探究我們如何觀看藝術和世界的方式,最精練又最具衝擊性的經典視覺藝術之作。
觀看先於言語。孩童先會觀看和辨識,接著才會說話。
不過觀看先於言語還有另一種義涵。藉由觀看,我們確定自己置身於周遭世界當中;我們用言語解釋這個世界,但言語永遠無法還原這個事實:世界包圍著我們。我們看到的世界與我們知道的世界,兩者間的關係從未確定。
男人行動,女人表現。男人注視女人。女人看自己被男人注視。
赤裸顯露自身。裸體用於展示。裸體的詛咒是永遠無法赤裸。裸體是一種衣著形式。
約翰.伯格《觀看的方式》強調「形式」和「論點」兩者同樣重要,試圖引發讀者質疑與探究我們是如何觀看繪畫……這無疑將改變讀者觀看圖像的方式。
全書雖以章次為名,但讀者可以隨自己喜好以任何順序閱讀。其中四章由文字和圖像構成,另外三章則只有圖像。由圖像構成的章節,主題分別為觀看女體的方式,以及油畫傳統中的各種矛盾面向,雖然沒有文字,但它們企圖提出的問題並不下於有文字的篇章。在這些圖像篇章裡,作者有時不提供任何相關資料,因為擔心這類資訊可能會分散讀者的注意力,干擾圖像正在傳述的意旨。
Based on the BBC television series, John Berger's Ways of Seeing is a unique look at the way we view art, published as part of the Penguin on Design series in Penguin Modern Classics.
'Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.'
'But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but word can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.'
John Berger's Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the Sunday Times critic commented: 'This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change the way you look at pictures.' By now he has.