"Ways of Seeing" by John Berger

Spencer Martin
     Summary: John Berger is an English poet, artist, critic, and painter who is known for his philosophical ideals on how we view art and what the idea of originality and creativity mean. His book "Ways of Seeing" describes how we view objects in relation to our society, our teachings, and how artworks relate to one another. He states that originality is a warped concept and that things that were once original - have been skewered and dissected into whole different concepts. He also describes object's relations to each other within the visual plane and our mental and physical capacity when viewing said artwork.

  Reaction: As I read chapters of this book, I found myself relating to many of Berger's observations on how we judge and view art within a gallery. His thought process in the idea of "original" art was a concept I had never thought of before. He describes that taking an original artwork - for example the "Mona Lisa" and it's years of being transported to different locations and different ways of viewing it , has contradicted the idea of it being an original artwork. I believe his insight on how objects all relate to each other is an idea an artist should commonly know- that if you place your art next to an object unrelated , they will be judged as a pair. As a society we do view things in pieces differently depending on how we were raised, when we were raised, and what we have been taught as a generation. I applaud his philosophy's and found that the chapters in his book intelligently question the very fabric of the "art world" and what it's composed of in a metaphorical and literal sense.

Where you can purchase this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140135154/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459963890&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=john+berger%27s+ways+of+seeing&dpPl=1&dpID=51TuvYWQnhL&ref=plSrch