Aesthetics Commons^™

Autographic And Allographic Imitation: Revisiting Counterfeit In Linguistic And Musical Arts, Jeremy Orosz

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Imitation within sonic arts, linguistic, musical, or otherwise, broadly defined, is a heterogeneous set of practices ranging from comical impersonation to outright counterfeit or forgery. This paper provides a taxonomy of imitation and mimicry within both language and music, dividing each into two respective categories, autographic imitation and allographic imitation, the terms for which are repurposed from Nelson Goodman’s Languages of Art.

The Problem Of Thick Representation, Rafe Mcgregor

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to define the problem of thick representation and to show that the problem is a puzzle for representation rather than a puzzle for a specific art form or art, in general, as has previously been suggested. In the course of identifying and formulating the problem, I shall demonstrate why the solution proposed thus far fails to solve either the artistic problem at which it is aimed or the representational problem I define. I conclude by indicating two promising directions in which a solution might be found and by explaining the philosophical and critical …

Atmospheric Design And Experience With An Exemplary Study Of Olafur Eliasson's "The Weather Project", Zhuofei Wang

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In past decades, the subject of atmosphere has gone beyond the physio-meteorological scope and become a new concept of aesthetics. As the primary sensuous reality constructed by both the perceiving subject and the perceived object, atmosphere is neither a purely subjective state nor an objective thing, but essentially is a quasi-object pervaded by a specific emotional quality and a ubiquitous phenomenon forming the foundation of our life experience. In this respect, a decisive factor is not what we perceive but how we perceive. Furthermore, the quasi-objective quality of atmospheric phenomena makes it possible that atmosphere is producible. A practical dimension …

Aesthetics In Digital Worlds, Ossi Naukkarinen, Darius Pacauskas

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Aesthetics is often seen as a philosophical academic discipline focusing on questions about art, beauty, the nature of aesthetic experiences, and many other related issues. However, there is another, non-academic side of aesthetics where similar issues are addressed. Non-academic cases of aesthetics, on the internet and elsewhere, far outnumber anything academic aestheticians can ever produce. However, how the picture of aesthetics looks like outside academia is not necessarily very actively considered in academic contexts, as professors, lecturers, and students tend to form their understanding of the field through scholarly literature and academic datasets. In this essay, we explore how close …

Replicating Paintings, Matteo Ravasio

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this paper, I discuss cases of replication in the visual arts, with particular focus on paintings. In the first part, I focus on painted copies, that is, manual reproductions of paintings created by artists. Painted copies are sometimes used for the purpose of aesthetic education on the original. I explore the relation between the creation of painted copies and their use as aesthetic surrogates of the original artwork and draw a positive conclusion on the aesthetic benefits of replica production by artists. A skeptical conclusion follows regarding the use of such replicas as surrogates for the original painting. The …

The Private Character Of Natural Beauty: Shanshui Painting As A Model For Unity Of Self And Natural Environment, David Adam Brubaker

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

How can each of us develop an aesthetic appreciation of nature as our home and not a resource to be exploited? Chen Wangheng answers that environmental beauty provides a sense of home through a unity of subject and object that belongs to the private character of the natural environment. But how is the display of the natural environment private? To uphold Chen’s remarks, I inspect the model of shanshui (山水 mountain-water) painting, as Chen suggests. I find that the private character of the natural environment and the related element zhi (質substance) in shanshui painting cannot be described in the object-oriented …

Two Types Of A Doctrine Of Objectivity In The Aesthetic Appreciation Of Nature, Fuxing Xue

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Allen Carlson develops and justifies a doctrine of objectivity in the aesthetic appreciation of nature by means of epistemology. This doctrine is quite significant for the self-knowledge of aesthetic appreciation of nature and the healthy development of the aesthetics of nature. However, for concepts in environmental ethics and the requirements of contemporary environmentalism, another kind of doctrine of objectivity for aesthetic appreciation of nature is needed, namely, a doctrine of ethical objectivity, which rests the aesthetic appreciation of nature on acknowledging the intrinsic value of nature and respect for nature. Because of this doctrine, appreciators construe the good of nature …

Introduction: Thinking The Present Of East Asian Aesthetics, Joosik Min

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Issue Of Newness Viewed Through Korean Aesthetics, Joosik Min

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In Korean traditional aesthetics, discussions on newness are rare. The tendency to value old things and recognize them as standards is deeply rooted in Korean culture, and such customs seem to be no exception in aesthetics. It cannot be denied that Korean arts also has a social tendency towards tradition, which has been dominated by morality, and thus reflects past-centered or past-recalling ways of thinking rather than dynamic or forward-looking ways of thinking. Then, what does artistic creation mean in Korean culture? Is creation possible? In my view, the logic of change and development does not seem to gain much …

The Aesthetic World And Formalistic Structure Of Korean Dance, Hee-Wan Chae

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Two aspects of a unified concept made up of labor-play-gut, the latter being shaman ceremony performance, form the fundamental basis of Korean traditional dance. One is formalism or characteristic structures, and the other is Korean consciousness, or the aesthetic world. The aesthetic consciousness reflected in Korean traditional dance relates to naturalism that sheds light on the concept of being danced, rather than to dance; the beauty of curved lines, as shown in taegeuk (the Great Ultimate); moments in stillness that are permeated by the energy of the universe; no'gyeong that makes possible the progression from nothingness to being; …

The Universal Validity Of The Conceptions Of Artistic Creativity And The Perception Of Beauty In Pre-Modern China: A Comparative Examination, Junghwan Lee

