A Return to the Object

Alfred Gell, Art, and Social Theory

By: Susanne KÃ¼chler, Timothy Carroll

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Hardcover | 27 November 2020

At a Glance

Hardcover
270 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.6

Hardcover

RRP $284.00

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This book draws on the work of anthropologist Alfred Gell to reinstate the importance of the object in art and society. Rather than presenting art as a passive recipient of the artist's intention and the audience's critique, the authors consider it in the social environment of its production and reception.

A Return to the Object introduces the historical and theoretical framework out of which an anthropology of art has emerged, and examines the conditions under which it has renewed interest. It also explores what art 'does' as a social and cultural phenomenon, and how it can impact alternative ways of organising and managing knowledge. Making use of ethnography, museological practice, the intellectual history of the arts and sciences, material culture studies and intangible heritage, the authors present a case for the re-orientation of current conversations surrounding the anthropology of art and social theory.

This text will be of key interest to students and scholars in the social and historical sciences, arts and humanities, and cognitive sciences.

Industry Reviews

'This book is at once penetrating and kaleidoscopic, full of exposition coupled with evocative ethnographic illustration. It extends Gell's ideas into new domains... The synthesis is extraordinary. Ranging across time and space and diversity of perspectives compared and contrasted, this volume will take its place alongside others-one thinks of The Savage Mind, Purity and Danger.'

- Frederick H. Damon, University of Virginia

- Frederick H. Damon, University of Virginia, USA

"Kuechler and Carroll have brought their different anthropological experiences and deep knowledge together in a book to engage the anthropology of art with a deep reading and extension of Alfred Gell's framework. Calling for a "return to the object," a theoretical project that follows Gell's movement away from the emphasis on signification and to the study of "relations immanent within objects", the book is ethnographically detailed and philosophically articule. Readers may find it a challenging formulation, spanning over numerous case studies, but it rewards us in profoundly enriching the possibilities of the anthropology of art."

- Fred Myers, New York University, USA

"Vivid, generous, and theoretically exciting, Kuechler and Carroll bring the Anthropology of Art back to the world of big ideas. But never at the expense of the objects themselves. Featuring an extraordinary array of ethnographic detail and insight, this landmark publication is a must-read for anyone seeking to become more alive to the generative, relational, and conceptual capacities of images and objects. The work of apprehension it argues for-and offers up-is astonishing."

- Jennifer Deger, James Cook University, Australia

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