Class Six Beauty: A source of inspiration or an empty relic?
ReadingsIf you have some free time, you might have a look through this essay. Paul Guyer (1986), 'Mary Mothersill's Beauty Restored', in: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 44/3 (Spring), 245-255.
FormalismFormalism is an art theory that claims that all we need to know for understanding a piece of artwork is the plain visual evidence: its form. Thus those aspects that are important for deciding the artistic value of an art object are its medium, the way it is made and compositional elements such as colour, contour and texture. Other ways of valuing pieces of artwork such as the artist's intention, the context (historically [epoch] and personally [artist]) and content are all of secondary importance. At its most controversial, formalism is the parent idea for the notion 'art for art's sake'.
Consider how well formalism fits Sigalit Landau's Barbed Hula. How far can we think about this piece of artwork formally (the materials the artist uses)? Should we think about it formally? Why is it art? Is it art? Click the link to view. Please note, the images may cause some distress. |
Reading for the 2014 Spring semester class
Although you may enjoy reading the previous link, it is not strictly relevant for our class. Here is a more appropriate reading on Beauty for next week's class:
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