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Page 1: Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Artsby Ellen Winner

Leonardo

Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts by Ellen WinnerReview by: Nancy HubbeLeonardo, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1984), pp. 223-224Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1575211 .

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Page 2: Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Artsby Ellen Winner

to claim that Lewis "returned to London thoroughly prepared to release the torrent of creative work that would transform the art and literature of England" (p. 25). The hyperbole seems more inspired by novelistic conventions underlying Meyers's conception of the biography as a genre than by any adequate appraisal of Lewis's influence on English art .nd literature. By page 146 Meyers dourly but decisively claims, "Though his seminal works were highly praised by the most intelligent writers and critics of the time, he never achieved the fame of Joyce, Eliot, Pound, Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, and had no major influence on English thought and literature." If Lewis's Blast and Tarr had 'transformed' English art and literature in the teens, they had suddenly retransformed themselves by the mid-twenties and then endured again the 'seminal' yet uninfluential work of Lewis's middle period without so much as a miscarriage.

Meyers's difficulties are instructive because they clearly show the resistance of Lewis's life and thought to the mild and uncritical genre of the literary biography, and in a larger sense the resistance to modernism by a premodernist, conventional aesthetic of appreciation and decorum. Despite his title, Meyers would like Enemy (Lewis's last journal) to become Coleridge's Friend Lewis deserves what Jameson has called for, "a psychobiography of the quality of those of Sartre or Erikson" (Fables of Aggression, p. 11). One can hardly fault Meyers for not rivaling such major thinkers, but one can fault him for ignoring the instruction his subject's own work offers to biographers and critics alike.

Reviewed by Philip Kuberski, English Depart- ment, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15217, U.S.A.

The Life of a Psychologist. Fritz Heider. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1983. 195 pp., $12.95.

Fritz Heider was born in Vienna in 1896. His paternal grandfather was the imperial dentist of the Emperor Franz Joseph. Following World War II, when Heider had settled in Kansas, he was invited to breakfast with the Archduke Otto, claimant to the Hapsburg's throne. As they shook hands to say goodbye, Heider remarked in a devilish way (as only the kin of a dentist could), "My ancestors have caused your ancestors much pain."

This autobiography tells us that Heider's father was an architect, his mother an amateur actress. Both his parents painted and drew, and his mother took lessons from Gustav Klimt. Aside from peripheral morsels like these, the author makes almost no mention of art. This is somewhat regrettable since there is an essay by Heider (in Historical Conceptions ofPsychology. Mary Henle et al., eds. Springer, New York, 1973) in which he proposes a speculative link between gestalt theory, cubist painting and military camouflage. He was a student of the Berlin gestaltists (Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka). He was a close associate of Kurt

to claim that Lewis "returned to London thoroughly prepared to release the torrent of creative work that would transform the art and literature of England" (p. 25). The hyperbole seems more inspired by novelistic conventions underlying Meyers's conception of the biography as a genre than by any adequate appraisal of Lewis's influence on English art .nd literature. By page 146 Meyers dourly but decisively claims, "Though his seminal works were highly praised by the most intelligent writers and critics of the time, he never achieved the fame of Joyce, Eliot, Pound, Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, and had no major influence on English thought and literature." If Lewis's Blast and Tarr had 'transformed' English art and literature in the teens, they had suddenly retransformed themselves by the mid-twenties and then endured again the 'seminal' yet uninfluential work of Lewis's middle period without so much as a miscarriage.

Meyers's difficulties are instructive because they clearly show the resistance of Lewis's life and thought to the mild and uncritical genre of the literary biography, and in a larger sense the resistance to modernism by a premodernist, conventional aesthetic of appreciation and decorum. Despite his title, Meyers would like Enemy (Lewis's last journal) to become Coleridge's Friend Lewis deserves what Jameson has called for, "a psychobiography of the quality of those of Sartre or Erikson" (Fables of Aggression, p. 11). One can hardly fault Meyers for not rivaling such major thinkers, but one can fault him for ignoring the instruction his subject's own work offers to biographers and critics alike.

Reviewed by Philip Kuberski, English Depart- ment, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15217, U.S.A.

The Life of a Psychologist. Fritz Heider. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1983. 195 pp., $12.95.

Fritz Heider was born in Vienna in 1896. His paternal grandfather was the imperial dentist of the Emperor Franz Joseph. Following World War II, when Heider had settled in Kansas, he was invited to breakfast with the Archduke Otto, claimant to the Hapsburg's throne. As they shook hands to say goodbye, Heider remarked in a devilish way (as only the kin of a dentist could), "My ancestors have caused your ancestors much pain."

This autobiography tells us that Heider's father was an architect, his mother an amateur actress. Both his parents painted and drew, and his mother took lessons from Gustav Klimt. Aside from peripheral morsels like these, the author makes almost no mention of art. This is somewhat regrettable since there is an essay by Heider (in Historical Conceptions ofPsychology. Mary Henle et al., eds. Springer, New York, 1973) in which he proposes a speculative link between gestalt theory, cubist painting and military camouflage. He was a student of the Berlin gestaltists (Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka). He was a close associate of Kurt

to claim that Lewis "returned to London thoroughly prepared to release the torrent of creative work that would transform the art and literature of England" (p. 25). The hyperbole seems more inspired by novelistic conventions underlying Meyers's conception of the biography as a genre than by any adequate appraisal of Lewis's influence on English art .nd literature. By page 146 Meyers dourly but decisively claims, "Though his seminal works were highly praised by the most intelligent writers and critics of the time, he never achieved the fame of Joyce, Eliot, Pound, Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, and had no major influence on English thought and literature." If Lewis's Blast and Tarr had 'transformed' English art and literature in the teens, they had suddenly retransformed themselves by the mid-twenties and then endured again the 'seminal' yet uninfluential work of Lewis's middle period without so much as a miscarriage.

Meyers's difficulties are instructive because they clearly show the resistance of Lewis's life and thought to the mild and uncritical genre of the literary biography, and in a larger sense the resistance to modernism by a premodernist, conventional aesthetic of appreciation and decorum. Despite his title, Meyers would like Enemy (Lewis's last journal) to become Coleridge's Friend Lewis deserves what Jameson has called for, "a psychobiography of the quality of those of Sartre or Erikson" (Fables of Aggression, p. 11). One can hardly fault Meyers for not rivaling such major thinkers, but one can fault him for ignoring the instruction his subject's own work offers to biographers and critics alike.

Reviewed by Philip Kuberski, English Depart- ment, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15217, U.S.A.

The Life of a Psychologist. Fritz Heider. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1983. 195 pp., $12.95.

Fritz Heider was born in Vienna in 1896. His paternal grandfather was the imperial dentist of the Emperor Franz Joseph. Following World War II, when Heider had settled in Kansas, he was invited to breakfast with the Archduke Otto, claimant to the Hapsburg's throne. As they shook hands to say goodbye, Heider remarked in a devilish way (as only the kin of a dentist could), "My ancestors have caused your ancestors much pain."

This autobiography tells us that Heider's father was an architect, his mother an amateur actress. Both his parents painted and drew, and his mother took lessons from Gustav Klimt. Aside from peripheral morsels like these, the author makes almost no mention of art. This is somewhat regrettable since there is an essay by Heider (in Historical Conceptions ofPsychology. Mary Henle et al., eds. Springer, New York, 1973) in which he proposes a speculative link between gestalt theory, cubist painting and military camouflage. He was a student of the Berlin gestaltists (Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka). He was a close associate of Kurt

to claim that Lewis "returned to London thoroughly prepared to release the torrent of creative work that would transform the art and literature of England" (p. 25). The hyperbole seems more inspired by novelistic conventions underlying Meyers's conception of the biography as a genre than by any adequate appraisal of Lewis's influence on English art .nd literature. By page 146 Meyers dourly but decisively claims, "Though his seminal works were highly praised by the most intelligent writers and critics of the time, he never achieved the fame of Joyce, Eliot, Pound, Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, and had no major influence on English thought and literature." If Lewis's Blast and Tarr had 'transformed' English art and literature in the teens, they had suddenly retransformed themselves by the mid-twenties and then endured again the 'seminal' yet uninfluential work of Lewis's middle period without so much as a miscarriage.

Meyers's difficulties are instructive because they clearly show the resistance of Lewis's life and thought to the mild and uncritical genre of the literary biography, and in a larger sense the resistance to modernism by a premodernist, conventional aesthetic of appreciation and decorum. Despite his title, Meyers would like Enemy (Lewis's last journal) to become Coleridge's Friend Lewis deserves what Jameson has called for, "a psychobiography of the quality of those of Sartre or Erikson" (Fables of Aggression, p. 11). One can hardly fault Meyers for not rivaling such major thinkers, but one can fault him for ignoring the instruction his subject's own work offers to biographers and critics alike.

Reviewed by Philip Kuberski, English Depart- ment, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15217, U.S.A.

The Life of a Psychologist. Fritz Heider. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1983. 195 pp., $12.95.

Fritz Heider was born in Vienna in 1896. His paternal grandfather was the imperial dentist of the Emperor Franz Joseph. Following World War II, when Heider had settled in Kansas, he was invited to breakfast with the Archduke Otto, claimant to the Hapsburg's throne. As they shook hands to say goodbye, Heider remarked in a devilish way (as only the kin of a dentist could), "My ancestors have caused your ancestors much pain."

This autobiography tells us that Heider's father was an architect, his mother an amateur actress. Both his parents painted and drew, and his mother took lessons from Gustav Klimt. Aside from peripheral morsels like these, the author makes almost no mention of art. This is somewhat regrettable since there is an essay by Heider (in Historical Conceptions ofPsychology. Mary Henle et al., eds. Springer, New York, 1973) in which he proposes a speculative link between gestalt theory, cubist painting and military camouflage. He was a student of the Berlin gestaltists (Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka). He was a close associate of Kurt Lewin and a friend of Rudolf Arnheim, whose writings have been so important to art.

As Arnheim and others have frequently shown, there is an important connection between the gestalt principles of perceptual organization (e.g. similarity grouping, closure, continuity) and age-old rules of thumb in art.

