Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction | James Elkins

Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction | James Elkins | several points

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Visual Studies: A ...

	Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction James Elkins Routledge, 2003 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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Visual studies is a rapidly expanding intellectual field, growing throughout colleges and universities around the world. But is it asking the most interesting questions? And is it just too easy to do?

In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map through the field of visual studies, describing its major concerns and its principal theoretical sources. Then, with the skill and insight that have marked his successful books on art and visuality, Elkins takes the reader down a side road where visual studies can become a more interesting place. Why look only at the same handful of theorists? Why exclude from one's field of vision non-Western art or the wealth of scientific images?

The centerpiece of Visual Studies is Elkins's proposal for ten ways in which visual studies could be made more difficult -- theoretically, practically, and in terms of its interpretative and historical range. As Stories of Art offered an antidote to the authorized version of art history, Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction proposes a refreshingly open-minded introduction to a growing field.

This handsome volume is illustrated throughout.

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If you have the time...

Not by any means an introduction to the field of visual studies, however it is true to its title in that it indeed is skeptical. If you do not have a previous knowledge of visual studies, this book will not provide much clarification. The text comes across as a curriculum guide for educators. Elkins is proficient at pointing out the flaws of the discipline, and I'd agree that it is "too easy." Elkins provides many great examples of images from science to dogtags that could be de-coded under the rubric of visual studies. However, after providing these examples, he does not actually go through any interpretative process. Perhaps he is leaving this task for the reader to do..? Knowing how intelligent Elkins is, I would have loved to read his interpretations of the examples he provides. Elkins also provides a good precis of the canonical literature.
This is not a ground-breaking book, but if you are involved in any way with this field of knowledge, I'd definately suggest it. Otherwise, seek elsewhere for a more thorough introduction.

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several points

I was initially interested in the newly emerging field of visual studies, however after reading several of elkins' other books as well as taking a course taught by the author, I have lost what interest I had. This book follows similar themes as his others and while it does a fantastic job of presenting problems within the field, it does not present any feasible alternatives.
Concerning the images included, it is problematic that elkins does not then interpret at least some of the images. However, I do not believe that elkins is leaving this task for the reader to do. Having listened to his lectures I believe that elkins includes the images simply because they strike him in some way or another, not because they have any relevance to the field in question. This lack of relevance seems to pervade the majority of his literature and indeed the field as a whole.

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