--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think of art, at its most significant…" description: "\"I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beg..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png" --- # I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a… ![“I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.” quote by Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png) > “I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.” [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art functions as an early warning system, signaling cultural shifts before they fully emerge. **In simple terms:** Art warns of cultural change. Key Takeaway Pay attention to artistic signals. Themes culture art warning change media Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - monitoring trends - creative industries - policy planning - education - media analysis Key Concepts semiotics cultural theory systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How does art reveal hidden cultural shifts? - What signals do you notice in contemporary art? A Different Perspective Art may be ambiguous and open to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Old culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-culture/) ## Related quotes > [Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/art-at-its-most-significant-is-a-distant-early-warning-system-that/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [“To the DEW line Commander"You will be the first to die (if Russia launches) but I'd like for you to tell me when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/general-power/to-the-dew-line-commander-you-will-be-the-first-to-die-if-russia/) General Power > [There have been countless changes in the long history of art. The most significant have been brought about by the genius of a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hoving/there-have-been-countless-changes-in-the-long-history-of-art-the-most/) [Thomas Hoving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hoving/) > [Art is significant deformity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-fry/art-is-significant-deformity/) [Roger Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-fry/) > [That is why I believe that art is so much more significant than either economics or philosophy. It is the direct measure of man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/that-is-why-i-believe-that-art-is-so-much-more-significant-than/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [We are working to deploy a powerful new radar network with American early warning systems,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/we-are-working-to-deploy-a-powerful-new-radar-network-with-american/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [Angry feelings serve as an "early warning system" telling us we're in danger of being injured or controlled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/angry-feelings-serve-as-an-early-warning-system-telling-us-we-re-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Ebola epidemic can serve as an early warning wake-up call to get ready. 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Things have changed since. Many of today’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-diamandis/our-early-warning-system-evolved-in-an-era-of-immediacy-when-threats/) [Peter H. Diamandis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-diamandis/) ## More by Marshall McLuhan > [Even mud gives the illusion of depth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/even-mud-gives-the-illusion-of-depth/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Language always preserves a play or figure/ground relation between experience, and perception and its replay in expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/language-always-preserves-a-play-or-figure-ground-relation-between/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Electronic man has no physical body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/electronic-man-has-no-physical-body/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [I am curious to know what would happen if art were suddenly seen for what it is, namely, exact information of how to rearrange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-am-curious-to-know-what-would-happen-if-art-were-suddenly-seen-for/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [With the arrival of electric technology, man has extended, or set outside himself, a live model of the central nervous system itself. 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The worldpool of information fathered by the electric media--movies, Telstar, flight--far surpassesany possible influence mom and dad can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-family-circle-has-widened-the-worldpool-of-information-fathered/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Like primitive, we now live in a global village of our own making, a simultaneous happening. It doesn't necessarily mean harmony and peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/like-primitive-we-now-live-in-a-global-village-of-our-own-making-a/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Professionalism is environmental. Amateurism is anti-environmental. Professionalism merges the individual into patterns of total environment. Amateurism seeks the development of the total awareness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/professionalism-is-environmental-amateurism-is-anti-environmental/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The visual power of the phonetic alphabet is the translate other languages into itself is part of its power to invade right hemisphere (oral)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-visual-power-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-is-the-translate-other/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [New media may at first appear as mere codes of transmission for older achievement and established patterns of thought. 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It lives mythically and in depth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/youth-instinctively-understand-the-present-environment-the-electric/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Our motor car is our supreme form of privacy when we are away from home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/our-motor-car-is-our-supreme-form-of-privacy-when-we-are-away-from/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The scientist rigorously defends his right to be ignorant of almost everything except his specialty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-scientist-rigorously-defends-his-right-to-be-ignorant-of-almost/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) [Explore all 433 Marshall McLuhan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marshall McLuhan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-as-a-dew-line-a-distant-early/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-as-a-dew-line-a-distant-early/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/marshall-mcluhan-641_art_i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-a_1968506.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be…” — Marshall McLuhan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marshall McLuhan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think of art, at its...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-as-a-dew-line-a-distant-early/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-think-of-art-at-its-most-significant-as-a-dew-line-a-distant-early/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```