Fearful symmetry

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3918968
AutoresPaul Graves‐brown (University of Southampton, autor correspondente), P M Graves‐brown
Ano1995
Volume27
Fascículo1
Páginas88-99
Data de publicação1995-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.1995.9980294
OpenAlexW4252643319
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas13

In opposition to the fashion for semiotic analyses of material culture, I argue that the meaning of artefacts is not necessarily ‘symbolic’ ‐ that this term applies only to a particular class of meaning. In my view the development of industrial cultures has created a false duality between the aesthetic and the functional which in turn has allowed a mistaken distinction between objects and their meanings. Meaning has become reified. On the contrary, I argue, meaning exists in the dynamic relationship between actors and material culture, and is not exclusively the preserve of one or the other. In turn, this relationship constitutes the basis of exploration and understanding; both the mundane implement and the work of art should guide us to extend our comprehension of the world

Aesthetics · Comprehension · Epistemology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Opposition (politics · Semiotics · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Public Spaces through Art · Semiotics and Representation Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory