Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art for Everyone

May 4, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #26: Beauty

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. Terms of Art #26: beauty

April 27, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art: Intermission

One month ago, I started the Terms of Art series. It’s been really fun, but it turns out that doing one of these every weekday is becoming exhausting. So after the first 25 (!), I’m taking a week off. I’ll be back next week! You can see them all here. But here’s a list of what we’ve done so far (individual links included):

April 24, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #25: Criticism

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. The theme this week is art world stuff. Up today: Terms of Art #25: criticism

April 23, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #24: Installation

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. The theme this week is art world stuff. Up today: Terms of Art #24: installation

April 22, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #23: Curator

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. The theme this week is art world stuff. Up today: Terms of Art #23: curator

April 21, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #22: Work/Piece

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. The theme this week is artworld stuff. Up today: Terms of Art #22: work/piece

April 20, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #21: Museum & Gallery

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. The theme this week is artworld stuff. First up: Terms of Art #21: museum & gallery

April 17, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #20: Colonialism & Postcolonialism

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. Last up in our week of -isms, we have: Terms of Art #20: colonialism & postcolonialism

April 16, 2020
by Alex King
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Aesthetics by Decree: Trump’s Proposal on “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again”

What follows is a guest post by Jay Miller. Recently, a draft proposal of a presidential executive order was obtained and printed by the Chicago Sun-Times. Under the banner of “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” the leaked document effectively mandates the classical style of architecture for all federal buildings in the U.S. It seeks to right the wrongs of modernist architecture by officially proclaiming the classical style of architecture “the preferred and default style” for federal buildings. The proposal proceeds by first identifying the culprits: It blames the federal government for “largely abandon[ing] traditional, classical designs” in the 1950s; it accuses the General Services Administration (GSA) of overseeing “aesthetic failures”; even more specifically, it takes aim at the “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture,” drafted in 1962 by an aide of the Kennedy administration, for having “implicitly discouraged” classical and other designs “known for their beauty.” Yet, the real target of … Continue reading

April 16, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’s Terms of Art #19: Structuralism & Poststructuralism

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. Continuing our week of -isms today, we have: Terms of Art #19: structuralism & poststructuralism