Self Aesthetics or the Aesthetics of Self - PhD Research Project
Artworks have always involved selves whether it has been about the self as an agent in the artistic production - the artist, patron or subject – or the self as an agent in receiving the work – the viewer, the critic or collector. While each of these roles meet in the exchange and discourse of art, it is my position that each has a critical engagement with any artwork, first and foremost, as a self. That is that an artwork or artistic experience that engages the entire being of any individual – producer or viewer - is far more valuable than one that engages small niches of a person’s being.
Martin and Barresi have documented that theories of self parallel greater world-views (Martin & Barresi, 2006 - p4). Throughout recent art history, aesthetic theories of criticism have developed which all can be attributed to the three dimensions of self, whether they were conceptual art, relational art, performance art, or interactive art. These theories tend to refer to a combination of these dimensions. It is my position that the reason that each of these artistic theories and practices are replaced with newer critical approaches, which engage the selves in ways that had been neglected.
Martin, Raymond, and John Barresi. "Introduction." In The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self: An Intellectual History of Personal Identity, 1-8. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
Siegel, Jerrold. "Dimensions and Contexts of Selfhood." In The Idea of the Self, 3-44. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Martin and Barresi have documented that theories of self parallel greater world-views (Martin & Barresi, 2006 - p4). Throughout recent art history, aesthetic theories of criticism have developed which all can be attributed to the three dimensions of self, whether they were conceptual art, relational art, performance art, or interactive art. These theories tend to refer to a combination of these dimensions. It is my position that the reason that each of these artistic theories and practices are replaced with newer critical approaches, which engage the selves in ways that had been neglected.
Martin, Raymond, and John Barresi. "Introduction." In The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self: An Intellectual History of Personal Identity, 1-8. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
Siegel, Jerrold. "Dimensions and Contexts of Selfhood." In The Idea of the Self, 3-44. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
