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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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  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 523
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780812693737
  • Genres
  • philosophy, art
  • Release date
  • 2000