Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Historical Formalism In Music: Toward A Philosophical Theory Of Musical Form, Andrea Baldini

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this paper I begin to fashion a theory of musical form that I call historical formalism. Historical formalism posits that our perception of the formal properties of a musical work is informed by considerations not only of artistic categories but also of the historical, sociopolitical, and cultural circumstances within which that work was composed.

Musical Ontology: Critical, Not Metaphysical, Jonathan A. Neufeld

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The ontology of musical works often sets the boundaries within which evaluation of musical works and performances takes place. Questions of ontology are therefore often taken to be prior to and apart from the evaluative questions considered by either performers as they present works to audiences or an audience’s critical reflection on a performance. In this paper I argue that, while the ontology of musical works may well set the boundaries of legitimate evaluation, ontological questions should not be considered as prior to or apart from critical evaluation. Rather, ontological claims are a type of critical evaluation made within musical …

Pushing The Limits: Risk And Accomplishment In Musical Performance, David Clowney, Robert Rawlins

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Using examples from musical performance of several kinds, we argue that risk-taking, showing off, virtuosity, and other forms of musical showmanship are in many cases, though not in all, an integral and appropriate part of the music as performed on that occasion. We reflect on the difference between cases where this is so and cases where it is not, using insights from John Dewey’s aesthetics as articulated in Art as Experience.

The Point Of Everyday Aesthetics, Kevin Melcionne

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The point of everyday aesthetic activity is well-being

Nancy And Neruda: Poetry Thinking Love, Joshua M. Hall

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

My intention in this paper is to respond to Jean-Luc Nancy’s claim that poetry, along with philosophy, is essentially incapable of what Nancy describes as “thinking love.” To do so, I will first try to come to an understanding of Nancy’s thinking regarding love and then of poetry as presented in his essay “Shattered Love.” Having thus prepared the way, I will then respond, via Pablo Neruda’s poem “Oda al Limón,” to Nancy’s understanding of poetry vis-à-vis “Shattered Love.” This response, in acting out Nancy’s thinking regarding love, will suggest a greater plurality within poetry than Nancy acknowledged

(Dis)Functions: Marxist Theories Of Architecture And The Avant-Garde, Michael Chapman

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

This paper investigates the relationship between architecture and theories of the avant-garde in the critical projects of the 1970s, with a focus on the theories of Peter Bürger and Manfredo Tafuri. Both Tafuri and Bürger were writing from within the context of a radicalized Marxism and were fueled by an intellectual pessimism towards the totalizing systems of cultural production that questioned the role of resistance in aesthetics and the inability of the historical avant-gardes to engage within the political and economic fields of contemporary society. While there is a common ancestry to these two approaches, and mutual acceptance of the …

Schiller Revisited: "Beauty Is Freedom In Appearance" Aesthetics As A Challenge To The Modern Way Of Thinking, Wolfgang Welsch

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

This essay re-evaluates Schiller's idea of beauty as “freedom in appearance,” as brought forward in his Kallias or On Beauty(1793), against the backdrop of early modern and modern thinking that based itself on a fundamental split between nature and freedom, world and man. Schiller's claim that natural beauty results from freedom in nature bridges this gap. His suggestion is confirmed by modern science. Schiller's view is recommended and defended as a way of escaping modern bigotry

Fitness For Function And Dance Aesthetics, Eric C. Mullis

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

This essay discusses the manner in which the appreciation of fitness for function can be applied to dance aesthetics. Drawing on Allen Carlson and Glenn Parsons’ work, the essay considers the problems of indeterminacy, translation, and dysfunction as they pertain to the appreciation of dance movement. It then argues that fitness for function can be used to critically assess post-modern task dances and contemporary dance works that do not rely on the execution of codified dance technique.

