Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture (October Books)

Rating:
Summary: In the Eye of the Beholder
Review: A remarkable book that takes the reader on a chronological excursion into the changing ideas of perception during a crucial period in history -- 1870 through the early 1900s. Using three paintings to organize this tour de force examination of prevailing modes of scientific, sociological and psychological thinking of the time -- a Manet, a Seurat, a Cezanne -- he makes convincing arguments as to the inspiration these various discourses may have had on these artists. The larger context he explores, the evolution of the modernist, high-industrial conception of attention and perception, as driven by new technologies and modes of social thinking, has particular relevance today in light of the Internet. Crary is clearly writing for an academic audience here -- his prose style can often be difficult, but there is much here for general reader with an interest in media, perception, history, and in learning how we got to where we are now.