05/10/2024, Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society
Organisers: Professor Andy Hamilton, Bayley Moreton, Durham University
Programme
Andy Hamilton: introduction to workshop Politics and Aesthetics
Gerry Hemingway and Izumi Kimura: ‘Our differentiations, definitions, and relation to art and entertainment and what we view as the relation between these two terms’
Kathrine Cuccuru: ‘Inventing the Vulgar: How eighteenth-century theories of taste turned us all into snobs’
A performance from Aruán Ortiz and interview
Ruby Main: ‘Art Without Themes? Artistic Responsibilities in Narrative Film and Prestige Television’
Jeremy Adamson: ‘The Kinetic Art and Kinetic Films of Len Lye, Robert Breer and Walerian Borowczyk’
Denise Ho: ‘Worlds of Aesthetic Experiences: Dewey, Heidegger, and Making One’s Home in the Role-Playing Video Game’
Report
On the 5th of October at Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society, participants were invited to speak on the relationship between art, entertainment and politics before their peers and members of the public. The workshop ran smoothly, and all speakers listed above were able to attend in person.
The day began with an introduction from Professor Andy Hamilton (Durham) welcoming participants and discussing the themes of the workshop. The first presentation from Gerry Hemingway and Izumi Kimura offered a stimulating discussion of their attitudes to performance, as improvising musicians. Hemingway was keen to engage with the responses of students in the audience in particular, and they offered insights to the aesthetics of improvisation based on their experience as collaborators in the art. Katherine Cuccuru then led a discussion surrounding the issues of snobbery in aesthetic theory, specifically pertaining to aesthetic valuation and aesthetic appreciation. Cuccuru actively invited audience members to ponder the definition of snobbery in an aesthetic context, revealing the underlying class-based hierarchies of valuing baked into our perception of art. Following this she posited the idea of vulgarity creating a false dichotomy between what is valuable as art and the uncultivated, socially unacceptable or indecent. Arguing this dichotomy results in the enforcement of having a lower class excluded from the art world.
Stopping halfway for lunch, the workshop participants and audience members were invited to watch a live performance by Cuban jazz pianist Aruán Ortiz followed by an interview discussing the creative process interspersed with audience questions.
After lunch Ruby Main discussed the idea of themes in film and prestige television. This began with quotes from famous directors shirking the responsibility for themes and thematic content, beliefs ranged from considering themes puerile to the responsibility being on the audience to thematise content themselves. Main went on to argue that themes are an essential element of cinematic language and even if the artist opts out of the conscious choice to develop themes, they still have responsibility to consider them as an inevitable component of their artistic creation. This led to an interesting discussion on the content of the presentation but also on the definition and evolution of prestige television. Following this, Jeremy Adamson presented on Kinetic Art and Kinetic Films from artists Len Lye, Robert Breer and Walerian Borowczyk. This involved presentation and analysis of short clips ranging from adverts to videos of kinetic art. Jeremy’s expertise gave the audience deep insight into these artists and led to interesting questions on their lives and works.
The final presentation by Denise Ho explored Dewey and Heidegger’s respective concepts of ‘inhabitation’ and ‘dwelling’ utilising the role-playing video game as an elucidatory vehicle. They established the effective replication of lived experience found in the complex interactive virtual environments of role-playing video games before detailing the process of making-oneself-at-home. This innovative analysis using the Dewey-Heidegger approach gave rise to rigorous questioning with audience members commenting that the presentation shows the aesthetics of video games in a new light and opens the door to future research into this area.
The organisers are grateful to the BSA for sponsoring this event, to the speakers for their excellent presentations, and to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society for hosting us.
BPA/SWiP statement
All participants in the workshop were billed equally on all publicity, and no personal titles or institutions were listed. Formal invitations to speakers gave them opportunity to declare requirements for childcare or babysitting facilities, and we endeavoured to make suitable arrangements where necessary. Speakers were diverse in profession and included writers, academics, musicians, artists, entertainers and stand-up comedians. Of the 7 speakers, 4 (57%) were women.