On Image Systems

Publication series Das Neue Alphabet (The New Alphabet), Volume 12
Editors: Anselm Franke
Publisher: Spector Books, Leipzig
Ca. 80 pages, German and English edition
color illustrations, paperback with folded dust cover
ISBN DE: 978-3-95905-499-7
ISBN EN: 978-3-95905-500-0
Price: 10 €

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Images are not merely illustrative of propositions expressed in language or writing. They create other forms of access to the world. From the global expansion of the human species in prehistory to the rise of large-scale social and political orders, this volume is devoted to the fundamental importance of image systems. The essay On Image Systems in Human History by archaeologist David Wengrow and a conversation between media theorist Erhard Schüttpelz, David Wengrow and editor Anselm Franke explore the autonomy of image systems as legally valid instruments of knowledge. They override the traditional dividing line between oral and literate cultures, revealing unsuspected continuities from the deep human past into the age of modern media technologies.