Art in Mind: How Contemporary Images Shape Thought - Paperback

by Ernst Van Alphen (Author)

Art has the power to affect our thinking, changing not only the way we view and interact with the world but also how we create it. In Art in Mind, Ernst van Alphen probes this idea of art as a commanding force with the capacity to shape our intellect and intervene in our lives. Rather than interpreting art as merely a reflection of our social experience or a product of history, van Alphen here argues that art is a historical agent, or a cultural creator, that propels thought and experience forward.

Examining a broad range of works, van Alphen-a renowned art historian and cultural theorist-demonstrates how art serves a socially constructive function by actually experimenting with the parameters of thought. Employing work from artists as diverse as Picasso, Watteau, Francis Bacon, Marlene Dumas, and Matthew Barney, he shows how art confronts its viewers with the "pain points" of cultural experience-genocide, sexuality, diaspora, and transcultural identity-and thereby transforms the ways in which human existence is conceived. Van Alphen analyzes how art visually "thinks" about these difficult cultural issues, tapping into an understudied interpretation of art as the realm where ideas and values are actively created, given form, and mobilized. In this way, van Alphen's book is a work of art in itself as it educates us in a new mode of thought that will forge equally new approaches and responses to the world.

Front Jacket

Art has the power to affect our thinking, changing not only the way we view and interact with the world but also how we create it. In Art in Mind, Ernst van Alphen probes this idea of art as a commanding force with the capacity to shape our intellect and intervene in our lives. Rather than interpreting art as merely a reflection of our social experience or a product of history, van Alphen here argues that art is a historical agent, or a cultural creator, that propels thought and experience forward.

Examining a broad range of works, van Alphen--a renowned art historian and critic of cultural theory--demonstrates how art serves a socially constructive function by actually experimenting with the parameters of thought. Employing work from artists as diverse as Picasso, Watteau, Francis Bacon, Marlene Dumas, and Matthew Barney, he shows how art confronts its viewers with the "pain points" of cultural experience--genocide, sexuality, diaspora, and transcultural identity--and thereby transforms the ways in which human existence is conceived. Van Alphen analyzes how art visually "thinks" about these difficult cultural issues, tapping into an understudied interpretation of art as the realm where ideas and values are actively created, given form, and mobilized. In this way, van Alphen's book is a work of art in itself as it educates us in a new mode of thought that will forge equally new approaches and responses to the world.

"This book advances a strong and original claim: that art, in this case contemporary art, thinks. And in this study, thought is always visual. The style is clear, animated, and free of jargon. Anyone interested in contemporary art or philosophy will find this book informative, thought provoking, and rewarding."--Norman Bryson, author of Looking at the Overlooked

"A highly original interdisciplinary study about the functions of the image in contemporary art and literature. Van Alphen brilliantly demonstrates how a theory of images developed from art and literature can contribute to a rethinking of traditional forms of human identity. Clearly and lucidly written, Art in Mind is a work of true significance."--Matthew Biro, author of Anselm Kiefer and the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger

Author Biography

Ernst van Alphen is the Queen Beatrix Professor of Dutch Studies and professor of rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as professor of literary studies at the University of Leiden. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Armando: Shaping Memory; Caught by History: Holocaust Effects in Contemporary Art, Literature, and Theory; and Francis Bacon and the Loss of Self.