Lewin and a friend of Rudolf Arnheim, whose writings have been so important to art.

As Arnheim and others have frequently shown, there is an important connection between the gestalt principles of perceptual organization (e.g. similarity grouping, closure, continuity) and age-old rules of thumb in art.

Lewin and a friend of Rudolf Arnheim, whose writings have been so important to art.

As Arnheim and others have frequently shown, there is an important connection between the gestalt principles of perceptual organization (e.g. similarity grouping, closure, continuity) and age-old rules of thumb in art.

Lewin and a friend of Rudolf Arnheim, whose writings have been so important to art.

As Arnheim and others have frequently shown, there is an important connection between the gestalt principles of perceptual organization (e.g. similarity grouping, closure, continuity) and age-old rules of thumb in art.

This book is a candid and touching account of how it must have felt to be an important participant in the birth and infancy of Gestalt.

As a bonus, it includes some rare and telltale photographs of Wertheimer, Kbhler and others. The pictures tell (as Heider confirms) that Wertheimer was "a short, intense man" who had "a unique way of talking and of writing. He operated by fits and starts that produced the impression that his ideas were fresh and pungent. One felt that this little man with the walrus moustache really believed what he was saying and that it must be something new since it made him so excited."

Heider took a teaching post at the Psychological Institute at Hamburg in 1927, where he maintained contact with people like Edgar Rubin (who specialized in figure/ ground), Heinz Werner and Ernst Cassirer. He even met Heidegger briefly. And he played the difficult role of Pavlov's dog in a satirical university skit about which he recalls, "Cassirer said that my bark was very convincing-he even thought he could detect a Russian accent."

Heider emigrated to the United States in 1930 to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf and at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where Koffka had been hired earlier. It was during his tenure at Smith that he became acquainted with James J. Gibson, Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead and Adelbert Ames, Jr. (inventor of distorted rooms). He describes the frustrations that grew from his search for a palpable goal, his lack of graduate students at Smith, and his victorious battle with a series of anxiety bouts.

Heider was revitalized by his move to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1947, where he taught for 20 years at the University of Kansas and where he apparently still resides. This book was presumably written when he was 85 years old. Judging from this keen and moving account, Heider must be a kind and remarkable man.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens, Dept of Art, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mil- waukee, WI 53201, U.S.A.

Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process. M. Alexenberg. Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1981. 207 pp., illus. ISBN: 965-226-013-4.

While the title Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process may be vague, the content is clear. M. Alexenberg presents the common denominator of 'the aesthetic experience' shared by creative people when successfully creating. He analyzes the psychological steps involved in developing new meanings in painting and sculpture and in science. From interviews with artists and scientists and from his reading, he finds three stages of creating and devotes a chapter to each. His fourth chapter introduces a system of diagrams to map the psychological route of developing a concept. The last section of the book contains 20 interviews, 10 with artists, 10 with scientists.

Alexenberg's analysis of the creative process is given with warm enthusiasm and specific

This book is a candid and touching account of how it must have felt to be an important participant in the birth and infancy of Gestalt.

As a bonus, it includes some rare and telltale photographs of Wertheimer, Kbhler and others. The pictures tell (as Heider confirms) that Wertheimer was "a short, intense man" who had "a unique way of talking and of writing. He operated by fits and starts that produced the impression that his ideas were fresh and pungent. One felt that this little man with the walrus moustache really believed what he was saying and that it must be something new since it made him so excited."

Heider took a teaching post at the Psychological Institute at Hamburg in 1927, where he maintained contact with people like Edgar Rubin (who specialized in figure/ ground), Heinz Werner and Ernst Cassirer. He even met Heidegger briefly. And he played the difficult role of Pavlov's dog in a satirical university skit about which he recalls, "Cassirer said that my bark was very convincing-he even thought he could detect a Russian accent."

Heider emigrated to the United States in 1930 to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf and at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where Koffka had been hired earlier. It was during his tenure at Smith that he became acquainted with James J. Gibson, Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead and Adelbert Ames, Jr. (inventor of distorted rooms). He describes the frustrations that grew from his search for a palpable goal, his lack of graduate students at Smith, and his victorious battle with a series of anxiety bouts.

Heider was revitalized by his move to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1947, where he taught for 20 years at the University of Kansas and where he apparently still resides. This book was presumably written when he was 85 years old. Judging from this keen and moving account, Heider must be a kind and remarkable man.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens, Dept of Art, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mil- waukee, WI 53201, U.S.A.

Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process. M. Alexenberg. Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1981. 207 pp., illus. ISBN: 965-226-013-4.

While the title Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process may be vague, the content is clear. M. Alexenberg presents the common denominator of 'the aesthetic experience' shared by creative people when successfully creating. He analyzes the psychological steps involved in developing new meanings in painting and sculpture and in science. From interviews with artists and scientists and from his reading, he finds three stages of creating and devotes a chapter to each. His fourth chapter introduces a system of diagrams to map the psychological route of developing a concept. The last section of the book contains 20 interviews, 10 with artists, 10 with scientists.

Alexenberg's analysis of the creative process is given with warm enthusiasm and specific

This book is a candid and touching account of how it must have felt to be an important participant in the birth and infancy of Gestalt.

As a bonus, it includes some rare and telltale photographs of Wertheimer, Kbhler and others. The pictures tell (as Heider confirms) that Wertheimer was "a short, intense man" who had "a unique way of talking and of writing. He operated by fits and starts that produced the impression that his ideas were fresh and pungent. One felt that this little man with the walrus moustache really believed what he was saying and that it must be something new since it made him so excited."

Heider took a teaching post at the Psychological Institute at Hamburg in 1927, where he maintained contact with people like Edgar Rubin (who specialized in figure/ ground), Heinz Werner and Ernst Cassirer. He even met Heidegger briefly. And he played the difficult role of Pavlov's dog in a satirical university skit about which he recalls, "Cassirer said that my bark was very convincing-he even thought he could detect a Russian accent."

Heider emigrated to the United States in 1930 to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf and at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where Koffka had been hired earlier. It was during his tenure at Smith that he became acquainted with James J. Gibson, Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead and Adelbert Ames, Jr. (inventor of distorted rooms). He describes the frustrations that grew from his search for a palpable goal, his lack of graduate students at Smith, and his victorious battle with a series of anxiety bouts.

Heider was revitalized by his move to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1947, where he taught for 20 years at the University of Kansas and where he apparently still resides. This book was presumably written when he was 85 years old. Judging from this keen and moving account, Heider must be a kind and remarkable man.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens, Dept of Art, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mil- waukee, WI 53201, U.S.A.

Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process. M. Alexenberg. Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1981. 207 pp., illus. ISBN: 965-226-013-4.

While the title Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process may be vague, the content is clear. M. Alexenberg presents the common denominator of 'the aesthetic experience' shared by creative people when successfully creating. He analyzes the psychological steps involved in developing new meanings in painting and sculpture and in science. From interviews with artists and scientists and from his reading, he finds three stages of creating and devotes a chapter to each. His fourth chapter introduces a system of diagrams to map the psychological route of developing a concept. The last section of the book contains 20 interviews, 10 with artists, 10 with scientists.

Alexenberg's analysis of the creative process is given with warm enthusiasm and specific

This book is a candid and touching account of how it must have felt to be an important participant in the birth and infancy of Gestalt.

As a bonus, it includes some rare and telltale photographs of Wertheimer, Kbhler and others. The pictures tell (as Heider confirms) that Wertheimer was "a short, intense man" who had "a unique way of talking and of writing. He operated by fits and starts that produced the impression that his ideas were fresh and pungent. One felt that this little man with the walrus moustache really believed what he was saying and that it must be something new since it made him so excited."

Heider took a teaching post at the Psychological Institute at Hamburg in 1927, where he maintained contact with people like Edgar Rubin (who specialized in figure/ ground), Heinz Werner and Ernst Cassirer. He even met Heidegger briefly. And he played the difficult role of Pavlov's dog in a satirical university skit about which he recalls, "Cassirer said that my bark was very convincing-he even thought he could detect a Russian accent."

Heider emigrated to the United States in 1930 to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf and at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where Koffka had been hired earlier. It was during his tenure at Smith that he became acquainted with James J. Gibson, Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead and Adelbert Ames, Jr. (inventor of distorted rooms). He describes the frustrations that grew from his search for a palpable goal, his lack of graduate students at Smith, and his victorious battle with a series of anxiety bouts.

Heider was revitalized by his move to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1947, where he taught for 20 years at the University of Kansas and where he apparently still resides. This book was presumably written when he was 85 years old. Judging from this keen and moving account, Heider must be a kind and remarkable man.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens, Dept of Art, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mil- waukee, WI 53201, U.S.A.

Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process. M. Alexenberg. Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1981. 207 pp., illus. ISBN: 965-226-013-4.

While the title Aesthetic Experience in Creative Process may be vague, the content is clear. M. Alexenberg presents the common denominator of 'the aesthetic experience' shared by creative people when successfully creating. He analyzes the psychological steps involved in developing new meanings in painting and sculpture and in science. From interviews with artists and scientists and from his reading, he finds three stages of creating and devotes a chapter to each. His fourth chapter introduces a system of diagrams to map the psychological route of developing a concept. The last section of the book contains 20 interviews, 10 with artists, 10 with scientists.

Alexenberg's analysis of the creative process is given with warm enthusiasm and specific anecdotes. The first stage, called 'messing about', emphasizes the playful attitude of the serious creative mind. He explains the importance of the immediate environment, be it studio or laboratory, as well as the importance of getting away from it to relax and let new combinations of information coalesce

anecdotes. The first stage, called 'messing about', emphasizes the playful attitude of the serious creative mind. He explains the importance of the immediate environment, be it studio or laboratory, as well as the importance of getting away from it to relax and let new combinations of information coalesce

anecdotes. The first stage, called 'messing about', emphasizes the playful attitude of the serious creative mind. He explains the importance of the immediate environment, be it studio or laboratory, as well as the importance of getting away from it to relax and let new combinations of information coalesce

anecdotes. The first stage, called 'messing about', emphasizes the playful attitude of the serious creative mind. He explains the importance of the immediate environment, be it studio or laboratory, as well as the importance of getting away from it to relax and let new combinations of information coalesce

in the mind. This stage is often slowed by discouraging obstacles.

