Customer Reviews

Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today)

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I am an art student pursuing my undergraduate degree in Sculpture and Art Education. I was assigned to read an art criticism book for my Contemporary Issues in Art Criticism class. I chose this book because I am quite interested in beauty and its place in the contemporary art conversation, and love learning about philosophy, and have a very small base of knowledge in these areas which I would like to expand. I regret to say, though, that this book didn't meet all of my expectations. I was frustrated because the author made the assumption that his audience was already well versed on the conversation of beauty and sublime, and I found myself lost and confused in much of the book. If I had the time to go through and research every question that arose as I read, I'm sure I would have learned a great deal and probably would have enjoyed the book, but unfortunately that wasn't practical and I stopped a little shy of halfway through out of frustration and confusion. If you frequently read books by art critics, and are familiar with philosophical views on aesthetics, you will have a much more productive and enriching experience with this book than I did.

I read this book a few years ago with my book group. It was suggested by a member who was and is a working artist. Other members of the book group were also artists, had been to art school, regularly read art criticism, etc. Previous to this book, we had read Joyce, Pynchon, and other weighty writers who demand close attention and provoke debate.

Reading this mess however, none of us could figure out the argument or arguments, if any, the author was making. I should have realized after reading in the first chapter about how in one version of the story of the Trojan War, Helen had been murdered by her husband's in-laws, that this book was going to go nowhere. Wouldn't that mean she was killed by her own parents? That kind of deliberate obscurity ran through the book. Constant references to Derrida didn't help. The author still had nothing to say, but took a whole book to say it.

There were times when he seemed to be developing an argument or a point of view, only to have it lead nowhere. At the end of the book, I was so angry I almost returned it to the book store I bought it from. I didn't because it wasn't the physical aspects of the book that were defective, but the inner aspects. I would like to tell more, give more examples, and be more specific, but like I said earlier, I read it a long time ago, and I got rid of it, probably at a yard sale.

Art critic Gilbert-Rolfe explores beauty's changing role and aesthetics in society in Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime, a survey which blends philosophy and discussions of modern art and perceptions of beauty. An intriguing coverage which enters the debate about the role of beauty in our culture.