Historical context of a given work is relevant in so far as it contributes to this process of critical discrimination. Every artifact is a product of human work. It is shaped by the hand and the mind guided by the judicious eye. In my courses, whether dealing with Michelangelo, Rembrandt, or American architecture, or with cinema, townscape, cities, gardens, and everyday things, I am essentially concerned with the single issue of form and signification, that is to say, the matter of visual semiotics. Study of art sharpens and deepens our awareness of the visual world, or it should.
Life is then so much the richer.
Not vice versa.