Arts of the Impossible The AmericAN SocieTy for AeSTheTicS: AN ASSociATioN for AeSTheTicS, Jason Leddington criTiciSm, ANd Theory of The ArTS Bucknell University
Theatrical magic is one of the most popular forms of live enter- Volume 36 Number 1 SpriNg 2016 tainment of the last 200 years. In the 19th century, magicians such as Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar rose to become the first 1 Arts of the Impossible, by Jason Ledding- “global” entertainment superstars; and in the first two decades of the ton 20th century, when ‘Thurston’ and ‘Houdini’ were household names, magicians continued to reign as the kings of popular entertainment. 5 An Aesthetics of Games, by C. Thi Nguyen Only with the rise of Hollywood in the 1920s and television in the 1940s did magic fade from public view—for a time. Though televi- 7 News from the National Office sion has always regularly featured magic performances (especially on talk-shows such as The Tonight Show), it was in the late 1970s and the ‘80s that a new crop of magicians—especially Doug Henning Aesthetics News 8 and David Copperfield—ushered in a new “golden age” of magic 11 Calls for Papers by bringing mass audiences back into the theater and, most notably, by bringing large-scale magic shows to television. Magic became a 14 Upcoming Events “pop” phenomenon; thus, as pop culture changed, so too magic. In the ‘90s, when grunge, alternative, and hip-hop went mainstream, David 15 Active Aestheticians Blaine singlehandedly made magic “cool” by ditching the sequins and taking magic to the streets in his 1997 TV special, David Blaine: Street Magic. In lieu of theatrically lush mega-illusions in modern theaters for paying audiences, Blaine, in jeans and signature black t-shirt, did simple but powerful close-up tricks with cards, coins, and everyday objects for ordinary people on the streets of New York. He became a superstar overnight, and in the nearly 20 years since, magic’s popularity has continued to grow. Here are some recent examples: • In 2014, Mat Franco became the first magician to win America’s Got Talent. • The Illusionists, a large-scale show featuring seven different ma- gicians (none of them household names), recently started another national and international tour following a box-office record-breaking run on Broadway in 2015. aesthetics-online.org • Magic is regularly featured on television, perhaps most promi-
SPRING 2016 1 nently in the hit show, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, now renewed for a third clearly visible. Keeping his distance, sleeves rolled up, the magician holds season on the cable network The CW. out an empty hand and asks Bryan to imagine—and only imagine—giving • Internationally, magicians such as Dynamo (in the UK) and Lu him one of the coins. Bryan complies. The magician closes his fist and then Chen (in China) are A-List celebrities who regularly appear on TV opens it to reveal: a quarter. We look down at Bryan’s palm, still in full view: and sell out arena shows. only three coins. Stunned silence. Bryan: “What the hell?” • Magic is also making inroads in the theater scene, with shows such as Nothing to Hide—directed by Neil Patrick Harris and starring A well-executed magic trick offers an experience that, in a very par- two young card magicians with a conceptual-artistic bent—breaking ticular way, resists intelligibility. We are ordinarily surrounded by off-Broadway box-office records and receiving strong reviews from things whose inner workings we can barely fathom. We have only a theater critics. shallow understanding of our bodies or electronic devices, much less • A number of successful magic-themed Hollywood films have of “simple” material objects. But this rarely gives us pause—after all, appeared in recent years, including The Prestige (2006), The Illusionist we don’t expect to understand them very deeply. On the other hand, (2006), Now You See Me (2013), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), we typically proceed on the assumption that we’ve mastered the and Now You See Me 2 (2016). “naïve” physics of everyday stuff. That is, we have deeply entrenched • Finally, independent film has gotten on board with documenta- expectations for objects such as coins will behave, and, in everyday ries such as Make Believe (2010), Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and experience, those expectations are almost always met. In this respect, Mentors of Ricky Jay (2012), Our Magic (2014), and Magicians: Life in everyday experience exhibits a comfortable intelligibility. But since a the Impossible (2016). successful magic performance presents an event that, despite our best efforts, we cannot square with our deeply held expectations about In light of all this, you’d expect that magic would have received some what is possible, magic disrupts the easy intelligibility of workaday attention from art historians, art critics, and philosophers—but not experience. No wonder, then, that it can be so memorable—and so so. Magic has been ignored as a sideshow “art” no more deserving affecting. of critical attention than juggling or circus acrobatics, and one of the main goals of my present research is to show that this is an unfortu- In his 1997 TV special, David Blaine borrows a quarter from three women nate, if understandable, mistake. on a New York street-corner.