Discussions at the intersection of philosophy, art history, and film Continue reading

May 12, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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May 12, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
0 comments
Discussions at the intersection of philosophy, art history, and film Continue reading
April 14, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Why is it OK to love bad movies? Convention, irony, Tokyo Drift, and Hallmark movies are all part of the answer. Continue reading
October 28, 2021
by Aesthetics for Birds
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An incident at Slave Play shows what is wrong with philosophers’ obsession with distinctions Continue reading
March 11, 2021
by Aesthetics for Birds
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The full recording of our recent workshop Continue reading
October 14, 2020
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Influential writer and literary critic James Wood is interviewed by Becca Rothfeld Continue reading
October 5, 2020
by Aesthetics for Birds
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The full recording of our recent workshop Continue reading
May 25, 2020
by Alex King
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“Now that I’m not in the heat of the moment, I think Gatorade actually tastes a little weird.” Continue reading
April 24, 2020
by Alex King
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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
September 24, 2019
by Aesthetics for Birds
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What follows is a guest post by Antonia Peacocke. Art critics get a really bad rap. The stereotype of a critic is a haughty, pedantic grump who loves passing judgment on art—without being able to do anything creative themselves. According to the stereotype, critics are assholes ready to destroy the dreams of hopeful artists and intimidate the rest of us into feeling dumb. This stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. Critics—or, at least, great critics—are really not assholes. They love art, and artists too, and they are not here to intimidate the rest of us. To see the potential of great art criticism, it helps to read a great art critic.
July 10, 2019
by Aesthetics for Birds
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What follows is a guest post by Jennifer A. McMahon. Have you ever found yourself patiently listening to a range of interpretations of an artwork, wondering whether there was some objective way to negotiate the plethora of sometimes idiosyncratic and whimsical responses? Regarding this question, it is interesting to compare the typical objective of a community-based-book-club to the way gallery visitors talk about the art they see. A reader seeks to make sense of a novel in terms relative to their own life experiences. If a reader finds by referencing expert authority that their experience is far removed from what the author had in mind, the value they place on the work might be diminished rather than prompt them to any new experience of it (unless they were reading it as part of a course on which they were to be assessed). With visual art, the situation until recently was … Continue reading