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Part of
Beyond Meaning
Edited by Elly Ifantidou, Louis de Saussure and Tim Wharton
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 324] 2021
► pp. 151–160

Hushed tones

Ceremonial treatment as a perspective shifter

| University of Brighton
| University of Brighton

A challenge posed by modern art, especially since the birth of the readymade, is how it is possible to discern art from non-art; institutional theories of art suggest that institutional sanctioning is the primary condition for the identification of an object as art. Here, we propose an explanation for the way that such institutional sanctioning might be reflected in the cognitive work of a viewer, and describe this effect as part of a continuum of behaviours that generate deeper, more varied and ultimately more effort-intensive interpretations of both art and other aspects of the human experience.

Keywords: effort investiture, weak communication, art interpretation, institutional theories of art, ‘artworld’, ostension, guru effect, effort-intensive interpretations
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Weak communication, ostension and perception
  • 3.Relevance in cognition and communication
  • 4.Hushed tones
  • 5.Evading summary
  • References
Published online: 10 November 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.324.c9
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