Art as therapy / Alain de Botton, John Armstrong.
Material type:
TextPublication details: London : Phaidon Press Limited, 2013.Description: 239 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 28 cmISBN: - 9780714865911 (hardback)
- 0714865915 (hardback)
- 615.85156 DEB
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Loan | LSAD Library Main Collection | 615.85156 DEB (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 39002100467043 | ||
| Standard Loan | LSAD Library Main Collection | 615.85156 DEB (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 2 | Available | 39002100568253 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
There is widespread agreement that art is 'very important' - but it can be remarkably hard to say quite why. Yet if art is to enjoy its privileges, it has to be able to demonstrate its relevance in understandable ways to the widest possible audience. Alain de Botton and John Armstrong have a firm belief that art can help us with our most intimate and ordinary dilemmas, asking: What can I do about the difficulties in my relationships? Why is my work not more satisfying? Why do other people seem to have a more glamorous life? Why is politics so depressing?
The purpose of this book is to introduce a new method of interpreting art: art as a form of therapy. It's the authors' contention that certain art works provide powerful solutions to our problems, but that in order for this potential to be released, the audience's attention has to be directed towards it in a new way (which they demonstrate), rather than towards the more normal historical or stylistic concerns with which art books and museum captions are traditionally associated.
The authors propose that the squeamish belief that art should be 'for art's sake' has unnecessarily held back art from revealing its latent therapeutic potential. This book involves reframing and recontextualising a series of art works from across the ages and genres, so that they can be approached as tools for the resolution of difficult issues in individual life.
Includes index.
Methodology. The seven functions of art ; What is the point of art? ; What counts as art? ; What kind of art should one make? ; How should art be bought and sold? ; How should we study art? ; How should art be displayed? -- Love. Can we get better at love? ; What is it like to be a good lover? ; Attention to detail ; Am I allowed to be turned on? ; How to make love last ; Courage for the journey -- Nature. Remembering nature ; The importance of the South ; Anticipating autumn ; The sense of what is beautiful ; The new artists of nature -- Money. Art as a guide to the reform of capitalism ; The problem of taste ; The role of the critic in the education of taste ; Towards and enlightened capitalism ; Enlightened investment ; Career advice from artists -- Politics. What should political art be aiming at? ; What is there to be proud of? ; Who should we try to become? ; A defence of censorship ; And now... to change the world.
Describes a new way of looking at familiar masterpieces, suggesting that the works of art can be useful, relevant--and even therapeutic.
Author notes provided by Syndetics
Alain de Botton (b.1969) is the author of bestselling books in more than 30 countries, including The Consolations of Philosophy, How Proust Can Change Your Life, Status Anxiety, and, most recently, Religion for Atheists. He founded The School of Life in London in 2008, which supplies good ideas for everyday life in the form of courses, classes, workshops and talks. In 2009 he founded Living Architecture, which aims to make high-quality architecture accessible to everyone.
John Armstrong (b.1966) is a British philosopher and art historian based at Melbourne University. He is the author of five well-received books, including The Intimate Philosophy of Art, Conditions of Love: The Philosophy of Intimacy, and In Search of Civilisation: Remaking a Tarnished Idea.