Smell And Anosmia In The Aesthetic: Appreciation Of Gardens, Marta Tafalla

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In his Critique of the Power of Judgment, Kant defined the garden as a visual art and considered that smell plays no role in its aesthetic appreciation. If the Kantian thesis were right, then a person who has no sense of smell (who suffers from anosmia) would not be impaired in his or her aesthetic appreciation of gardens. At the same time, a visually impaired person could not appreciate the beauty of gardens, although he or she could perceive them through hearing, smell, taste, and touch. In this paper I discuss the role of smell and anosmia in the aesthetic …

2014-2015 Risd Course Announcement, Risd Registrar's Office, Risd Archives

RISD Course Catalogs / Announcements

No abstract provided.

Kangaroo Is Kangaroo, I Am I, Jeongrye Choi, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

37 unnumbered pages including 3 folded pages : illustrations (some color). "Designed, illustrated, printed, and bound by steph rue at the university of iowa center for the book in the spring of 2014. text graciously provided by jeongrye choi, who holds the copyright. additional thanks for sang-seok yoon, joung-a park, sara langworthy, and julie leonard."--Colophon Edition of 40 copies. Text in English and Korean. Case binding. Library has copy 33 of 40. Purchased at Codex 2024. SEI

Change = Anything Can Happen Next!, Bob Pliny, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume, 27 pages. Publication information from 23 Sandy Gallery website. "A meditation upon the nature of change. Change is everywhere and always. It is the ceaseless motion of things continually being transforming into other things."--23 Sandy Gallery website. Text and illustrations were handpainted using graphite and colored pencil, acrylics, photo copies and composition gold leaf. Layers of recycled book pages and wallpaper. Altered book, re-used hardcover book binding. Unique artists' book. Accordion fold, attached to back cover. Text extends out to 148.5 inches.

Maille, Tauba Auerbach, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

24 unnumbered pages : all illustrations. "As a weaver, recreational student of topology and collector of wire entanglement puzzles, I've been studying chainmaille and the many variations of meshes that can be made with interlocking rings. The book 'Maille' is a collection of images from this research which have been heavily processed and rendered using a variation on halftoning: a mesh of differently sized white rings. The volume is hinged together with metal rings like those used to make the weaves in the photographs."--artist's statement.

The Living Torrents: Hokusai's "Journey Around The Waterfalls Of Various Provinces" (2014), Theory & History Of Art & Design Department, Elena Varshavskaya (H791 Instructor)

Ukiyo-e Prints Course | Exhibition Catalogs

"This book invites its readers to join RISD WS 2014 Japanese Prints class for an edifying expedition to Japan’s eight waterfalls portrayed by Katsushika Hokusai, an ukiyo-e preeminent artist, in his masterpiece print series “A Journey to the Waterfalls of Various Provinces.” In fact, this expedition is an academic endeavor undertaken by a collective of students who tried their hand at curating a museum exhibition as their art history course project. ..." -- Foreword, The Living Torrents: Hokusai's " Journey Around the Waterfalls of Various Provinces"

Contributing Authors

Jane Bak, Graham Bessellieu, Amy Chen, Julie Chon, Sofia Diaz de la …

Abecedarian, Ashley May, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

volumes : color illustrations . Vol. 1. A-M. Using high quality scans of vintage postcards, artist Ashley May creates kaleidoscopic digital collages. She re-purposes the traditional use of post-cards into a 21st century communiqué: the GIF animation. In collaboration with Endless Editions, Ashley May designed an artist book inspired by her GIF animations. This 14-page, accordion-bound book spirals outwards into a 28 x 28 inch circle, mimicking an animation in physical space. -- Limited Editions website. Accordion variation, fan binding. Book can be folded into a carousel variation structure.

Visionaire 64: Art John Baldessari Blue Edition Samsung Galaxy, John Baldessari, Samsung Galaxy, Stephen Gan, Cecilia Dean, James Kaliardos

Visionaire

10 leaves of color plates : portraits + 1 case Title, statement of responsibility, limited edition statement, and sponsor name from top of case. "Editors Stephen Gan, Cecilia Dean, James Kaliardos; creative direction, cover design Greg Foley"--Accompanying sheet Ten black and white self-portraits ("selfies") taken by celebrities, with embossed color additions by John Baldessari

