AESTHETICS

In the framework of the Master's Degree in Arts Management, the course aims to prompt a critical confrontation with traditional aesthetic notions such as those of beutiful, sublime, representation, aesthetic experience, interest/disinterest, detachment and distance in the appreciation of the arts and cultural consumption. It therefore intends to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of some major theoretical issues concerning these notions, as well as their historical and socio-cultural implications, with a particular focus on the contemporary scenario of visual culture studies.

The course will provide excellent understanding of the theoretical notions characteristic of philosophical Aesthetics by future operators in the management of arts and cultural activities. Students are expected to acquire the ability to apply the knowledge and understanding of the texts and topics (authors, works, ideas, themes) examined during the course by elaborating, with the appropriate language and the subject-specific terminology, an autonomous, articulate and coherent discourse, in both oral and written forms.

The course is accessible to students with little or no prior knowledge of the history of philosophy. Nevertheless, a smattering of the basic notions of Aesthetics and of the history of the discipline will facilitate the easy comprehension of the subject.

Art practice and the position of the artist along three fundamental eras in comparison.
In order to clarify the relationship between art and other everyday practices, part of contemporary aesthetics tends to define in terms of contiguity, continuity and overlap the territories of what is art and what is not. Much contemporary artistic production aims at stimulating the perception of a fundamentally anaesthetised public, re-aesthetising it through artistic experience. In this way, both the artist and the practice of contemporary art contribute to a shift in the reflection on creativity and the artistic object and downplay the emphasis on the autonomy of art, on its supposed discontinuity from other human activities. Such an approach is fraught with consequences, including political and pedagogical ones; bearing in mind that historically the artist and his creative act have been configured differently, an attempt will be made to clarify the position of the artist and the creativity of the work of art in our time in a comparison with some works of Renaissance and classical art. We will first try to clarify the position of the artist and the creativity of the work of art in our time: in the case of the most recent works, the very question of what art is and what it is not, is often unavoidable. On the other hand, a comparison with some works of Renaissance and classical art shows a different way of understanding the work of art, and above all, of relating it to the surrounding world. In the Renaissance we can observe the presupposition of a commonality of language between the work of man and the work of nature (or of God); while in ancient art, especially Greek art, the central point seems to be the position of conflict, of irreducibility between the human being and the natural world. Reflection on these different declinations of the work of art (and the beauty often contained in it) will provide the key to interpreting the aesthetic and artistic phenomena of different historical periods.

The final programme and the teaching materials will be made available on the course homepage through Moodle. Main text used during the course: Georg Bertram, Art as Human Practice. An Aesthetics, Bloomsbury, London/New York 2019.

The learning objectives of the course will be tested through an open-book written exam in English consisting of open questions aimed at evaluating whether students know and understand the main concepts introduced during the course, and if they are able to link the various topics and issues covered during the course. Questions are also intended to test the students' ability in communicating the different positions with clarity and pertinence as well as critical awareness.
The exam will take 2 hours.

Lectures in presence in English; on Saturday the lectures will be held only on zoom.

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development