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Book
Author O'Toole, Michael.

Title The language of displayed art / Michael O'Toole
Published London : Leicester University Press, 1994

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'BOOL  704.946 Oto/Lod  AVAILABLE
 W'PONDS  704.946 Oto/Lod  AVAILABLE
Description xiii, 295 pages : 4 color plates, illustrations, plans ; 24 cm
Contents 1. Semiotics at Work. Monologues and dialogues. A shared language? Engaging the viewer: the Modal function. Informing the viewer: the Representational function. Magical proportions: the Compositional function. A never-ending dialogue? -- 2. Bodily Perceptions: A Semiotics of Sculpture. P. Bondarenko's Gagarin Monument. Barbara Hepworth's Winged Figure. Auguste Rodin's The Burghers of Calais. Nigel Helyer's Voyages from Eden to Utopia: Hercules -- 3. A Semiotics of Architecture. Functions as use, as self-expression, as harmony. The Suburban Dream Home: 'The Verdelho' (1990), Perth, W. Australia. Alvar Aalto: the Enzo-Gutzeit Office Block (1960-62), Helsinki. Le Corbusier: Chapel to Notre-Dame du Haut (1950-55), Ronchamp -- 4. Semiotics Across the Arts. Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus and Auden's Musee des Beaux-Arts. The framing of fragments. Isomorphism and semiotics. Functional choices in Auden. Functional choices in Bruegel. Comparative analysis -- 5. Why Semiotics? The role of semiotics in relation to art history, criticism and teaching. Competition or collaboration? Text or context? Systematicity and replicability. Theoretical explicitness. Cultural practices -- 6. Modes of Comparison. Russell Drysdale: The Gatekeeper's Wife (1965). A Russian suprematist poster: Arrange a "Red Gift Week" Everywhere and All Over (1920-21). Giotto: Noli me tangere (Arena Chapel, Padua, 1304-6) -- 7. The Social Semiotic and the Viewing Subject. Structure and process. The social semiotic. Dimensions of semiotic space and the negotiation of meaning -- 8. Monofunctional Tendencies. The Representational function: Canaletto: A view for the dining-room. The Representational function: Andy Warhol: Off the pantry shelf. The Modal function: J.M.W. Turner: A vision of flux. The Modal function: Bridget Riley: The flux of vision. The Compositional function: Piet Mondrian: Form in action. The Compositional function: Jackson Pollock: Action in form.s:!:2
Summary "The core of Michael O'Toole's study is the contention that semiotics can assist in the search for a language through which our perceptions of a work of art can be shared. Drawing on his background as a linguist, O'Toole analyses in detail a number of major works of art to show how the semiotic approach relates a work's immediate impact to other aspects of our response to it: to the scene portrayed, to the social, intellectual and economic world within which the artist and his or her patrons worked, and to our own world. It further provides ways of talking about and interrelating aspects of composition, technique and the material qualities of the work. The examples, illustrated with colour plates, range from Botticelli's Primavera, Barbara Hepworth's sculpture, buildings by Aalto and Le Corbusier, and paintings by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock." "The volume is essential reading for students of the visual arts, of semiotics and cultural studies, as well as for art curators, and those teaching art appreciation and art and design."--BOOK JACKET
Analysis Visual arts Visual perception
Notes Includes index
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Semiotics and the arts.
Symbolism in art.
Genre/Form Art.
LC no. 93041668
ISBN 071851632X
071851940X
0838636047