Title: The Aesthetic Field
First published: 1970
Description: In The Aesthetic Field, Arnold Berleant argues that traditional       answers to the question &quot;What is art?&quot; are partial at best, providing       only what he calls "surrogate theories of art." In order to answer this       question, Berleant insists, we need to understand art in a different way,       as a complex field - an aesthetic field that takes account of all the many       factors that form the context of art and are indissolubly bound together       in the experience of art.     The Aesthetic Field is as innovative as the arts of our time. It       was one of the first books to recognize the importance for aesthetics of       the performative aspect of the arts, not only in music, theater, and dance,       but also as a key factor in all aesthetic experience. Its fresh approach       has gained increasing relevance as aesthetic experience and theory have       expanded in new and provocative directions - as audience has collaborated       with artist and performer in interactive art, and as feminism, postmodernism       and other recent movements have shown the powerful influence of interpretation       and culture as integral forces in shaping our experience and understanding       of art.
Subjects: Aesthetics, Art, Nonfiction, Philosophy
LC classification: BH39 .B394