[At the time of this writing, see: https://youtu. be/aW5KYq475cA]. My interest in magic is born of the experience of magic. So, it’s fair to say Blaine: You know how people change the consistency of metals? that a card trick changed my life. Here’s how I remember it: it’s 2003 in a Women: No. What? How they change what? neighborhood bar on Chicago’s north side; the magician asks me to choose a Blaine (displaying the quarter): Consistency. Like if you squeeze something. card and to sign the face of it in permanent ink; after doing so, I return the If you squeeze a piece of metal, it heats up. That’s obvious. card to the deck, which he then shuffles and sets on the table; next, he takes Women: Yeah. his wallet from his back pocket and, showing his hands empty, opens the Blaine: But look. Watch. wallet to display a zippered compartment; finally, he unzips the compartment Blaine raises the quarter to his mouth and apparently bites a chunk out of it. and cleanly, impossibly, withdraws from it the very card I just signed. I’m The women scream, jump, turn away, cover their mouths, hide their eyes, speechless. Of course, I know it’s a trick. The problem is that I don’t see how laugh. Blaine, holding up the mutilated quarter, sounds as though he’s got it could be. This haunts me. something in his mouth: “Mm. Mm. Watch. Watch. Look.” He blows on the quarter and the missing chunk seems to fly back into place, magically In “The Experience of Magic” (forthcoming in JAAC), I argue that restoring the coin to its original condition. More screaming and paroxysmic the goal of magic is to produce in the spectator a specific sort of laughter: “I’m going home, I’m going home. I’m going home.” “I think I’m aporetic experience. In a successful performance, the magician ap- going to have my baby right here.” “He bit the quarter off, and said ‘pfffft’ parently presents you with something you know to be impossible. and then it went back together. In front of our face!” Of course, since the impossible is just that—impossible—you know it’s a trick. But here’s the rub: you don’t see how it could be. All of Following a successful magic performance, it’s not uncommon to hear your attempts to explain what you’ve witnessed run aground on someone say, “That makes no sense.” After all, we know it’s a trick, the actual performance itself, which brooks no quarter. Like a good but—if the magician has pulled it off properly—we don’t see how it piece of Socratic inquiry, it leaves you speechless. It can’t be “real” could be. “The result,” Whit Haydn notes, “is a feeling of cognitive magic, but you have no other (non-trivial) explanation. Magician dissonance” (Haydn, 2009: 6). One of the main goals of my essay, “The Whit Haydn puts it perfectly: Experience of Magic,” is to give an account of this sort of cognitive dissonance and to show how it is harnessed in magical experience “I know there is no such thing as magic/There is no other explana- (Leddington, 2016). Still, you might ask (and I have been asked): is this tion.” …The job of the magician is to trap the spectator in this logical really an aesthetic experience? Neither cognitive dissonance nor baffle- conundrum. The result of this is a peculiar mental excitation—a burr ment is, as such, aesthetic. Yet it can be. Certain canonical aesthetic under the saddle of the mind. If the operation is performed correctly, experiences are, at root, experiences of unintelligibility. In the first, the patient will not be able to ignore the problem, but will keep com- sensory, moment of the experience of the Kantian mathematically ing back to it again and again. (Haydn, 2009: 6) sublime, the object confounds the imagination’s attempt to synthesize intuitions for empirical cognition; consequently, we encounter the Indeed, an effective magic performance can haunt you for years. object as, in a distinctive way, incomprehensible: the sublime object It’s not uncommon to hear someone recount—eagerly, and in great makes no sense to our senses; it baffles us by exceeding our grasp—at detail—a trick that still baffles them ten, twenty, or even fifty years least empirically. Failures of intelligibility are also central to certain later. (Good luck extracting from them as much detail—and as much types of humor. Consider “The Skier,” a classic cartoon by the late, excitement—about their decades past visit to the Louvre.) What ex- great Charles Addams: plains this? Why does magic have this sort of power?
