Differential Aesthetics: Art Practices, Philosophy and Feminist Understandings

The area of philosophy formerly known as aesthetics lags behind much recent thinking about culture. Its relevance to contemporary practice can seem highly questionable, and indeed it has been explicitly attacked as anti-radical or unprogressive. Is it now possible to revisit those issues of value, judgement and sensuous experience that are the proper ground of traditional aesthetics without creating a 'new aestheticism'? Differential Aesthetics presents an international collection of essays by leading and new writers. It includes artists and philosophers, arguing that the philosophy of art must be rewritten for the Information Age, and that the thought of feminist aestheticians has a major contribution to make. The book explores how the issues of sexed power, located subjectivity and the body in art (in short, the material) are crucial in any new aesthetics, enabling the ground gained through the critical shift into ideology in the aftermath of the 1960s to be maintained. Focusing on visual art, but including contributions on writing, music, dance, cyberart and film, this book bridges divisions in contemporary thought and enhances understanding of the power and appeal of cultural production.