The next stage is entitled 'joyous knowing'. Seven possible forms of new relationships into which the author feels most artistic or scientific discoveries can be grouped are described and diagrammed. When the ingredients of a new artwork or scientific theory are suddenly seen to fit together in such a relationship, the discoverer is elated. Alexenberg lets his selected artists and scientists describe this elation and the circumstances of its occurrence.

After such a climax comes a period of letdown. The gradual descent from the peak experience is compensated for by an afterglow of satisfaction. The artists or scientists, as several of them comment, are motivated to tackle new projects.

The fourth chapter will please the graphics- minded reader. The simple diagrams in Chapter II are just a warm-up for the grand visualization of the mental field constructed here. Using schemes of John Venn, Kurt Lewin and Ross Mooney as models, Alexenberg develops a map showing the outreach from the conscious field to the environment and the paths information takes in the process of transformation.

The 20 interviews are fun to read. Those interviewed are all men, mostly old men, mostly academics, who have spent their lives working in their fields and have rich experience to draw on. No composers, choreographers, poets or playwrights are included as artists. Chemistry, physics, biology and geology are represented among the scientists. Rather than attempting a representative sample, Alexenberg apparently chose friends and former teachers for the interviews.

The book includes photos of these 20 men plus photos of works of the 10 artists. Printing was done at Bar-Ilan University Press in Ramat Gan, Israel. The type is bold and modern, easy to read on amply-spaced pages. There are, however, typographical errors and many misspellings.

The sense that the author relished his research and writing contributed to my enjoyment of this book. It is exciting and well organized, and I would rank it with Rollo May's The Courage to Create as among the best of the many books on creativity. It will be of continuing interest to the general reader, to psychologists, and especially to those who share an urge to create.

Reviewed by Nanct Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinocket, ME 04462, U.S.A.

Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts. Ellen Winner. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. 431 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-674-46360-9.

With her book invitingly named Invented Worlds, Ellen Winter has undertaken the large assignment of surveying whatever research in the field of psychology pertains to the arts. Her introduction discusses definitions of art and the short history of the psychology of art. Next she carefully describes the research that concerns the artist, composer or writer, and his

in the mind. This stage is often slowed by discouraging obstacles.

The next stage is entitled 'joyous knowing'. Seven possible forms of new relationships into which the author feels most artistic or scientific discoveries can be grouped are described and diagrammed. When the ingredients of a new artwork or scientific theory are suddenly seen to fit together in such a relationship, the discoverer is elated. Alexenberg lets his selected artists and scientists describe this elation and the circumstances of its occurrence.

After such a climax comes a period of letdown. The gradual descent from the peak experience is compensated for by an afterglow of satisfaction. The artists or scientists, as several of them comment, are motivated to tackle new projects.

The fourth chapter will please the graphics- minded reader. The simple diagrams in Chapter II are just a warm-up for the grand visualization of the mental field constructed here. Using schemes of John Venn, Kurt Lewin and Ross Mooney as models, Alexenberg develops a map showing the outreach from the conscious field to the environment and the paths information takes in the process of transformation.

The 20 interviews are fun to read. Those interviewed are all men, mostly old men, mostly academics, who have spent their lives working in their fields and have rich experience to draw on. No composers, choreographers, poets or playwrights are included as artists. Chemistry, physics, biology and geology are represented among the scientists. Rather than attempting a representative sample, Alexenberg apparently chose friends and former teachers for the interviews.

The book includes photos of these 20 men plus photos of works of the 10 artists. Printing was done at Bar-Ilan University Press in Ramat Gan, Israel. The type is bold and modern, easy to read on amply-spaced pages. There are, however, typographical errors and many misspellings.

The sense that the author relished his research and writing contributed to my enjoyment of this book. It is exciting and well organized, and I would rank it with Rollo May's The Courage to Create as among the best of the many books on creativity. It will be of continuing interest to the general reader, to psychologists, and especially to those who share an urge to create.

Reviewed by Nanct Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinocket, ME 04462, U.S.A.

Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts. Ellen Winner. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. 431 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-674-46360-9.

With her book invitingly named Invented Worlds, Ellen Winter has undertaken the large assignment of surveying whatever research in the field of psychology pertains to the arts. Her introduction discusses definitions of art and the short history of the psychology of art. Next she carefully describes the research that concerns the artist, composer or writer, and his

in the mind. This stage is often slowed by discouraging obstacles.

The next stage is entitled 'joyous knowing'. Seven possible forms of new relationships into which the author feels most artistic or scientific discoveries can be grouped are described and diagrammed. When the ingredients of a new artwork or scientific theory are suddenly seen to fit together in such a relationship, the discoverer is elated. Alexenberg lets his selected artists and scientists describe this elation and the circumstances of its occurrence.

