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Leonardo, Vol. 6, pp. 169-172. PergamonPress 1973. Printedin GreatBritain AESTHETICS FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ARTIST* Allan Shields, CorrespondingEditor Readers are invited to draw attention to articles on aesthetics appearing in English language journals that are of special interest to studio artists and art teachers for review by: Allan Shields, Philosophy Department, California State University, San Diego, CA 92115, U.S.A. 1. V. C. Aldrich, Art and the Human Form, J. Aesth. & Art Crit. 29, 295 (Spring 1971). This presidential address (of the American Society for Aesthetics, 1970) eloquently sheds new (Wittgensteinian ) light on one of the oldest curiosities in the critical and theoretical business of art: the human form and its implications. ‘Why make so much of the human form in relation to art?. .. the human psycheisitselfbodied forthin the human form which in the state of nature, is the best natural picture of the soul’(p. 302). One profound novelty in this urbane and creativeessay would alone make this article important, though it begs expansion: ‘...language (logos) makes man in its own image’ (p. 298). 2. H. Beaumont, Arts or a Dialogue on Beauty, in Sketches: or, Essays on Various Subjects, J. Spence, ed. (New York: Garland Pub., 1970). This charming essay on the subject of beauty is now available in its ‘original’ form. Beaumont’s gentle prose cannot hide a penetrating mind at work carefully circumscribing the difficult topic of forms of beauty and pursuing related topics of ‘color, form, expression and grace’ to name some. Passagesat somelength attempt to lay downcriteria for human form, face and figure. ‘Tho’ the Mind appears principally in the Face and Attitudes of the Head; yet everyPart almostof the human Body, on someOccasionor other, may becomeexpressive’ (pp. 19-20). More a monologue than dialogue. 3. M. Chanan, Art as Experiment, Brit. J.Aesth. 12,133(Spring 1972). ‘...works of art are experiments , conductedby an artist upon an audience,or in lieu of an audience upon himself; and unlike scientific experiments art experiments are experiments because the results are more or less unpredictable as well as being, more obviously, unmeasurable’ (p. 134). In this palatable article, Chanan develops a thesis of experimentalart in its *Editor’s note: This new section will appear regularly i n the Springand Autumn issues of Leonardo. various manifestations. Art is problem solvingfor artist and audience. All art, at least since the Renaissance,is typified by experiment. The original experimentinartlasts(thederivative)and dependent works drop out. But art and science experiments differand he namesdifferences. Chanan arguesthat the experimental attitude must become regnant, thus liberating arts and audiences. Examples are drawn from film, literature, music and painting. 4. W. Charlton, Aestheticism, Brit. J. Aesth. 12,121(Spring1972). ‘If wetry to separateaesthetic experiencefrom the rest of life,we impoverishboth’ (p. 132). Charlton argues from this position in criticism of a variety of aestheticisms. This article assumes a prior interest in philosophicalaesthetics and, indeed, a knowledge of aesthetics. Negative in its result, the article deals seriatim with the principle cases of aestheticism: autonomy of the art experience, uniqueness and ‘No General Criteria’, as Charlton calls the third. Finally, he develops briefly a criticism of the theory taken as whole, albeitbased upon a highly compacted sketch of the subject under scrutiny. 5. E. Daubner, Defining Art: A Classroom Discussion, J. Aesth. Educ. 6, 77 (Oct. 1972). Reports an effort to define art by an ingenious discussion of ‘criteria’ a class finds by denotation. Following a suggestion of Ziff’s to find a nondebatable case of an art object and then to search out its characteristics, stating these as ‘defining notes’, the class, by a discussion route, ‘brainstorms ’ a sonnet and each other, emerging with a set of criteria. Ostensibly, these standards can be refined and the method extended to other art forms, other genres. Though recommended especially as valuableinteachinganaestheticscourse,themethod has obviousvalue for almost any seriousdiscussion of an exploratory kind. 6. R. Dieter-Hemnann, How a European Views The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 169 170 Aestheticsfor the Contemporary Artist J. Aesth. & Art Crit. 29, 499 (Summer 1971). Dieter-Herrmann neatly encapsulates more than twenty-five years of active life for America’s leadingjournalofaestheticsandrightlyfindsThomas Munro’s towering, if benevolent, influence running throughout. In addition...

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