Art, Design and Visual Culture: An Introduction

by Malcolm Barnard

Why do we have the visual experiences we have? Why do the buildings, cars, products and advertisements we see look the way they do? How are we to explain the existence of different styles of paintings, different types of cars and different genres of film? How are we to explain the existence of different visual cultures? This book begins to answer these questions by explaining visual experience in terms of visual culture. The strengths and weaknesses of traditional means of analysing and explaining visual culture are examined and assessed. Using a wide range of historical and contemporary examples, it is argued that the groups which artists and designers form, the audiences and markets which they sell to, and the different social classes which are produced and reproduced by art and design, are all part of the successful explanation and critical evaluation of visual culture.

Genres: Art

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Malcolm Barnard is Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at Loughborough University and an internationally recognized theorist of visual culture. He has degrees in philosophy and in sociology and his PhD concerned Derrida and other French philosophers.

Reviews

[Nour Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS REALLY GOOD. It was truly insightful and I love how well structured and balanced everything was explained. Arguments of all sides were presented and the fact that the author gave a conclusion by the end of every chapter and a conclusion for the book itself (which you really need cuz by the end you'll find yourself slightly overwhelmed with details) gave a really clear, clean idea of what each of the things mentioned in the title are and how to approach them and what not. Lastly, it really excited me to get to know more about visual culture and I can't say that I'm not intrigued in perhaps pursuing this topic academically 😉