After such a climax comes a period of letdown. The gradual descent from the peak experience is compensated for by an afterglow of satisfaction. The artists or scientists, as several of them comment, are motivated to tackle new projects.

The fourth chapter will please the graphics- minded reader. The simple diagrams in Chapter II are just a warm-up for the grand visualization of the mental field constructed here. Using schemes of John Venn, Kurt Lewin and Ross Mooney as models, Alexenberg develops a map showing the outreach from the conscious field to the environment and the paths information takes in the process of transformation.

The 20 interviews are fun to read. Those interviewed are all men, mostly old men, mostly academics, who have spent their lives working in their fields and have rich experience to draw on. No composers, choreographers, poets or playwrights are included as artists. Chemistry, physics, biology and geology are represented among the scientists. Rather than attempting a representative sample, Alexenberg apparently chose friends and former teachers for the interviews.

The book includes photos of these 20 men plus photos of works of the 10 artists. Printing was done at Bar-Ilan University Press in Ramat Gan, Israel. The type is bold and modern, easy to read on amply-spaced pages. There are, however, typographical errors and many misspellings.

The sense that the author relished his research and writing contributed to my enjoyment of this book. It is exciting and well organized, and I would rank it with Rollo May's The Courage to Create as among the best of the many books on creativity. It will be of continuing interest to the general reader, to psychologists, and especially to those who share an urge to create.

Reviewed by Nanct Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinocket, ME 04462, U.S.A.

Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts. Ellen Winner. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. 431 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-674-46360-9.

With her book invitingly named Invented Worlds, Ellen Winter has undertaken the large assignment of surveying whatever research in the field of psychology pertains to the arts. Her introduction discusses definitions of art and the short history of the psychology of art. Next she carefully describes the research that concerns the artist, composer or writer, and his

in the mind. This stage is often slowed by discouraging obstacles.

The next stage is entitled 'joyous knowing'. Seven possible forms of new relationships into which the author feels most artistic or scientific discoveries can be grouped are described and diagrammed. When the ingredients of a new artwork or scientific theory are suddenly seen to fit together in such a relationship, the discoverer is elated. Alexenberg lets his selected artists and scientists describe this elation and the circumstances of its occurrence.

After such a climax comes a period of letdown. The gradual descent from the peak experience is compensated for by an afterglow of satisfaction. The artists or scientists, as several of them comment, are motivated to tackle new projects.

The fourth chapter will please the graphics- minded reader. The simple diagrams in Chapter II are just a warm-up for the grand visualization of the mental field constructed here. Using schemes of John Venn, Kurt Lewin and Ross Mooney as models, Alexenberg develops a map showing the outreach from the conscious field to the environment and the paths information takes in the process of transformation.

The 20 interviews are fun to read. Those interviewed are all men, mostly old men, mostly academics, who have spent their lives working in their fields and have rich experience to draw on. No composers, choreographers, poets or playwrights are included as artists. Chemistry, physics, biology and geology are represented among the scientists. Rather than attempting a representative sample, Alexenberg apparently chose friends and former teachers for the interviews.

The book includes photos of these 20 men plus photos of works of the 10 artists. Printing was done at Bar-Ilan University Press in Ramat Gan, Israel. The type is bold and modern, easy to read on amply-spaced pages. There are, however, typographical errors and many misspellings.

The sense that the author relished his research and writing contributed to my enjoyment of this book. It is exciting and well organized, and I would rank it with Rollo May's The Courage to Create as among the best of the many books on creativity. It will be of continuing interest to the general reader, to psychologists, and especially to those who share an urge to create.

Reviewed by Nanct Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinocket, ME 04462, U.S.A.

Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts. Ellen Winner. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. 431 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-674-46360-9.

With her book invitingly named Invented Worlds, Ellen Winter has undertaken the large assignment of surveying whatever research in the field of psychology pertains to the arts. Her introduction discusses definitions of art and the short history of the psychology of art. Next she carefully describes the research that concerns the artist, composer or writer, and his or her motivation, mental process and effectiveness. Then comes work concerning the audience, its perceptions and reactions. Winner proceeds to the three major branches of the arts-visual arts, music and literature- devoting three chapters to each. Studies of brain damage and of mental illness (primarily

or her motivation, mental process and effectiveness. Then comes work concerning the audience, its perceptions and reactions. Winner proceeds to the three major branches of the arts-visual arts, music and literature- devoting three chapters to each. Studies of brain damage and of mental illness (primarily

or her motivation, mental process and effectiveness. Then comes work concerning the audience, its perceptions and reactions. Winner proceeds to the three major branches of the arts-visual arts, music and literature- devoting three chapters to each. Studies of brain damage and of mental illness (primarily

or her motivation, mental process and effectiveness. Then comes work concerning the audience, its perceptions and reactions. Winner proceeds to the three major branches of the arts-visual arts, music and literature- devoting three chapters to each. Studies of brain damage and of mental illness (primarily

Book Reviews Book Reviews Book Reviews Book Reviews 223 223 223 223

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Page 3: Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Artsby Ellen Winner

schizophrenia) that have cast light on aesthetics each have a special chapter. A six- page summary and evaluation concludes the work.

