Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

roachboy · 12-07-2004, 09:15 AM

interesting...i dont think there is any particular genetic component to the apprehension of "beauty"....which is one reason why reading through this thread has been curious, in that so many folk seem like instant kantians on the matter.

for kant, the apprehension of beauty is a an experience rooted in the experience of the sublime, which itself is patterned on looking at something that is really fucking big, not being able to take it all in at once, with a resulting sense of vertigo.

if there is anything to kant's theory---i suspect that the genetic element has to do with vertigo, with anxiety about falling.

beyond that, the question of how one interacts with "art" seems more sociological than epistemological...dispositions are shaped more by social position than by features that you would find rifling through attributes that you imagine are lodged somewhere within the boundaries of your skull. for example, it is from a particular social situation that locobot can talk about being tricked into representation--even as i agree with much of what he says about it---in general, pierre bourdieu is good on this--check out "distinction" sometime.

museyrooms are funny places in any event: for me they are more about systems of classification and patterns of acquisition then they are about the objects classified and/or acquired. so i go to them and have an ambivalent experience. sometimes i run into pieces that i really quite like--i'll just stand for a while.

i dont think that standing there is "communing with beauty" because i dont know what the word means, really (do you?).

and i cant force myself to look at the works i encounter there existentially (as a function of particular modes of practice) because the whole organization of a museyroom is predicated on cutting works off from that dimension and replacing it with a fantasy, which is itself calibrated by the various ideologies of "art" that obtain at a given time.

but there are objects that i am happy to meet.
hello object, i say, nice to meet you.
i think i learn things from these objects.
but i am not sure what exactly.

12-07-2004, 09:15 AM	#20 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	interesting...i dont think there is any particular genetic component to the apprehension of "beauty"....which is one reason why reading through this thread has been curious, in that so many folk seem like instant kantians on the matter. for kant, the apprehension of beauty is a an experience rooted in the experience of the sublime, which itself is patterned on looking at something that is really fucking big, not being able to take it all in at once, with a resulting sense of vertigo. if there is anything to kant's theory---i suspect that the genetic element has to do with vertigo, with anxiety about falling. beyond that, the question of how one interacts with "art" seems more sociological than epistemological...dispositions are shaped more by social position than by features that you would find rifling through attributes that you imagine are lodged somewhere within the boundaries of your skull. for example, it is from a particular social situation that locobot can talk about being tricked into representation--even as i agree with much of what he says about it---in general, pierre bourdieu is good on this--check out "distinction" sometime. museyrooms are funny places in any event: for me they are more about systems of classification and patterns of acquisition then they are about the objects classified and/or acquired. so i go to them and have an ambivalent experience. sometimes i run into pieces that i really quite like--i'll just stand for a while. i dont think that standing there is "communing with beauty" because i dont know what the word means, really (do you?). and i cant force myself to look at the works i encounter there existentially (as a function of particular modes of practice) because the whole organization of a museyroom is predicated on cutting works off from that dimension and replacing it with a fantasy, which is itself calibrated by the various ideologies of "art" that obtain at a given time. but there are objects that i am happy to meet. hello object, i say, nice to meet you. i think i learn things from these objects. but i am not sure what exactly. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 12-07-2004 at 09:17 AM..