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In contemporary aesthetics, artistic creativity and the perception of beauty are the key concepts in explaining aesthetic consciousness. From the birth of modern aesthetics, an underlying assumption has been that artistic creativity and the perception of beauty are each genuinely universal in human experience, which is worthy of particular attention. To examine the universal validity of Western aesthetic claims on these two distinctive subjects, this paper presents a very brief outline of pre-modern Chinese interpretations of both concepts. Specifically, in comparison to Kant’s concept of genius and aesthetic judgment, I draw two conclusions. First, although there was no concept equivalent …

The "Aesthetic Life": A Leitmotif In Modern Japanese Aesthetics, Tanehisa Otabe

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In 1901, Chogyu Takayama (1871-1902), philosopher and literary critic, published a short article entitled “On the Aesthetic Life.” Takayama’s article, regarded as a manifesto of Nietzscheism by his contemporaries, triggered a great debate among a great many literary critics, including Shoyo Tsubouchi and Ogai Mori. This paper argues that Takayama’s article constituted a framework for aesthetic thought in modern Japan and marked the Japanization of Western modern aesthetics. Takayama was not interested in the modern Western idea of autonomous art; instead, he tried to work out the aesthetic in one’s way of living. What underlies Takayama’s idea of the aesthetic …

Exploring The Inner Relationships Between Modern Chinese Aesthetics And The Confucian Mind-Soul (心性) Framework, Wei Du

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Modern Chinese aesthetics promotes the utilitarian function of the arts and artistic appreciation via aesthetic education and an arts-infused lifestyle. This utilitarian orientation has not originated from European aesthetics, but rather reflects a localized awareness of the “humanistic enhancement of citizens” through the arts, which, derived from the Confucian tradition, expands on its “mind-soul” theory. This conceptual framework finds its roots in the Song-Ming philosophy of mind and pays particular attention to the cultivation of individual morals and personal character as the essential pathway towards restoring conscience. This positioning of values and valuations, to a large extent, was the inspiration, …

Notices, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Recent Publications, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Art Scenes, Jozef Kovalčik, Max Ryynänen

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

"The art scene in Berlin is political." "The Atlanta hip hop scene is red hot!" These are remarks we have heard lately about scenes. Scenes are a commonplace in art talk. But what are scenes, and what is their role in arts? Aestheticians, art theorists, and art historians often pay attention to different scenes. Although many classics in the field are based on comments regarding only one scene, which is, for example, the case with Arthur C. Danto's "The Artworld" (1964) and Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp" (1964), which both focus on New York, there is still no discussion about …

Agnostic Moralism, Mark Silcox

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Many otherwise admired authors in the Western tradition (e.g. Plato, Augustine, and Tolstoy) have defended views about the radical dependence of aesthetic value upon morality that are nowadays regarded with deep skepticism. In more recent work on the connection between moral and aesthetic properties, Noël Carroll, Anne Eaton, Berys Gaut, and others have tried to defend relatively moderate varieties of moralism about art, according to which the aesthetic value of ethically significant artworks sometimes overlaps with but might also independently vary from their moral status. Here, I develop an immoderate species of moralism that treats the type of ethical knowledge …

On Canon, Craig Deksen, Darren Hudson Hick

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Canon is a concept from aesthetics that has become a regular subject of commonplace discussions. The nature of canon, especially as it is used in these commonplace discussions, has not been subject to adequate philosophical scrutiny. We attempt to remedy that by placing canon in its historical and philosophical context, exploring and rejecting several common accounts, and presenting some basics of how canon works. We reject the accounts that place control with the author or the legal property holder, which appear to be the most commonly held accounts.

Summary Of The Existential Aesthetics Of Things By Petra Baďová, Peter Žiak

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Broadsheet September 29, 2017, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Broadsheet was a short-lived student newspaper published in 2017. The September 29, 2017 issue features articles on an "ethical consciousness post-Trump," improving critiques, the US pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords, the Social Equity and Inclusion Action Plan, the smoking ban at Kennedy Plaza, statue conservation, new programming at the library, an offensive incident involving a graphic designer and a sign language interpreter, and other items of interest.

On The Oddly Satisfying, Evan Malone

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Broadsheet May 6, 2017, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Broadsheet was a short-lived student newspaper published in 2017. The May 6, 2017 issue was the first and contained articles on the Social Equity Action plan developed in the wake of the "Not Your Token" protests, random facts about RISD, Project Open Door (POD), faculty member Jung Joon Lee, previous student newspapers from the RISD Archives, the European Honors Program, facts about the RISD student body, a student music club on campus, how Mike Fink saved Carr Haus, and other items of interest.

Deconstructing Walter Benjamin, Miklos Legrady

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Aesthetics Of Mud And The Muddiness Of Aesthetics, Arnold Berleant

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Mud And A Metaphor, David Goldblatt

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Mud, A Comment, Mary Bittner Wise

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Thoughts On An Aesthetics Of Mud, Tom Baugh

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

-Isms 2017, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

-ISMS: Exploring the Intersectionality of Identities was a publication that accompanied the RISD Global Initiative 2017 exhibit of the same name. The exhibit explored the intersections of identity and art and featured pieces that were selected for critique by visiting artist and MLK Series keynote speaker Emory Douglas. This publication contains images of student artwork from the exhibit along with essays and other text.

An Introduction To Positive Sum Design, Ian Gonsher

Articles

No abstract provided.

On The Front: Aesthetics Vs. Popular Arts And Mass Culture - Ii, Ken-Ichi Sasaki

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The popular arts and mass culture represent our environment. The flood of their products reduces high art to minority status. This situation leads us to reconsider the privileged status of high art and the role of aesthetics as its theory, which is my main focus here. I take up three different cultural eras: early modern times, when the notions of art and aesthetics as a philosophical discipline were founded; our own day as the time of mass culture; and, lastly, the popular culture in the Edo period in Japan, the seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries, which reflected different choices.

In …