion of what we can’t see and the description of drawing as a manifestation of blindness or partial blindness.
These omissions would not be so glaring if Elkins did not constantly try jammes find the telling in the trivial.
Object Stares Back
How people in different cultures see; a member of a traditional hunting culture would look at an area of forest and see all sorts of information about animal movements that would be unavailable to me. James Elkins — present is an art historian and art critic. When I first was reading this book I did not enjoy it and found it a little tedious.
Product details Format Paperback pages Dimensions These 13 locations in All: Some of the most stimulating parts of the book for me were the discussio Elkins provides a sensitive, literate inquiry. As a poet, it’s a beautiful book full of inspiration to look at everything from a different angle and deeply.
The Object Stares Back: Jan 16, Abner Rosenweig rated it really liked it. One may remind me vaguely of a time when I was interested in romantic novels.
The University of Melbourne. The Group Mary McCarthy. University of Queensland Library. Found at these bookshops Searching – please wait We just focus our eyes and take in whatever is before us. But to me this seemed like “seeing for pussies. But those ideas are just illusions, Elkins argues, and he suggests that seeing is undependable, inconsistent, and caught up in the threads of the unconscious.
My favorite part about this book is the fascinating photographs, as well as Elkins’ writing style.
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I am endlessly facinated by how our physical senses acting as filters impact our deeper understanding of the world and our beliefs. Description At first it appears that nothing could be easier than seeing.
University of the Sunshine Coast Library.