Summary
A Range of Critical Perspectives - The Subject in/of Art History
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Extract
On the histories of artifacts.
The subject of the history of art should include all human making. I will argue that primary concern with making raises the possibility of any number of histories of art, each pursuable in its own terms, but all comparable to one another as alternative kinds of making fitted to different social purposes.
As for the subject in art history, it would be useful first of all to write a history of the "subject-object problem," especially as it bears on our thinking about art. We have come to give little thought to this modern polarity, and acknowledgment that it is in fact historical would contribute to our own self-understanding at the same time that it also opened new paths for the understanding of art and its meanings in other traditions. The "subject-object problem" is closely related ...See the full content of this document
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