Berger uses the term “mystification” in his essay Ways of Seeing to
describe a trend of how art is viewed by the layman
. … Berger continues to explain that when an object is presented as art, that title alone affects the way people see it due to learnt general assumptions about art.
What does Berger mean when he says every image embodies a way of seeing give an example using your own words?
What Berger means by ways of seeing is that
our way of seeing objects is culturally determined
. He uses as an example masterworks of art. At one time, they were meant to display the wealth and power of the owners.
What does John Berger mean by mystification?
For Berger, “mystification is
the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident
.” According to Berger, art history more often obscures the meaning of an artwork than reveals its real politics.
What does the mystification of the work of art do according to Berger?
Mystification is defined by Berger as
being the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident
. Reproduction causes the magic of the art that is found in its originality to be diminished. …
How does Berger explain the gap between words and images?
In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, he argues that
there is a gap between seeing something with the single eye and explaining it in verbal words
. … The inability to catch an image in exact words, makes images more “precise and richer than literature,” (10) argues Berger.
What is the meaning of mystification?
1a :
an act or instance of mystifying
. b : an obscuring especially of capitalist or social dynamics (as by making them equivalent to natural laws) that is seen in Marxist thought as an impediment to critical consciousness the mystification of the sources of wealth— Henry Staten.
Is there still mystification in modern art?
However, neither of the two manifestations is in force in modern society. According to Berger,
mystification is a false religiosity
. The works of art from the past are represented as holy relics, the important aspect of which is that they are so old that they have endured all that time.
How does seeing establish our place in the world?
It is seeing that establishes our place in the world, but
we use words to explain this world
. … Having established that we see first and then use words to explain the world, i.e. what we know, he then goes on to say what we know or believe affects the way we see things.
What we see and what we know is never settled?
“The relation between
what we see and what we know is never settled
.” John Berger, Ways of Seeing. … Berger describes the reciprocal relationship between
what we see
before our eyes and
what we know
or believe. Our evaluation of the artistic quality and impact of an artwork is fundamentally influenced by context.
What does Berger want us to understand about the power of images?
In 1972, Berger wrote that we are
free to see images in collages of our own making
. … If the new language of images were used differently, it would, through its use, confer a new kind of power. Within it we could begin to define our own experiences more precisely in areas where words are inadequate.
What are some examples of mystification?
Social Examples of mystification
a.
Poverty
: We observe that some people are poor and some people are well off. We also observe that some people who are born poor become well off, and some do not. Since these people differ in their outcomes/fates, the cause of these outcomes must be born by the individual.
Who coined the term mystification?
1814, “act of mystifying;” 1817, “state of being mystified,” from
French
mystification, noun of action from mystifier (see mystify).
When in love the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match?
When in love, the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match : a completeness which only the act of making
love can temporarily accommodate
. Yet this seeing which comes before words, and can never be quite covered by them, is not a question of mechanically reacting to stimuli.
How did the camera destroy the idea that images are timeless?
The camera isolated momentary appearances
and in so doing destroyed the idea that images were timeless. Or, to put it another way, the camera showed that the notion of time passing was inseparable from the experience of the visual (except in paintings).
Why does the uniqueness of the image Destroy when the camera reproduces a painting?
Paintings were originally integral parts of buildings that contributed to their uniqueness, but Berger states that “[w]hen the camera reproduces a painting, it destroys the uniqueness of its image.” As a result, the meaning changes:
it fragments and multiplies as works of art are reproduced
.
What does err is human mean?
formal. :
it is normal for people to make mistakes
.
