A unique approach to aesthetics.
Unique in the sense Bence Nanay's approach to aesthetics is not through the traditional path of philosophy of art - no mention of Plato or Aristotle, Dewey, Croce, Heidegger, Derrida or Danto. True, the author does include a few references to Immanuel Kant and David Hume, but these are simply to underscore his distinctive take on the subject, a perspective revolving around what he terms "aesthetic engagement." As to what more precisely this means, here are a batch of direct quotes from the book along with my observations:
"Engagement with art can be immensely rewarding, but it can also go wrong very easily." ---------- Oh, those damn distractions, to name just a few: a theater lacking heat in winter or air conditioning in summer, someone in the audience chatting nonstop, your health suddenly taking a nose dive just when you clicked into the film or play, an art exhibit so crowded you can barely see the paintings. Tremendously disappointing since, as Bence Nanay states, “Aesthetics is about some special kinds of experience.”
"Aesthetics is sometimes considered to be too elitist - by artists, musicians, even by philosophers. This is based on a misunderstanding of the subject, something this book aims to correct. So-called "high art" has no more claim on aesthetics than sitcoms, tattoos, or punk rock." --------- So refreshing to know Bence Nanay doesn't take the moral high ground or anything close to a condescending attitude, separating off fine art from popular art, homespun art or outsider art.
"If an experience is worth having for you, it thereby becomes a potential subject of aesthetics." ---------- If you relish everyday things like the taste of your morning coffee, the feel of taking a shower or the sound of rain on your windowpane, those happenings can form the main substance of your open and free engagements with the world - open and free being the two prime qualities that make aesthetic experience special.
"All things can be experienced in an aesthetic manner and some drug-induced experiences, for example, could very much count as aesthetic." ---------- Sex and drugs are not discounted as potential candidates for our open and free encounters; quite the contrary, the intensity and immediacy of having sex or being high on drugs can, if anything, expand our open and free engagement with the world.
"The general thought is that some things are beautiful, others are not. . . . I call this the 'beauty-salon approach' because in cosmetic surgery or the nail business there are fairly clear conceptions of what is beautiful and what is not." ---------- There's good reason Bence Nanay explores the meaning of beauty: a widely held assumption maintains aesthetics is all about beauty in art and in nature. However, when examined more closely, beauty turns out to be more about the perceiver than the object perceived, or stated another way, any object may contain beauty - it's all a matter of how we look at it.
"What you are attending to makes a huge difference to your experience in general. And it also makes a huge difference to your experience of artworks." ---------- Central to aesthetic experience is attention. For example, if we focus our attention exclusively on one small figure in a landscape painting, chances are we will miss the work's overall cohesiveness. Bence Nanay places great emphasis on attention, devoting an entire chapter to the subject.
"Open-ended attention is the mind's downtime and without it life would be tough." ---------- That's open-ended attention as in our luxuriating in a piece of harpsichord music or the taste of a fine wine or walking along the beach as the sun rises - much different than when we are forced to act under pressure.
ALERT TO BOOK REVIEWERS!
"The critic's job is to direct our attention to features we would not have noticed otherwise. Attending to some of these features can completely transform our experience." ---------- According to Bence Nanay, a critic or book reviewer's job is not to summarize the plot, not to connect their childhood memories to the work, not to tell us what they liked or didn't like, not to treat their review as a more artful production than the book/painting/music/film under review.
I hope what I've written here, including about such terms as "open" and "free," such terms demanding more examination, prompts you to read this short introduction for yourself. Who knows, perhaps your approach to art and everyday experience will be in for a major transformation.
Philosopher Bence Nanay
"We spend so much time and money engaging with works of art not because we want to make aesthetic judgements about them. We do it because the experience we have while engaging with works of art can be pleasurable, rewarding, and personally meaningful. Not the judgement - the experience." - Bence Nanay, Aesthetics, A Very Short Introduction
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