Aesthetics, Philosophy and Martin Creed

Description

What is the future of conceptualism? What expressions can it take in the 21st century? Is there a new role for aesthetic experience in art and, if so, what is that role exactly? Aesthetics, Philosophy and Martin Creed uses one of this generation's most important and influential artists to address themes crucial to contemporary aesthetics. Working in an impressive variety of artistic media, Creed represents a strikingly innovative take on conceptualism. Through his ingenious and thought-provoking work, a team of international philosophers, jurists and art historians illustrate how Creed epitomizes several questions central to philosophical aesthetics today and provides a glimpse of the future both of art and aesthetic discourse. They discuss key concepts for Creed's work, including immediacy (in his photographs of smiling people), compositional order (in his geometric paintings), simplicity (in Work No. 218, a sheet paper crumpled into a ball) and shamelessness (in his videos of vomiting people). By bringing a working artist into the heart of academic discussions, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Martin Creed highlights the relevance of philosophical discussions of art to understanding art today.

Elisabeth Schellekens is Chair Professor of Aesthetics at Uppsala University, Sweden. Davide Dal Sasso is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philosophy at Universita di Torino, Italy.

From the room filled with balloons to a crumpled piece of paper, Martin Creed's art has both intrigued and infuriated his audiences. This thought-provoking volume peers beyond the controversy. The essays masterfully reveal the dilemmas at the centre of Creed's art, and demonstrate what philosophically informed art criticism is today. * Vid Simoniti, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Liverpool, UK * Making stupid art is far from stupid. If you want to understand why that is, or if you've ever wondered how Martin Creed's work can be so radically simple and yet also utterly complex, you should read this book. It's an eye-opener. * Hans Maes, Senior Lecturer History and Philosophy of Art, University of Kent, UK * By bringing cutting-edge philosophical ideas to bear on the work of one of the most resourceful and intriguing contemporary artists, this collection of essays provides a compelling analysis of the questions of meaning - and meaninglessness - that lie at the heart of Creed's practice. * Jason Gaiger, Professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory, University of Oxford, UK *