The Meaning of Art: A Compilation of Essays

This book explores the potential meaning in art in ten essays. It highlights the dual and paradoxical idea that art is both aesthetic and concerned with the extra-aesthetic. Yet how exactly an aesthetic is said to correspond to a particular meaning and in its relation to other cultural pursuits, is unclear. Is art simply about beauty? Or decoration? Is its purpose social and political or personal, even spiritual? It is difficult to separate the institution of art from other larger institutions. In fact, it is unclear to what extent art today has the same meaning it does in other societies at different historic junctures - if indeed there is a connection between the origin of art that we see in caves today and contemporary conceptions. At any rate, the book goes some way to exploring these questions and suggesting new and interesting ways to think about the meaning of art.