"For 64 ART, Visionaire collaborates with legendary conceptual artist JOHN BALDESSARI. The issue is divided into 3 editions: Red, Green, and Blue. Each edition contains 10 loose 12X18 inch black & white portraits with embossed color interventions by John Baldessari. Sold separately in a limited quantity …

1 In 3: Women Have Been Slapped, Pushed, Or Shoved, Jaime Shafer, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume unpaged. Cover title. Limited edition of 25 copies, signed and numbered by the artist. "Printed at the Black Rock Press using a Vandercook Universal I and inkjet pigments. Letterpress printed from metal type and polymer plates on Stonehenge paper. Inkjet printed on Hahnemuhle Duo and Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art paper. Found and altered photographs"--Colophon. Hedi Kyle's flag book structure, bound in paper over boards. An outline of a woman's head is printed on the back of the accordion spine. Text letterpress printed in red and grey on flags and cover boards. Flags feature inset altered portraits of female …

Shift, Shift-Lab, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 box, contains 5 books and 3 folded cards. Each artist created a small book of identical dimensions to reflect her interpretation of the word "SHIFT". Edition limited to 20 copies, numbered and signed by artists. Five books issued in drop-lid box, covered in grey fabric with paper title label and magnetic closure. CONTENTS 1825-1862-1918 (Shift) / K. Baldwin -- Shape shifting / Denise Bookwalter -- Shift in position / Sarah Bryant -- A shift in perspective / Macy Chadwick -- Redirecting shift / Tricia Treacy.

Memories Of Science, Dorothy A. Yule, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

Limited edition of fifty copies, signed and numbered by the artist. "Typeset in Garamond, Latin Condensed and Copperplate, designed with Adobe CS5 and letterpress printed on Mohawk Superfine. Engravings are from the Dover Pictorial Archives and 'The complete encyclopedia of illustration' by Johann Georg Heck. Star maps.. by Susan Hunt Yule. Music.. by Doug Yule. lyrics.. by Dorothy A. Yule"--Colophon. "Recorded, mixed and mastered at: Avast! Studio, Seattle, Washington. Engineer: Jonny Mendoza; Produced by Doug Yule and Jonny Mendoza. Performed by Big Red Dog. Doug Yule: Guitar, Vox, Shakers. Cary Lung: Mandolins. Tom Collicott: Guitar. Dan Yule: Violin, Bass"--Audio disc. …

A Field Guide To Weeds: With Illustrated Taxonomy Of The Most Pernicious And Troublesome Plants, Kim Beck, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume, 96 unnumbered pages. "Third edition of 1500 copies, 2014."--Title page verso. A Field Guide to Weeds masquerades as a 19th century pocket guide, but a guide in which the weeds themselves have taken over. Becks innovative project uses the physical form of the book as a metaphor for a crack in the city sidewalk: printed in luscious five-color printing, the common dandelion, pigweed, and poison ivythe very plants we ignore, step over, ignore, dig up, or scrupulously avoidcreep out of the gutter, up pages, and overrun the book. Multiple silhouettes overlap and repeat, drawing the readers attention to …

The Riso Book: Portland, Colpa Press (San Francisco, Calif.), Publication Studio Portland, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

103 unnumbered leaves . Title from publisher. "Copyright Luca Antonucci and David Kasprzak"--Title page. "Colpa, in collaboration with Publication Studio Portland presents 'The Riso Book: Portland', the fourth installment of a traveling publication project and exhibition between Los Angeles, Marfa, San Francisco, New York, and Portland.The series standardizes the conditions of production underlying artist publications and presents the book as exhibition. 'The Riso Book', inspired by the format of Seth Siegelaub and Jack Wendler's 1968 'Xerox Book', is a geographic survey of contemporary artists with similar practices across several cities. In Portland, 5 artists will work over the course of …

American Manifesto, Todd M. Thyberg, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

12 unnumbered pages : color illustrations, map . "With a tip of the hat to printers and activists of the past, American Manifesto calls the United States citizens to action on a number of national concerns--our country's health, leadership, and environment, to name a few"--Artist's statement at the Vamp & Tramp Booksellers' website, viewed on September 1, 2015. "If America really is the best country on earth... why do so many of our people go hungry? Why do our leaders consistently work for corporate interests rather than individuals' rights? How can our leaders, the media, and we the public still …

