Spirit and Art: Pictures of the Transformation of Consciousness . This is a richly readable and lavishly illustrated text that reveals how, at every stage, human consciousness has evolved through the medium of art.Artist Van James offers that something more. It makes the case for a hidden stream that ha
| TITLE | : | Spirit and Art: Pictures of the Transformation of Consciousness |
| AUTHOR | : | |
| RATING | : | 4.58 (568 Votes) |
| ASIN | : | 088010497X |
| FORMAT TYPE | : | Paperback |
| NUMBER of PAGES | : | 256 Pages |
| PUBLISH DATE | : | 2002-01-01 |
| GENRE | : |
“As an art student in the late sixties, I recall how painfully dry and intellectual my art history classes were. I thought to myself, or rather felt to myself, ‘There must be something more’” (Van James).Artist Van James offers that something more. This is a richly readable and lavishly illustrated text that reveals how, at every stage, human consciousness has evolved through the medium of art. It makes the case for a hidden stream that has put forth art works and art movements throughout history, in an ongoing visible revelation of invisible spiritual currents. Art, originally a part of the secret Mystery cults of the ancient world, has become an expression of the individual creative intuition. At every stage, Albert Einstein’s comment applies: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Editorial : This coffee-table book on sacred art has a rather unique twist: It concentrates on art that reveals "the transformation of consciousness," narrowing in particularly on images from ancient mystery cults and cave drawings from Paleolithic times. James has selected art from ancient Greece, Egypt, Africa, and parts of Asia, explicating what he sees as its spiritual themes. This is in some ways a personal book, as its selections are eclectic and highly individual, but the text is also rigorous, informed by theorists such as Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and especially Rudolf Steiner. One wishes that the 300-plus illustrations were larger and in color, but an eight-page color tip-in helps to stimulate visual interest.
He does a brilliant job dissecting contentious issues in the developed world and exposing the special interests at their core. The story doesn't feel like it has to twist the history to serve as any kind of politically correct propaganda. For a book that says that it is an encyclopedia, I would have expected that there would be more detail involved.
While there is an effort to describe the life cycle of a couple of bugs, it is very disjointed. Raises many questions, especially regarding the Aristotelian tradition and Alasdair MacIntyre's reconception of it today. It's surprising that Bacharach and David, one of the greatest songwriting teams of the late 20th Century, only produced one Broadway musical- but what a musical it was! Catchy music, a strong story line, and a tremendous cast. I went into Forevermore hoping for a cute and light read, and I was not disappointed. It sho
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