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Conclusion - Out of Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2019

Wendy M. K. Shaw
Affiliation:
Freie Universität Berlin
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Summary

The conclusion imagines an art history out of perspective, modeled instead on laterally infinite isometric geometries experienced not only in Islam, but also corresponding with other theorizations of egalitarian subjectivities. Interested, transmedial, decentered, egalitarian and atemporal, such subjectivity forgoes the position of mastery. Using historic texts to articulate an episteme describing Islamic perceptual culture, this work dissolves the possibility of segregating secular and sacred realms. Art-historical premises such as the centrality of vision, the role of the image, the importance of the object, the linearity of history, the centrality of matter, and the authority of perspective become contingent. Focusing on reception over production, the study of perceptual culture undermines the value of distinguishing between media as a means of approaching culture. Featuring experience over materiality, it includes non-material entities such as music and dreams. Rejecting the hierarchy of the eye, it valorizes the ear and the heart. It recognizes the possibility of physical preservation only through the concomitant preservation of ideas. It invites us to invent an art history that inhabits the unfamiliar rather than reconfiguring the Other into familiar forms. Rather than learning about cultures, it proposes that wisdom depends on our learning from them.

Type
Chapter
Information
What is 'Islamic' Art?
Between Religion and Perception
, pp. 326 - 335
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Out of Perspective
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.012
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  • Out of Perspective
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Out of Perspective
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.012
Available formats
×