Art and agency - a reassessment

In his book, Art and agency, Alfred Gell presents a theory of art based neither on aesthetics nor on visual communication. Art is defined by the distinctive function it performs in advancing social relationships through 'the abduction of agency'. Art objects are indexes of the artist's or model's agency. This article examines Gell's use of agency, particularly in relation to the ritual art that is central to his argument. Focusing on Gell's employment of Peirce's term 'index' (out of his triad of index, icon, and symbol), I note that Peirce's approach deflects attention from signification towards the link between art works and the things to which they refer. I consider what Peirce meant by abduction, and conclude that while Gell makes a good case for the agency of art objects he does not explain the distinctive ways in which art objects extend their maker's or user's agency. Gell lacked the time to make detailed revisions before publication and I acknowledge that, given more time, he might have revised some parts of the book

Exapting exaptation

The term exaptation was introduced to encourage biologists to consider alternatives to adaptation to explain the origins of traits. Here, we discuss why exaptation has proved more successful in technological than biological contexts, and propose a revised definition of exaptation applicable to both genetic and cultural evolution

Representing and translating people's place in the landscape of northern Australia.

Analyses problems of translating indigenous Australian cultural beliefs as rational, in the context of land claims. Compares the approaches used in anthropology and law

Crisp snapshots and fuzzy trends.

Discusses ways in which human agency revealed in archaeological moments such as tool-making at Boxgrove or dietary remains from a buried NW Coast native American village can be integrated nto the study of long term adaptive or social evolutionary trends. The compatibility of agency theory proposed by Giddens and Bourdieu with neo-Darwinian theory is assessed

Aboriginal versus western creationism.

Compares traditional Australian religious beliefs with those of Christian creationists in the U.S. Outlines the social functions of Aboriginal belief and asks whether Christian creationism has similar functions that account for its persistence

Order and anarchy: civil society, social disorder and war

Argues against the view that the Capitalist market economy is uniquely conducive to the creation of civil society. Shows that Locke and Ferguson identified civil society with social co-operation based on rational self- interest in all human societies. Draws on Darwinian theory to represent the evolution of social systems and the environments in which they are situated. Criticises claims for a direct evolutionary link between chimpanzee inter-group aggression and human warfare