About the book:
This book explores the potential meaning in art in ten essays. It highlights the dual and paradoxical idea that art is both aesthetic and concerned with the extra-aesthetic. Yet how exactly an aesthetic is said to correspond to a particular meaning and in its relation to other cultural pursuits, is unclear. Is art simply about beauty? Or decoration? Is its purpose social and political or personal, even spiritual? It is difficult to separate the institution of art from other larger institutions. In fact, it is unclear to what extent art today has the same meaning it does in other societies at different historic junctures – if indeed there is a connection between the origin of art that we see in caves today and contemporary conceptions. At any rate, the book goes some way to exploring these questions and suggesting new and interesting ways to think about the meaning of art.
About the Author:
Daniel Shorkend
Daniel Shorkend was born in South Africa. He holds a doctorate in Art History and is a practicing artist. He moved to Israel in 2018 where he is currently teaching Academic English writing and communications to graduate students at the Technion Institute of Technology. He has exhibited his paintings in galleries in South Africa and Israel. He has published 13 books in fiction and non-fiction and has written a number of academic articles for various journals. Daniel has also dabbled in the theatrical arts. He lives in Haifa, Israel with his wife and two daughters.
