A Snake's Tail Full of Ants: Art, Ecology and ConsciousnessGreen Books, 1996 - 317 pages There is evidence of a sea-change in Western consciousness over the last three or four decades of the 20th century, which implies a fundamental rejection of the arts of humanism; the tradition of art for the elite, art cut off from society, from nature and from the sacred (added, as Eric Gill once said, like a sauce to otherwise unpalatable fish), cannot serve the needs of our future society. John Lane both celebrates the power and challenges the defect of this 500-year-old tradition, invariably claimed to be the finest that has ever existed. He questions whether the institution of the self-directed professional artist was a great step forward in the story of self-realization, or whether it was, on the contrary, a dehumanising aberration in the history of humankind. Challenging and illuminating, this book looks forward to a time of revitalized aesthetic activity when creative expression is not lofty, professionalized and unapproachable but closely interwoven with the activities of daily life. |
Contents
Culture Outside Time | 1 |
CHAPTER TWO World Views | 29 |
Birth of the Modern Self | 47 |
Copyright | |
7 other sections not shown
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achieved aesthetic ancient Andrei Andrei Rublev ANDREI TARKOVSKY Andy Goldsworthy architect architecture Artists Arvo Pärt beauty believe Blake Brancusi buildings Cecil Collins celebration century characterised church civilisation colour composer concept consciousness contemporary created creative Cubism culture dance death divine dream earth energy European existence exploration expression Faber Fathy feeling feminine film Gallery gardens Goddess Hassan Fathy holy human Humanist idea imagination IMRE MAKOVECZ Indian individual Ingmar Bergman ISAMU NOGUCHI John John Tavener Keith Critchlow landscape later less living magical Makovecz mediaeval mind modern mystery nature night Noguchi novel objects Oil on canvas painter painting philosophy Plate play poem poet poetry Rabari rational reality religion religious ritual sacred says sculpture sense Seventh Seal social society song soul space spirit symbol Tarkovsky Temple theatre things tion tradition transformation vision Wendell Berry Western Winifred Nicholson writes wrote