I'm excited to read this new book, called, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artiface, by J.F. Martel. It is described in the blurb at bookshop.org: "Part treatise, part critique, part call to action, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice is a journey into the uncanny realities revealed to us in the great works of art of the past and present."
For anyone who believes that art really can reveal "uncanny realities" I would think this book would be exciting. We are all tired of "art" that is mere artiface, art that is considered to be "culturally-determined and relative" (as the blurb goes on to say), and that is all it is or can be. The true power of the spiritual depth of art has been readily dismissed in our culture. "Martel argues that art is an inborn human phenomenon that precedes the formation of culture and even society." I grew up holding this truth to be self-evident, however the older I've grown the more I've felt the burden of the weight of cultural dismissal. Art is seldom considered as anything more than visual noise in an overwhelmed world. When it is considered at all it seems people either like it or don't like it, and that's it, a mere decoration that either contributes to, in some small way, or is is bothersome -- annoying -- to a given space, It is exhausting to live here, and I'm weary of the battle. But it appears Martel has energy yet for this war. He holds that art is "a force of liberation wherever it breaks through the trance of humdrum existence." The blurb goes on to say that authentic art "is a gift from beyond the field of the human, and it connects us with realities that, though normally unseen, are crucial components of a living world."
It sounds like a breath of fresh air to me. Here's the link to the book, with the rest of the blurb. I hope to read it soon!
https://bookshop.org/p/books/reclaiming-art-in-the-age-of-artifice-a-treatise-critique-and-call-to-action-j-f-martel/580317?ean=9781583945780
For anyone who believes that art really can reveal "uncanny realities" I would think this book would be exciting. We are all tired of "art" that is mere artiface, art that is considered to be "culturally-determined and relative" (as the blurb goes on to say), and that is all it is or can be. The true power of the spiritual depth of art has been readily dismissed in our culture. "Martel argues that art is an inborn human phenomenon that precedes the formation of culture and even society." I grew up holding this truth to be self-evident, however the older I've grown the more I've felt the burden of the weight of cultural dismissal. Art is seldom considered as anything more than visual noise in an overwhelmed world. When it is considered at all it seems people either like it or don't like it, and that's it, a mere decoration that either contributes to, in some small way, or is is bothersome -- annoying -- to a given space, It is exhausting to live here, and I'm weary of the battle. But it appears Martel has energy yet for this war. He holds that art is "a force of liberation wherever it breaks through the trance of humdrum existence." The blurb goes on to say that authentic art "is a gift from beyond the field of the human, and it connects us with realities that, though normally unseen, are crucial components of a living world."
It sounds like a breath of fresh air to me. Here's the link to the book, with the rest of the blurb. I hope to read it soon!
https://bookshop.org/p/books/reclaiming-art-in-the-age-of-artifice-a-treatise-critique-and-call-to-action-j-f-martel/580317?ean=9781583945780
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