beauty changes everything
Here is my review of Anna Schuleit Haber's exhibit Scientific Purposes (In which a murderous hairdresser donates his head to science, with one restriction) in Boston (March 2 - April 15, 2018). This is part one of a series for Big, Red & Shiny. For these essays, I review a show through the lens of a particular … Continue reading Review of Scientific Purposes
Robert Wellington has written a brief defense of the value of beauty in art. He explains: "Let me be clear. I am not saying that works of art ought to be beautiful. What I want to defend is our felt experience of beauty as way of knowing and navigating the world around us." He takes us … Continue reading Beauty and Art
Here is my review of Greg Lookerse's exhibit Evocations at AREA Gallery in Boston (January 26 - March 9, 2018). This is part one of a series for Big, Red & Shiny. For these essays, I will review a show through the lens of a particular philosopher's theory of art. I look at this show through … Continue reading Review of Evocations
The Leonardo Electronic Almanac has released its newest book, Cloud and Molecular Aesthetics. This volume situates a critical discourse on the molecular data–cloud and aesthetics within contemporary experiences of art and society. It reflects varied perceptions and current thinking by artists, curators, scientists, and theorists in comprehending the appropriation and colonization of the cloud. The cloud … Continue reading Cloud and Molecular Aesthetics – New Volume
Beauty is not as different among cultures as it often appears. Proportion (or harmony), for example, has been an important characteristic of beauty since ancient Greece, despite all the changes and iterations it has undergone. As one culture is influenced by another culture’s view of beauty, they don’t have to abandon their original view. They … Continue reading Elegance in Japanese Art: Reflections on Cultural Changes
On August 16, 2017, I led a workshop called Philosophy of Design: Aesthetics to the Graphic Design Studio at Artist for Humanity. First of all, if you don't know about them, you will be inspired to learn more. They employ about 150 teenagers to learn and make art. They all begin in the painting studio … Continue reading Aesthetics for Teens!
SKORIN-KAPOV, Jadranka. The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics: Exceeding of expectations, Ecstasy, Sublimity. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2016. 236 pp. Cloth, $85.00—Rather than simply showing that aesthetics and ethics have some overlap or similarities, Jadranka Skorin-Kapov makes the stronger claim that both branches have a common experiential ground. Through an extensive survey (with dense exposition) … Continue reading Jadranka Skorin-Kapov. The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics
An encyclopedia entry by Michael Spicher: Aesthetic Taste. This article explores some early foundations for later theories of taste in the ancient and medieval worlds. The largest section of this essay emphasizes what has been called the century of taste, the 18th century. Many of these philosophers are lesser known. Then, it delves into the … Continue reading Aesthetic Taste
One goes always upwards for the sake of this Beauty, starting out from beautiful things and using them like rising stairs. - Plato, Symposium, 211c In the Summer 2017 issue of ArchitectureBoston, Michael Spicher presents some philosophical reflections on striving for beauty, even though we may not have a perfect definition of it. For a pdf … Continue reading The Rising Stairs of Beauty
THE SUBLIME IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY: AESTHETICS, ETHICS, AND NATURE. By Emily Brady. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Pp. Xi+227. Hard Cover $72.00, ISBN: 9780521194143. People commonly refer to pleasurable experiences of nature as experiences of beauty. Sometimes, however, beauty does not seem to be the appropriate term, causing some people to turn to the sublime. … Continue reading Emily Brady’s The Sublime in Modern Philosophy