Another bar—this time in Revelstoke, British Columbia. The magician borrows four quarters and places them on Bryan’s palm. All four coins are
2 ASA NEWSLETTER Call for Papers: A Special Issue of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Issue: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
As the American Society for Aesthetics and its official journal approach their seventy-fifth anniversary of their founding, it is fit- ting to dedicate an issue to this period in the history of aesthetics, as well as to its future. We invite articles for this special issue; submissions that develop applications of these broad themes are especially welcome:
• The Role of Its Own History in Aesthetics: Is philosophy of art governed by its history? Is ahistorical work credible? • Aesthetics and the Sciences (e.g., aesthetics and psychology, aesthetics and brain science, aesthetic and evolution, experimen- tal aesthetics) • Art and Metaphysics (ontology of the arts, individuation of artworks, etc.) • Conceptions of the Aesthetic (experience, properties, judgment, perception, appreciation, etc.) • Aesthetic and Artistic Values • Art and The Arts: What they are and how are they related? • Criticism and Appreciation • The relationship between Anglo-American and Continental Aesthetics • Global Aesthetics
Articles submitted in the following areas must include a retrospective element, but they are strongly encouraged to articulate and defend a recommendation for a new research emphasis. Ideally, the retrospective element will examine the past seventy-five years.
• Art and Morality, Society, and Politics • Representation and Meaning in the Arts • Philosophy of the Arts: The Visual Arts, Music, Literature, Photography, Digital Art, etc. • Neglected authors and ideas from the past the past seventy-five years • Aesthetics and Contemporary Art
Submissions should not exceed 7,500 words and must comply with the general guidelines for submissions (see “Submissions” on the JAAC page on the American Society for Aesthetics website:
If you have questions please contact: Robert Stecker at
Deadline for Submissions: December 1, 2016
In “Funny Ha-Ha, Funny Strange, and Other Reactions to Incongru- ity,” John Morreall presents this as an example of a visual joke (1987: 198). No doubt, Morreall is right: it’s funny; and what makes it so is a particular sort of unintelligibility—or, in Morreall’s terms, the “absur- dity” of an “unresolved [and apparently unresolvable] incongruity.” In fact, “The Skier” is not just a great visual joke, it’s also a terrific illustration of the connection between magic and comedy. Imagine the cartoon without the uphill skier looking over his shoulder: it’s no longer quite so funny. Why not? The answer, I think, is that our effort to imagine what the uphill skier might have witnessed—an effort that ends in failure—is a big part of our amusement. And it’s here that there’s a close relationship to magic.
Imagine: David Blaine skis toward a large, isolated tree in untracked snow. Just as he reaches it, a curtain drops in front of the audience, obscuring his passage. A moment later, the curtain snaps back and Blaine, still skiing, (c) 1940 Charles Addams, Renewed 1967. With permission Tee and appears to have left tracks that—impossibly—go around the tree. Charles Addams Foundation. This would be a great magic trick. Like Addams’ cartoon, its perfor- mance would all but force you to (try to) imagine: How? What would I
SPRING 2016 3 Oscar Reutersvärd, “Swedish Stamp images.” Image © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Reproduction, including downloading of ARS member works is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. see if, like the uphill skier in the cartoon, I could look behind the curtain? In cerebral, and so, apparently not the best candidate for generating a considering this question, the mind grinds to a halt. Thus, Addams’ powerful emotional experience. As Teller of Penn & Teller puts it: brilliant visual joke is also a single-frame picture of a complete magic trick. As illustrated by the reaction to Blaine’s street magic performance [Y]ou experience magic as real and unreal at the same time. It’s a (described above), laughter is one of the primary responses to good very, very odd form, compelling, uneasy, and rich in irony…. A magic. Like Addams’ cartoon, magic amuses us precisely because it romantic novel can make you cry. A horror movie can make you leaves the mind in a distinctive sort of tailspin. shiver. A symphony can carry you away on an emotional storm; it can go straight to the heart or the feet. But magic goes straight to the Magic is not the only “art of the impossible” that’s been an object of brain; its essence is intellectual. (Stromberg, n.d.) critical neglect. Representations of impossible figures—such as those created by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd in the early 20th That an art form whose essence is intellectual and that so often clothes century—afford a distinctive sort of pleasure but are rarely discussed. itself in kitsch is terrifically popular and can provoke intense and The experience of looking at Reutersvärd’s beautifully drawn impos- memorable experiences is by itself worthy of