As part of my current research I have been reading ‘Beauty: Deepening an Understanding of Contemporary Art, Art Practice & Theory.’ (Nijsse, 2005) The dissertation is structured around three research questions that are relevant to my own practice:
- What does a contemporary understanding of beauty entail?
- Can beauty provide us with a way to navigate contemporary art?
- And, if so, what does this mean for a postmodern society ridden with various ills – can beauty be an antidote?
Two propositions emerge from the research that are of particular interest:
- Attention within contemporary art has shifted from aesthetic to conceptual quality
- Beauty as a descriptor is felt to be outmoded and degraded, almost an insult to some artists
Monet, ‘The Water Lily Pond, Green Harmony’, 1899 
Jana Sterbak “Vanitas Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorexic”, 1987. Centre Pompidou, Paris,
Placing Sterbak alongside Monet illustrates a stark contrast and raises an interesting question about whether one is more beautiful than the other. It also highlights the influence of context in that it is hard for my eyes in the 21st century to imagine the response to Monet when it was the contemporary art of its time. Rather than being abandoned it could be said that beauty still has a place in contemporary art and that it is being redefined.
Beauty is the bait, the worm, the hook; it provides access leading toward deeper appreciations. (Nijsse, 2005)
It [beautiful art] seeks less to represent the world than to convey the exhilaration of our being in it. (Maleuvre, 2005)
It is perhaps not for me to say whether my work is beautiful, although I have had feedback to that effect, which has prompted this exploration of the concept.
Starting to research notions of beauty has helped me review my own work and confirmed that I am interested in it having both aesthetic (by which I mean knowing via the senses – or sensible knowledge (Strati, 2007)) and conceptual qualities. I see it as having ‘both and’ possibilities rather than ‘either/or.’ Researching beauty has introduced me to a group of new theorists and suggests that it seems to be an under-researched area in relation to contemporary art.
This has led me to thinking about how my work might contribute to the body of knowledge. I haven’t found anything to date that address aesthetics in general and beauty in particular in relation to post-digital art or work that utilises machine learning and artificial intelligence. This could embrace further research into the notion of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ (Mori et al., 2012) as it shifts from robotics to AI.
In a recent talk by Louise Ashcroft she described the concept of ‘pleasure activism’ and reclaiming beauty as a mechanism to disarm. I asked her about the negative connotations that tend to be associated with beauty and contemporary art and whether that was problematic.
It can be very provocative to make something visually appealing, and to some extent we have moved away from beauty being associated with the subservient. (Louise Ashcroft, 2021)
A number of questions have arisen from this short review for me to pursue:
- What is the relationship I would like the viewer to have with my work?
- What are the implications of combining aesthetics and conceptual art?
- How does aesthetics relate to digital practice?
I am enthused by Moore & Thomas’ association of beauty with imagination, which resonates well with the work I am doing on algorithmic imagination.
Beauty is not defined as pleasantness of form but rather as the quality in things that invites absorption and contemplation…beauty is a source of imagination…that never dries up. A thing so attractive and so absorbing may not be ‘pretty or pleasant.’ It could be ugly, and yet seize the soul as beautiful. Some pieces of art are not pleasing to look at, and yet their content and form are arresting and lure the heart into profound imagination. (Moore and Thomas, 2005)
References:
MALEUVRE, D. 2005. Art and the teaching of love. Journal of aesthetic education, 39, 77-92.
MOORE, T. & THOMAS, P. 2005. Care of the Soul, Harper Collins Publishers.
MORI, M., MACDORMAN, K. F. & KAGEKI, N. 2012. The uncanny valley [from the field]. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19, 98-100.
NIJSSE, J. J. 2005. Beauty: Deepening an understanding of contemporary art, art practice and theory.
STRATI, A. 2007. Sensible Knowledge and Practice-based Learning. Management Learning, 38, 61-77.
this is a really interesting investigation. Eva Hesse said of her work ” I want to make ugly work” or words to that effect. Her work deals with sexuality and to a certain extent, the abject but her work is also, to me, beautiful. Moore and Thomas sum this up so well in your quote. The language associated with beauty ie pretty, attractive, lovely do not fit. Aesthetics in contemporary art are complicated and have multiple meanings. Interestingly Hesse suffered from attention to her appearance and beauty.