How Art Made the World

List Price: ~~$29.98~~
Our Price: $23.99
You Save: $5.99 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $22.90 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Compare Prices for How Art Made the World

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: David Attenborough, George Miller, Nigel Spivey
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Mark Molesworth
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 290 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner

Movie Reviews of How Art Made the World

Movie Review: The Power of Art
Summary: 5 Stars

Wonderful photography and lighting make this program outstanding. The psychology, including some experiments done to back it up, was thought provoking and overall reminiscent of Joseph Campbell's series: The Power of Myth - also highly recommended. David Attenborough only appears in one episode, for about 10 minutes, both in the present and in some footage from the 1960s, which is a special treat for his fans. This is not a history of art, but an exploration of its meaning and impact through the ages and today. A bit uneven and overly dramatic at times, I think it is worth viewing and I plan on buying it eventually.

Write your own review

More How Art Made the World reviews:
1 2 3 4 5

Summary of How Art Made the World

Why does our world look like it does? That great modern mystery is spectacularly unraveled in this international landmark series and epic quest across five continents and 100,000 years?via some of the greatest treasures of the ancient world?to the heart of human creativity. Encompassing everything from cave paintings to ceramics and pyramids to palaces, How Art Made the World probes the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manage to manipulate people so easily; visions of death and the afterlife; and, crucially, why we use imagery at all.

As part of BBC's agenda to generate public awareness about art history's relevance to contemporary culture, the documentary series How Art Made the World is a landmark. Host Dr. Nigel Spivey, a Classical Archaeology professor from Cambridge, asserts, over five episodes, that not only have cultures thrived according to their abilities to communicate visually, but also that, though art, we can historically trace human needs and desires because our minds drive us to create images. Questioning how and why art influences society, Spivey employs art criticism, archaeology, political theory, and anthropology in order to posit theories in each hour-long segment. Episode one, "More Human than Human," traces our obsession with the human body by analyzing the Venus of Willendorf, Egyptian art, and Ancient Greece's preoccupation with athleticism. "The Day Pictures Were Born" discusses the birth of cave painting. "The Art of Persuasion" contextualizes Tony Blair and George Bush's political communication strategies with those in ancient cultures. "To Death and Back" ponders our preoccupation with death. "Once Upon A Time," the highlight in the series, insightfully connects our fascination with feature films to the cultural beginnings of storytelling. Starting with Mesopotamia's birth of the written tale, the Grecian invention of theater, and the Assyrian invention of pictorial narrative, this episode also stars BBC champion, David Attenborough, discussing the Australian Aborigine's use of art to trigger ancient cultural memories and myths. Potent, smart, and interdisciplinary, this series, filmed mostly on-location for full-effect, really does prove that culture dictates art. --Trinie Dalton

Documentary DVD Video

DVD Video

Movies most talked about in Art & Intellectual DVD's For The Cosmopolitan Culture Vulture

The Six Wives of Henry VIII/Elizabeth R Image

The Six Wives of Henry VIII/ Elizabeth R
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-05-16; DVD
Best price: $102.74
Price in other shops: ~~$139.98~~

Frida
Release date: 2003-06-10; DVD
Best price: $5.29
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~

Picasso: Magic, Sex, Death
Release date: 2003-09-30; DVD
Best price: $11.28
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

The Impressionists Box Set
Release date: 2006-02-28; DVD
Best price: $54.99
Price in other shops: ~~$99.99~~

Digging for the Truth - The Complete Season 1 (History Channel)
A&E; Release date: 2006-09-26; DVD
Best price: $19.50
Price in other shops: ~~$49.95~~

The Ross McElwee DVD Collection (Sherman's March / Time Indefinite / Six O'Clock News / Bright Leaves / Backyard / Charleen) (Five-Disc Collector's Edition)
Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $48.43
Price in other shops: ~~$99.95~~

The History Channel Presents Modern Marvels - Architectural Wonders
A&E; Release date: 2007-05-29; DVD
Best price: $8.92
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

Sketches of Frank Gehry by Sydney Pollack
Sony; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

The Architecture of Doom
Release date: 2000-03-14; DVD
Best price: $16.27
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

When the Moors Ruled in Europe
Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $13.85
Price in other shops: ~~$24.99~~

Similar DVD Movies

The Power of Art
by Simon Schama
Ecco; Published: 2006-11-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.96
Price in other shops: ~~$50.00~~

Sister Wendy - The Complete Collection (Story of Painting / Grand Tour / Odyssey / Pains of Glass)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-09-26; DVD
Best price: $47.99
Price in other shops: ~~$79.98~~

The Private Life of Masterpieces Collection
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $74.62
Price in other shops: ~~$99.98~~

Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century IV Image

Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century IV
WGBH BOSTON VIDEO; Release date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $15.75
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Art: 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Season Three)
MUSIC VIDEO DIST; Release date: 2005-09-27; DVD
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops: ~~$34.98~~

Art: 21 - Art in the 21st Century (Seasons One & Two) Image

Art: 21 - Art in the 21st Century (Seasons One & Two)
MUSIC VIDEO DIST; Release date: 2003-11-18; DVD
Best price: $27.96
Price in other shops: ~~$49.98~~

How Art Made the World
by Nigel Spivey
Basic Books; Published: 2006-11-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.82
Price in other shops: ~~$19.95~~