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Summary:

This volume examines the motives behind rejections of beauty often found within contemporary art practice, where much critically acclaimed art is deliberately ugly and alienating. It reflects on the nature and value of beauty, asking whether beauty still has a future in art and what role it can play in our lives generally. The volume discusses the possible "end of art," what art is, and the relation between art and beauty beyond their historically Western horizons to include perspectives from Asia. The individual chapters address a number of interrelated issues, including: art, beauty and the sacred; beauty as a source of joy and consolation; beauty as a bridge between the natural and the human; beauty and the human form; the role of curatorial practice in defining art; order and creativity; and the distinction between art and craft. The volume offers a valuable addition to cross-cultural dialogue and, in particular, to the sparse literature on art and beauty in comparative context. It demonstrates the relevance of the rich tradition of Asian aesthetics and the vibrant practices of contemporary art in Asia to Western discussions about the future of art and the role of beauty. .

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1: Introduction; References; Part I: What Happened to Beauty?; Chapter 2: The Hollowing of Art and the Call of Beauty; The Narrowing of Art; Beauty Misunderstood; The Nature of Beauty; Conclusion: Art and Beauty; References; Chapter 3: Iconoclasm and the Demise of Aesthetics; References; Chapter 4: Beauty: A Promise of Enduring Art; Danto's 'End of Art'; Why Do We Need Art?; Needs and Pleasures; The Need for Art Is a Derivative of the Need for Beauty; What Is Beauty and What Kind of Need Does it Satisfy?; References
• Chapter 5: Beauty, Religion and Tradition in Post-Nuclear Japanese Arts and Aesthetics Introduction; Caveats; Examples: The Radical Traditional in Aesthetics and the Arts; Traditional Categorical Aesthetics; Beauty and Its Effects; Traditional Environmental Aesthetics and the Special Nature of Japanese Environments; Beauty, Place and Environment; Conclusions: Distinctive Features of Japanese Types of Beauty and the Radical Traditional; References; Part II: Judging Beautiful Bodies; Chapter 6: Western Theories of Beauty and Non-Western Peoples; References; Chapter 7: Valli and Devasena
• Aesthetic of Indian Beauty Women as Natural Beauties; Women as Nayikas; The Feminine Body Adorned; Beauty of Moving Image; Conclusion; References; Chapter 8: Female Bodies in China: Literati Fantasies, Iron Girls and Olympics Hoopla; The Notion of Feminine Beauty in Classical Confucian and Taoist Texts; The Contemporary Notion of Female Beauty in China; References; Part III: Beauty, Virtue and Happiness; Chapter 9: Buddhism, Beauty and Virtue; The Buddhist Suspicion of Beauty; 'Inner' Beauty; Expression and Virtue; 'Attracting the Heart'; Body, Art and Beauty; References
• Chapter 10: Thinking Through an Embodied Confucian Aesthetics of Persons General Aspects of an Embodied Aesthetics of Persons; Confucian Philosophy and Confucian Aesthetics; Issues; Conclusion; References; Chapter 11: Beauty and the Sense of Life; The Demotion of Beauty by Hegel's "End of Art"; Cultural Diversity Regarding Beauty: The Western and Indian Traditions; Beauty Furthering a Sense of Life; Beauty as Healing in the Context of Loss; Conclusion; References; Chapter 12: Dwelling with Beauty; Beauty as Illusion; Beauty as Revelation; Conclusion; References
• Part IV: Beauty and the SelfChapter 13: Artistic Creativity: Individual and the Community (Remarks on Tagore's notion of the 'Surplus' in Man); References; Chapter 14: Letting Objects Speak: Beauty in the Japanese Artistic Tradition; Art as Giving Voice to the Object; The Virtue of Transcending Oneself; The Art of Artlessness; Paradox of Wabi Aesthetics; Conclusion; References; Chapter 15: Perceiving Beauty, Recognizing Self; 1; 2; 3; Part V: Beauty as Daily Practice; Chapter 16: Art, Craft & Beauty - A Subjective Caste System; References; Chapter 17: The Beautiful in Bali

Contributors:

Higgins, Kathleen M. , editor

Maira, Shakti , editor

Sikka, Sonia , editor

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Related Series:

Sophia studies in cross-cultural philosophy of traditions and cultures; [volume] 16

Subjects:

Art — Philosophy

Visions in art

Art

General Notes:

Description based on: Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed March 17, 2017).

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Digital Characteristics:

text file

Call Numbers:

BH39 .A785 2017eb

ISBNs:

9783319438931 (electronic bk.)
331943893X (electronic bk.)
9783319438917 [Invalid]
3319438913 [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

974802291