Winner describes each theory and experi- ment in some detail, with greater attention to systematic, measurable evidence than to clinical or anecdotal reports. She typically adds her own critique, from a common-sense viewpoint, and frequently discounts scme of the psychologists' claims. Understandably, she is warmest towards her own group, the cognitive psychologists, and includes a great deal of detail on research by Daniel Berlyne, Rudolf Arnheim, Nelson Goodman and Susanne Langer. These studies seem to have more to do with learning than with art.

The bulk of the psychology research appears to concern children's perceptions and under-

schizophrenia) that have cast light on aesthetics each have a special chapter. A six- page summary and evaluation concludes the work.

Winner describes each theory and experi- ment in some detail, with greater attention to systematic, measurable evidence than to clinical or anecdotal reports. She typically adds her own critique, from a common-sense viewpoint, and frequently discounts scme of the psychologists' claims. Understandably, she is warmest towards her own group, the cognitive psychologists, and includes a great deal of detail on research by Daniel Berlyne, Rudolf Arnheim, Nelson Goodman and Susanne Langer. These studies seem to have more to do with learning than with art.

The bulk of the psychology research appears to concern children's perceptions and under-

standings. Next most common is the study of perception in the adult. Theories concerning motivation and content are prominent in the clinical literature but have proven to explain only a few examples in art and literature, according to Winner. She points out that research in all three branches of the arts seems superficial compared to studies of the psychology of other human activities. It is either sweeping and unreliable or narrow and not illuminating.

The physical appearance of Invented Worlds is beautiful, with titles in sensitively spaced calligraphy, attractive typesetting, and a wealth of illustrations. However, reading from cover to cover is tedious. I felt that the research most significant to the arts was that concerned with the two halves of the brain. This is buried in the chapter called 'The Damaged Brain' but

standings. Next most common is the study of perception in the adult. Theories concerning motivation and content are prominent in the clinical literature but have proven to explain only a few examples in art and literature, according to Winner. She points out that research in all three branches of the arts seems superficial compared to studies of the psychology of other human activities. It is either sweeping and unreliable or narrow and not illuminating.

The physical appearance of Invented Worlds is beautiful, with titles in sensitively spaced calligraphy, attractive typesetting, and a wealth of illustrations. However, reading from cover to cover is tedious. I felt that the research most significant to the arts was that concerned with the two halves of the brain. This is buried in the chapter called 'The Damaged Brain' but

might have been better featured near the beginning in the discussion of the artist. Winner's most interesting writing is in the epilogue of evaluation.

This methodical, scholarly, well-documented work gives the impression that psychologists have touched only the fringes of aesthetics. The deep and fascinating questions about inspiration, communication, satisfying form, relation of form and content, etc. remain largely unexplored. It would doubtless prove more fruitful to search the fine arts for insights into psychology.

Reviewed by Nancy Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinockct, ME 04462, U.S.A.

might have been better featured near the beginning in the discussion of the artist. Winner's most interesting writing is in the epilogue of evaluation.

This methodical, scholarly, well-documented work gives the impression that psychologists have touched only the fringes of aesthetics. The deep and fascinating questions about inspiration, communication, satisfying form, relation of form and content, etc. remain largely unexplored. It would doubtless prove more fruitful to search the fine arts for insights into psychology.

Reviewed by Nancy Hubbe, 288 Katahdin Ave., Millinockct, ME 04462, U.S.A.

