For decades; aesthetics has been subjected to a variety of critiques; often concerning its treatment of beauty or the autonomy of art. Collectively; these complaints have generated an anti-aesthetic stance now prevalent in the contemporary art world. Yet if we examine the motivations for these critiques; Michael Kelly argues; we find theorists and artists hungering for a new kind of aesthetics; one better calibrated to contemporary art and its moral and political demands.Following an analysis of the work of Stanley Cavell; Arthur Danto; Umberto Eco; Susan Sontag; and other philosophers of the 1960s who made aesthetics more responsive to contemporary art; Kelly considers Sontagrsquo;s aesthetics in greater detail. In On Photography (1977); she argues that a photograph of a person suffering only aestheticizes the suffering for the viewerrsquo;s pleasure; yet she insists in Regarding the Pain of Others (2003) that such a photograph can have a sustainable moral-political effect precisely because of its aesthetics. Kelly considers this dramatic change to be symptomatic of a cultural shift in our understanding of aesthetics; ethics; and politics. He discusses these issues in connection with Gerhard Richterrsquo;s and Doris Salcedorsquo;s art; chosen because theyrsquo;re often identified with the anti-aesthetic though their work is clearly aesthetic. Focusing first on Richterrsquo;s Baader-Meinhof series; Kelly concludes with Salcedorsquo;s enactments of suffering caused by social injustice. Throughout; he reveals the place of critique in contemporary art; which; if we understand aesthetics as critique; confirms that it is integral to art. Meeting the demand for aesthetics voiced by many who participate in art; Kelly advocates for a critical aesthetics that confirms the power of art.
#4316605 in eBooks 2004-12-22 2004-12-22File Name: B007Y35GR8
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