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Art Culture and Environments
Author(s) -
Armstrong Evelyn A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the ecumenical review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.104
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1758-6623
pISSN - 0013-0796
DOI - 10.1111/erev.12395
Subject(s) - aesthetics , narrative , embodied cognition , sociology , feeling , perspective (graphical) , power (physics) , representation (politics) , politics , perception , value (mathematics) , epistemology , visual arts , philosophy , art , law , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , political science , computer science
This article addresses the embodied, emotional, spiritual, cultural, and socio‐political relationship that appears in visual representation and in environmental art. With a turn away from nihilistic binary barriers between representational, nonrepresentational, and narrative art, I draw upon the ethico‐aesthetic paradigm which calls for reflective thought on subjective perception and the power of first‐hand multicultural experiences. (On my use of the terms “aesthetics” and “ethics,”I wish to note that they carry notions belonging to personal emotional and critical values, including the capacity of experiencing nature and works of art from an emotional perspective. Following Felix Guattari: “the aesthetic power of feeling [is deemed] equal in principle with other powers of thinking philosophically” (Félix Guattari, Chaosmosis: An Ethico‐aesthetic Paradigm [Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1995, 101].) This tradition also calls for respect for sentiment, imagination, and creative expression. It places high value on images, objects, and things that reflect lived experiences. To a greater degree, regardless of how bleak things appear, the ethico‐aesthetic tradition calls for getting involved in practical activities that have a future.