What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand
ABSTRACT
What is art? The arts establishment has a simple answer: anything is art if a reputed artist or expert says it is. Though many people are skeptical about the alleged new art forms that have proliferated since the early twentieth century, today's critics claim that all such work, however incomprehensible, is art.
A groundbreaking alternative to this view is provided by philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand (1905-1982). Best known as the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, Rand also created an original and illuminating theory of art, which confirms the widespread view that much of today's purported art is really not art at all.
In What Art Is, Torres and Kamhi present a lucid introduction to Rand's esthetic theory, contrasting her ideas with those of other thinkers. They conclude that, in its basic principles, her account is compelling, and is corroborated by evidence from anthropology, neurology, cognitive science, and psychology.
The authors apply Rand's theory to a debunking of the work of prominent modernists and postmodernists — from Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, and Samuel Beckett to John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and other highly regarded postmodernist figures. Finally, they explore the implications of Rand's ideas for the issues of government and corporate support of the arts, art law, and arts education.
[from the back cover]
What Art Is is the first book-length examination of Rand's little-known theory of art.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Traditional Meanings of the Term "Art"
What the Ordinary Person Thinks
The Cartoonists
The Journalists
Prime-TimeTelevision
The Ubiquitous Question: "But Is It Art?"
The Experts Speak
The Art Historians
The Critics
Need for a Valid Theory and Definition of Art
The Default of Philosophy
Ayn Rand's Theory of Art
The Status of Rand Studies
Overview of the Present Study
PART I — AYN RAND'S PHILOSOPHY OF ART
Chapter 1: "The Psycho-Epistemology of Art"
The Purpose of Art
Metaphysical Value-Judgments
Rand's Definition of Art
The Cognitive Function of Art
The Creative Process
Art, Religion, and Philosophy
Art and Ethics
Romanticism and Naturalism
"Efficacy of Consciousness"
Chapter 2: "Philosophy and Sense of Life"
Emotional Abstraction
Philosophy and Sense of Life
Sense of Life and Character
Sense of Life in Love and Art
Chapter 3: "Art and Sense of Life"
Emotion and "Expression" in Art
"Communication" in Art
The Significance of Artistic Selectivity
The Response to Art
Subject and Meaning in Art
Style
Style and "Efficacy of Consciousness"
Esthetic Judgment
Chapter 4: "Art and Cognition"
Literature
Painting and Sculpture
The Performing Arts
Dance
The Role of the Director
The Art of Film
The Arts and Cognition
"Modern Art"
Chapter 5: Music and Cognition
Music and Emotion
Music and Sense of Life
Rand's Mistaken Hypothesis
The Importance of Melody
The Composer's Viewpoint
Music as a "Re-Creation of Reality"
The Symphony Orchestra
Avant-Garde "Music"
Chapter 6: The Definition of Art
Anti-Essentialism in Contemporary Philosophy
The "Institutional" Definition of Art
The "Appeal to Authority"
The Rules of Definition
Rand's Definition of Art
Chapter 7: Scientific Support for Rand's Theory
Human Evolution and Prehistoric Art
The Fundamentality of Mimesis
Anthropological Perspectives
The Integrative Nature of Perception
The Psychology and Physiology of Emotion
Neurological Case Studies
The Modular Mind and the Diversity of the Arts
Clinical Psychology — Madness and Modernism
PART II — EXTENSION AND APPLICATION OF RAND'S THEORY
Chapter 8: The Myth of "Abstract Art"
Pioneers: Kandinsky, Malevich, and Mondrian
Mind Divorced from Matter: The"Primacy of Consciousness"
Collective Aspirations: The "Universal" vs. the "Individual"
Absolute Subjectivism
"Decoration" vs. Art
Utopian Aspirations
A Flawed View of Human Perception and Cognition
"Intuition" in Place of Reason and Objectivity
Counterfeit Elitism and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Freedom, Spontaneity, and "Cognitive Slippage"
Theoretical Revisionism
Meyer Schapiro
Clement Greenberg
Abstract Expressionism
Mark Rothko
Jackson Pollock
Barnett Newman
Abstract Sculpture
Polling the People
Art in the Home
Killing the Messenger
Chapter 9: Photography: An Invented "Art"
Rand's Argument
What Photography Is
Historical Considerations
Contemporary Critical Views
Postmodern Photography
Chapter 10: Architecture: "Art" or "Design"?
Rand's Theoretical Position
Batteux's Classification
D'Alembert's Error
The Nature of Architecture
Utilitarian Function
Architecture and Values
Architecture and Abstract Sculpture
Architecture as Design
Chapter 11: Decorative Art and Craft
Rand's View
Historical Influences
American Indian Artifacts
Quilts and Feminist Art History
The Arts and Artifacts of Africa
Contemporary Crafts as "Art"
Chapter 12: Avant-Garde Music and Dance
Avant-Garde Trends in Music
Atonality
Serialism
Minimalism
John Cage
Avant-Garde Dance: Merce Cunningham
Dance: The "Silent Partner of Music"
Cunningham's Progeny
If It Moves, It Must Be Dance
Constrained Movement as Dance
"Discussing the Undiscussable"
Ice Dancing
Chapter 13: The Literary Arts and Film
James Joyce
Samuel Beckett
John Ashbery
The Art of Film
Harrow Alley
Chapter 14: Postmodernism in the "Visual Arts"
The Long Shadow of Duchamp
Pop Art
Conceptual Art
Assemblage Art and Installation Art
Performance Art
Video Art
Postmodernism and Photography
The Future: Art and Technology
Chapter 15: Public Implications
Government Subsidy of the Arts
Corporate Support
Art and the Law
Teaching the Arts to Children
Discipline-Based Art Education
Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Cautionary Tale
The "Core-Knowledge" Program
"The Educated Child"
A Radical Alternative
Appendix A — New Forms of Art
A glossary of purported new art forms invented in the twentieth century.
Appendix B — Artworld Buzz Words
A sampler of the meaningless jargon of the arts establishment, employed in discussions of work that is not, in fact, art.
Appendix C — The New York Times — "The Arts"
Headlines and quotations from reviews, reflecting promiscuous use of the term "arts."
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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- Author
- Louis Torres, Michelle Marder Kamhi
- Format
- paperback
- Pages
- 523
- Publisher
- Open Court
- Language
- english
- ISBN
- 9780812693737
- Genres
- philosophy, art
- Release date
- 2000
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