Fabrik, Linda Welch, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

84 unnumbered pages : color illustrations. Title from book cover. Unique artist book, signed by artist on page [3] of cover. Coptic binding. Pages incorporate acrylic painting, screen print ink, found papers, book board. "A visual flipbook of text, color and pattern," this one-of-a-kind painted book is by Linda Welch. Her abstract, layered, mixed media books incorporate oil painting, collage, screen printing, found book pages and wax."--23 Sandy Gallery website. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition Stacked & Altered, summer 2022.

New Horizons, Bruno Van Den Elshout, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

212 pages : all color illustrations. Title from case. Edition of 2012 numbered copies. Flatbook. Issued in paper wrapper and slipcase. Book design: Rob van Hoesel. On New Years Eve 2011 artist Bruno van den Elshout launches his camera-machine on the roof of a hotel on the beach in The Hague (NL). His goal is to capture the North Sea-horizon one year round. The camera-machine takes a picture of the horizon once every hour of 2012. That is 8,785 images. When these images start to arrive from the machine, the horizon suddenly reveals his surprisingly overwhelming appearance. Gray, grim, ordinary, …

Visible Spectrum, Conveyor Magazine, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

9 volumes : color illustrations .

Unbound, Jessica Peterson, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations. Cover title. Limited edition of 100 numbered copies. "'Unbound' was designed and produced in a single month. The typefaces are Sabon and Scala Sans. The text is letterpress-printed on handmade cotton and abaca paper."--colophon. "Unbound is a limited edition artists' book which honors the veterans of Prince Edward County's 1959 school lock out ... The book was conceived and designed by artist Jessica Peterson and recounts the closing of the public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, from 1959 to 1964. Unbound tells this story of these events with timelines, archival evidence, and collected …

Instant Books, Purgatory Pie Press, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

5 pamphlets : illustrations. Collection title from slipcase. A collection of five previously published "instabook" pamphlets. Each pamphlet autographed/ individually numbered in a limited edition. High anxiety/Team evil (2004) -- Brains & spines (2005) -- Enclosure exposure: data protection patterning (2007) -- Box (2008) -- Join the art party of the U.S.A. (2011). Library has Instant Books No 36.

Whipstock, A.B. Gorham, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

36 pages : color illustrations Cover title. Limited edition of 40 copies, signed and numbered by the artist. " ... written, designed & letterpress printed by AB Gorham at Small Craft Advisory Press, Tallahassee, FL, for the MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama. Typeset in Scala & printed on a Vandercook 15-21 with photopolymer plates & linoleum block on handmade cotton/abaca paper"--Colophon. "Laid in a Japanese two-flap hard cover with title (once incised, once printed) on two flaps ... Laid out in a shifting grid, Gorham's poetic text and the book's simple but elaborate structure reinforce the …

Ni Queue Ni Tête, Vera Molnar, Jean-Yves Bosseur, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

1 folded sheet (46 unnumbered pages) : illustrations Issued in a clamshell box with paper cover label and compact disc mounted inside front cover. Includes a pamphlet with text by Jean-Yves Bosseur. Edition of 100 copies. Inkjet print on paper. Accordion book. In French. Library has copy no. 46. Purchased for Fleet Library at RISD through the Anne (MFA 92), Michael, and Amelia Spalter Fund. SEI

Channel & Flow, Sarah Mcdermott, Special Collections, Fleet Library

Artists' Books

36 unnumbered pages (some folded) : color illustrations. Issued in an edition of 50 numbered and signed copies. Bound in a modified long-stitch format. Letterpress printed and screenprinted with hand-made paper covers. Binding structure: Codex. "Channel and Flow was published by the Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY.. The Kidney Press is Sarah McDermott. She made this book in the spring of 2014. The images are letterpress printed and screenprinted on Shikoku paper. The typeface is Avenir, letterpress printed from polymer plates. The cover is handmade paper from milkweed collected and retted at Ruocco Family Farm in Sandgate, VT, mixed …