Art and Technics

Brampton Lectures in America

by Lewis Mumford, Casey Nelson Blake (Foreword)

Featuring a new introduction by Casey Nelson Blake, this classic text provides the essence of Mumford's views on the distinct yet interpenetrating roles of technology and the arts in modern culture. Mumford contends that modern man's overemphasis on technics has contributed to the depersonalization and emptiness of much of twentieth-century life. He issues a call for a renewed respect for artistic impulses and achievements. His repeated insistence that technological development take the Human as its measure -- as well as his impassioned plea for humanity to make the most of its "splendid potentialities and promise" and reverse its progress toward anomie and destruction -- is ever more relevant as the new century dawns.

Genres: Philosophy, Art, Nonfiction, Technology, Sociology

178 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian and philosopher of technology and science. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a tremendously broad career as a writer that also included a period as an influential literary critic. Mumford was influenced by the work of Scottish theorist Sir Patrick Geddes.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes how art and tools have been interwined throughout human history, from even the earliest times. This first works of art were simultaneously tools, as early humans started putting symbols on the stone tools and container they were using. Mumford is an amazing scholar who seems to know everything about everything and his descriptions of the different turns the relation between art and technology have taken over the millenia is full of interesting insights and gave me many new ideas. The book is concise and well written.

[Raúl Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Cuáles son los factores que han permitido al ser humano afianzarse como especie en el mundo? Para Lewis Mumford existen dos características: la primera tiene que ver con la manipulación de la naturaleza para facilitar la vida, la segunda es la capacidad de internalizar el entorno para crear símbolos, y a través de esta fuerza creativa, comunicar y trascender.

Con esta respuesta bipartita, Mumford señala que el balance entre técnica y arte ha sido el motor primordial del desarrollo humano; sin embargo, el exceso de técnica ha repercutido de forma negativa en las personas. Ante el ojo de lo objetivo (al que la técnica misma pertenece) no queda margen para la experiencia interna.

Lo anterior no sería un problema si no fuera por las consecuencias negativas de esta pérdida de sensibilidad: desde el vacío que experimenta un trabajador promedio al pasar de ser únicamente un operador de máquinas, hasta un grupo de genios en ciencia capaz de impulsar el desarrollo de dispositivos letales, como la bomba atómica.

Mumford, igual que Benjamin, experimentaría en carne propia los efectos de la guerra y a través de su trinchera académica (alcanzando respuestas similares a las del filósofo alemán) se dispone a argumentar que la masificación cultural puede ser benéfica hasta cierto punto, pero que es la creatividad humana lo que impulsa la industria y humaniza, para así comenzar una nueva etapa en el devenir histórico.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro lúcido, crítico y muy bien escrito sobre las relaciones entre arte y técnica. Recoge seis conferencias dictadas en Columbia en 1951 y, por tanto, el estilo es formal, pero bastante oral. Esto tiene una ventaja principal: el autor va al grano en cada conferencia, argumentando su punto de vista y ejemplificándolo sin recurrir a bibliografía secundaria, citas a autoridades o notas eruditas. En cuanto al contenido, me parece que muchas de las observaciones se pueden trasladar al momento actual. De hecho, el autor no está en contra de la técnica sino a favor de recuperar un equilibrio entre el arte y la máquina. Lo mejor de todo, sin duda, es la visión interdisciplinar del autor y las implicaciones políticas y comunitarias su tesis, que no persigue más que la restauración del ser humano en el centro de la vida.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Describes the tension between the symbolic and technical capacities of humankind. The two are poles on a spectrum, with each age being dominated by one or the other tendency. The current age is of course dominated by the technical, and the results may be disastrous if the we don't bring the two back into balance. The author remains nevertheless upbeat, citing the best contemporaneous efforts in human-centric architecture, management, and product design.

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lectures which make up this volume are all intriguing and well-written, but I only occasionally found them deeply engaging. Perhaps that's because I am already pretty familiar with the broader philosophical perspective--particularly in its Heideggerian strands--which informs Mumford's observations about technology and art, and thus found him somewhat repetitive; it also might be that I'm just too informed by the specialized study of history from the past two generations to be entirely content with his broad, sweeping historical accounts, even allowing for the fact that these were lectures, not scholarly monographs. Anyway, the final lecture, "Art, Technics, and Cultural Integration," was especially good; I never thought of Mumford as a Hegelian, but to my reading his quotations from Spengler and others absolutely put him in that camp. Overall, some challenging and important ideas, even if they weren't, to me, the best possible expression of them.

[matthew harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it's a bit dated in its references (it was written in the 1950's) Mumford's critique on our mechanistic way of life is still very much relevant, and maybe it is more than relevant because we seem to be at a threshold that those in the 1950s were not even prescient of (well, beyond some Sci-Fi writers and Beats, that is). It's a slender book that sat on my shelf for around ten years. When I finally got around to reading it, it said to me, "What took you so long?" I don't know. Attitude? Mindset? The inability to think about outside connections to the text? The book works to trace the split between art and the mechanical world as a way of trying to come to terms with our place in society and our society's place in time. Thanks to prof Jerry Phillips for recommending this book to me! Ten years is by far too late to say this, but Hats off, Jerry!

[Lucas]

A nice try but the charming optimism failed IMO - did not hold up . Closing paragraphs read like a red talk. Maybe too much responsibility placed on the individual for “self control” .

I really did like his style and approach to the topic found it really engaging and compelling and etc etc and he’s not wrong I guess
But too optimistic 😂😂😂😂😂

[Mark]

Probably read in early 2000s.

[Colin]

“For I was pleading, not for abolition of the machine, but for its effective control.”

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art and Technics is a book by Lewis Mumford, an American historian, philosopher, and cultural critic. The book was published in 1952 and it explores the relationship between art, technology, and culture.

In Art and Technics, Mumford argues that the development of art and technology are closely connected and that they are both expressions of human culture and creativity. He discusses the different ways in which art and technology have interacted throughout history and how they have influenced each other.

Mumford also explores the idea that technology has the potential to transform society and culture, and he discusses the ways in which technology has shaped the modern world. He argues that the development of technology should be guided by ethical and aesthetic principles, and that it should be used to enhance the quality of life for all people.

Art and Technics is a thought-provoking and influential work that has had a lasting impact on the way that technology and art are understood and appreciated. It is widely read and studied by students and scholars of cultural studies, philosophy, and the history of technology.

GPT

[Scotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauty if full