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fargestift's review
3.0
Read for school.
A basic overview of the art world up until 2008. Worked as a nice repetition of what's been on the curriculum so far, with some unique inclusions of art examples. Freeland is also more open about her view upon art-history's lack of women. Though that's nothing new and surface-level like the rest of the book (but in so few pages, I suppose that's to be expected on such a broad field), it was included without being overtly political. The most interesting aspects, I found to be the parts that discussed art's value in correlation to the marked. It inspired me to delve deeper into that aspect of art theory. The last chapter also peaked my interests with its inclusion of new media, but it was too shallow to learn much; the parts about the internet, like Freeland basically stated herself, already feels horribly outdated, but I suppose she was right to mention it.
Like the title of the book states, this is a _very_ short introduction. If you are just starting to study art theory and want a broad view of what's what, I would recommend the book. It's a cheap and fast way to get your bearings and could inspire you to delve deeper into the theories of some of the philosophers mentioned.
A basic overview of the art world up until 2008. Worked as a nice repetition of what's been on the curriculum so far, with some unique inclusions of art examples. Freeland is also more open about her view upon art-history's lack of women. Though that's nothing new and surface-level like the rest of the book (but in so few pages, I suppose that's to be expected on such a broad field), it was included without being overtly political. The most interesting aspects, I found to be the parts that discussed art's value in correlation to the marked. It inspired me to delve deeper into that aspect of art theory. The last chapter also peaked my interests with its inclusion of new media, but it was too shallow to learn much; the parts about the internet, like Freeland basically stated herself, already feels horribly outdated, but I suppose she was right to mention it.
Like the title of the book states, this is a _very_ short introduction. If you are just starting to study art theory and want a broad view of what's what, I would recommend the book. It's a cheap and fast way to get your bearings and could inspire you to delve deeper into the theories of some of the philosophers mentioned.
michela's review
4.0
A very interesting book that gives a great overview of a broad subject. Perfect for a first dip-in. I gave it 4.5 stars only because it would have needed more illustrations, possibly in colour. There were also references to 'plates' that were not actually in the book. But that is not the author's fault.
callmeamelia's review
2.0
This is a great intro to art theory. I'm not sure what I expected but I was disappointed the ideas were shallow and uninteresting. If you are starting from scratch this is a good beginning.
edders's review
3.0
I know these are introductions but I think the tone of this one is lower than some of the other VSI's. Whilst there are some very strong chapters and theories outlined (some of the best writing is Chapter 7 about technology and changing relations to art, as well as the discussed definitions of art) I feel that there are a lot of very open ended questions left hanging - not left to be explored but mentioned and then tossed aside. This detracted from the feeling that this was purposeful and focused in places. Either more depth needed on the issues raised, or perhaps a smaller remit in the first place. Very good writing about feminist changes to art theory and art history and some interesting stuff on museum spaces.
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