Books Received

Aesthetics of Movement. Paul Souriau. Edited and translated by Manon Souriau. Univ. of Mass. Press, Amherst, 1983. 160 pp., illus. Cloth, $22.50. ISBN: 0-87023-412-9. Architecture of Death. Richard A. Etlin. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 441 pp., illus. Cloth, $37.50. ISBN: 0-262-05027-7. Brucken Bridges. Fritz Leonhardt. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 308 pp., illus. Cloth, $50.00. ISBN: 0-262-12105-0. Color: Essence and Logic. Rolf G. Kuehni. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983. 140 pp., illus. Cloth, $17.50. ISBN: 0-442-23722-2. Consciousness: Natural and Artificial. James T. Culbertson. Libra Publishers, Long Island,NY, 1982. 313 pp., illus. Cloth, $13.95. ISBN: 0-87212-152-6. Digital Image Processing: A Systems Approach. William B. Green. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1982. 192 pp., illus. Cloth, $34.50. ISBN: 0-442-28801-8. Distance and Space: A Geographical Perspective. Anthony C. Gatrell. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1983. 195 pp., illus. Paper, $12.95. ISBN: 0-19-874129-4. Dreams and Nightmares: Utopian Visions in Modern Art. Valerie J. Fletcher. Smithsonian Institution Press, Wash., DC, 1983. 202 pp., illus. Cloth, $42.50. ISBN: 0-8-474-432-6. Emerging Goddess. Albert Rothenberg. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979. 440 pp., illus. Cloth, $22.50. Paper, $10.95. ISBN: 0-226-72949-4. History of Graphic Design. Philip B. Meggs. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983.511 pp., illus. Cloth, $35.00. ISBN: 0-442-26221-3. Industriekultur: Peter Behrens and the A.E.G. Tillman Buddenseig. Trans. by Iain Boyd White. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 520 pp., illus. Cloth, $75.00. ISBN: 0-262-04074-3. Politics of Interpretation. Edited by W. J. T. Mitchell. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1983. 386 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-226-53220-8. Paper, $9.95. ISBN: 0-226-53220-8. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Display Holography. Edited by Tung Hon Jeong. Holography Workshops, 1983. 239 pp., illus. Paper. ISBN: 0-910535-01-9. Relativity Visualized. Lewis C. Epstein. Insight Press, San Francisco, 1983. 199 pp., illus. Paper. ISBN: 0-935218-03-3. Social Limits of Art. John Manfredi. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1982. 199 pp., illus. Cloth, $15.00. ISBN: 0-87023-372-6. Talking Computers and Telecommunications. John A. Kuecken. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983. 237 pp., illus. Cloth, $26.50. ISBN: 0-442-24721-4. Thinking Physics (Is Gedanken Physics). Lewis E. Epstein. Insight Press, San Francisco, 1983. 580 pp., illus. Paper, $12.95. ISBN: 0-953218-04-1. Truth and Falsehood in Visual Images. Mark Roskill and David Carrier. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1984. 146 pp., illus. Cloth, $16.00. ISBN: 0-87023-404-8. Paper, $8.95. ISBN: 0-87023-405-6. Voyage into Substance. Barbara Maria Stafford. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 643 pp., illus. Cloth, $39.95. ISBN: 0-262-19223-3.

Books Received

Aesthetics of Movement. Paul Souriau. Edited and translated by Manon Souriau. Univ. of Mass. Press, Amherst, 1983. 160 pp., illus. Cloth, $22.50. ISBN: 0-87023-412-9. Architecture of Death. Richard A. Etlin. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 441 pp., illus. Cloth, $37.50. ISBN: 0-262-05027-7. Brucken Bridges. Fritz Leonhardt. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 308 pp., illus. Cloth, $50.00. ISBN: 0-262-12105-0. Color: Essence and Logic. Rolf G. Kuehni. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983. 140 pp., illus. Cloth, $17.50. ISBN: 0-442-23722-2. Consciousness: Natural and Artificial. James T. Culbertson. Libra Publishers, Long Island,NY, 1982. 313 pp., illus. Cloth, $13.95. ISBN: 0-87212-152-6. Digital Image Processing: A Systems Approach. William B. Green. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1982. 192 pp., illus. Cloth, $34.50. ISBN: 0-442-28801-8. Distance and Space: A Geographical Perspective. Anthony C. Gatrell. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1983. 195 pp., illus. Paper, $12.95. ISBN: 0-19-874129-4. Dreams and Nightmares: Utopian Visions in Modern Art. Valerie J. Fletcher. Smithsonian Institution Press, Wash., DC, 1983. 202 pp., illus. Cloth, $42.50. ISBN: 0-8-474-432-6. Emerging Goddess. Albert Rothenberg. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979. 440 pp., illus. Cloth, $22.50. Paper, $10.95. ISBN: 0-226-72949-4. History of Graphic Design. Philip B. Meggs. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983.511 pp., illus. Cloth, $35.00. ISBN: 0-442-26221-3. Industriekultur: Peter Behrens and the A.E.G. Tillman Buddenseig. Trans. by Iain Boyd White. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 520 pp., illus. Cloth, $75.00. ISBN: 0-262-04074-3. Politics of Interpretation. Edited by W. J. T. Mitchell. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1983. 386 pp., illus. Cloth, $25.00. ISBN: 0-226-53220-8. Paper, $9.95. ISBN: 0-226-53220-8. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Display Holography. Edited by Tung Hon Jeong. Holography Workshops, 1983. 239 pp., illus. Paper. ISBN: 0-910535-01-9. Relativity Visualized. Lewis C. Epstein. Insight Press, San Francisco, 1983. 199 pp., illus. Paper. ISBN: 0-935218-03-3. Social Limits of Art. John Manfredi. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1982. 199 pp., illus. Cloth, $15.00. ISBN: 0-87023-372-6. Talking Computers and Telecommunications. John A. Kuecken. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983. 237 pp., illus. Cloth, $26.50. ISBN: 0-442-24721-4. Thinking Physics (Is Gedanken Physics). Lewis E. Epstein. Insight Press, San Francisco, 1983. 580 pp., illus. Paper, $12.95. ISBN: 0-953218-04-1. Truth and Falsehood in Visual Images. Mark Roskill and David Carrier. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1984. 146 pp., illus. Cloth, $16.00. ISBN: 0-87023-404-8. Paper, $8.95. ISBN: 0-87023-405-6. Voyage into Substance. Barbara Maria Stafford. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984. 643 pp., illus. Cloth, $39.95. ISBN: 0-262-19223-3.

Book Reviews Book Reviews 224 224

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