note—and of further sibilities is qualitatively different from the experience of looking at study. Moreover, it might be that studying it will bring to light a similarly well-executed drawings of perfectly possible figures. His variety of intellectually-driven aesthetic experiences and even illu- drawings engage us in a kind of active, exploratory looking that has minate old terrain—such as humor and the sublime—in new ways. no easy parallel in the ways we look at “possible” artworks. Our This, at any rate, is my hope. eyes travel over a figure, not simply to see what’s there, but to “feel” the impossibility and, at the same time, to work it out. In this way, Works Cited the drawings stimulate a curiosity that can find no satisfaction, and this is precisely what makes them compelling. After all, as Carolyn Haydn, W. (2009). The Chicago Surprise. Self-published. Korsmeyer writes: “It is the momentum of curiosity that seems es- Korsmeyer, C. (2014). “A Lust of the Mind.” In J. Levinson (Ed.), Suf- pecially affective and invites this phenomenon into the company of fering Art Gladly (pp. 45–67). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. emotions. It arouses what one might call a cognitive itch…” (2014: Leddington, J. (2016). “The Experience of Magic.” The Journal of Aes- 62). That this itch can be enjoyed—that we seek it out—is evident in thetics and Art Criticism, 74(3). the fact that the best-known artistic depictions of impossible figures Morreall, J. (1987). “Funny Ha-Ha, Funny Strange, and Other Reac- are featured in some of M. C. Escher’s most popular lithographs; and tions to Incongruity.” In J. Morreall (Ed.), The Philosophy of Laughter it’s hard to resist the conclusion that their appeal is in no small part and Humor. Albany: State University of New York Press. thanks to the fact that they depict the impossible. Stromberg, J. (n.d.). “Teller Speaks on the Enduring Appeal of Magic.” Retrieved April 13, 2012, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ Magic is an easy object of ridicule. Magic “tricks” are easy to trivial- arts-culture/Teller-Speaks-on-the-Enduring-Appeal-of-Magic.html. ize, and the prevalence of bad costumes and bad scripting in magic can make parody redundant. That it is nevertheless perennially popular—and even seems to be undergoing a 21st century renais- sance—strongly suggests that there’s more to magic than meets the eye. As discussed above, magic can provoke remarkably powerful, memorable, and complex experiences. Seen in a certain light, this is surprising; after all, magic’s characteristic aim is to produce an experience as of an impossible event, which makes it distinctively
4 ASA NEWSLETTER been excellent work showing that video games can work as fiction. An Aesthetics of Games Grant Tavinor has argued extensively that Walton’s theory of fiction applies to videogames. Ian Bogost has argued for games as a kind of rhetoric, that they can, by presenting models of economic and political C. Thi Nguyen systems, make a novel sort of argument. Utah Valley University These analyses all proceed by connecting games to some other aesthetic We are in an age of flourishing and innovation for games. Games paradigm—texts, narratives, fictions. Lying underneath many of these are getting more creative, more biting, more innovative and just approaches is a question about representation and communication. plain stranger. The aesthetic headliners these days are usually the What, we ask, is it that a game means? And, accordingly, if we are to independent, self-consciously arty wing of computer games. Take, for treat games as special in any way, how does particular nature give example, the intentionally queasy Papers, Please, a computer game in games a novel way to convey meanings? For some, the answer will which you play a border security guard in a fictional Eastern European be in interactivity. Tavinor treats the interactivity of videogames, in country, tasked with endlessly scrutinizing paperwork, looking for particular, as a tool to bring about greater imaginative immersive- forgeries, incentivized by the game with promotions and rewards ness, especially in the first person character. For others, it is in the for shutting out desperate immigrants. fact that games are an interactive simulation. Frasca has written here in a vein similar to Bogost’s: games offer simulations, and they offer This explosion of game innovation in the digital sphere has been simplified simulations, that allow for a phenomenological, internal accompanied by perhaps an even more interesting set of design “take” on some complex causal system. experiments in non-digital game development. Take, for example, the avant-garde wing of tabletop role-playing games—as in, you Interestingly, there is another philosophical field that has studied know, Dungeons and Dragons, with people sitting around the table, games, using an entirely different set of conceptual frames, and been playing characters, rolling dice and killing orcs. Except now we have lead down a different path—the philosophy of sports. Philosophers such experiments as Dog Eat Dog, the role-playing game where one of sports typically view games not as a kind of text, but as a designed player plays the colonists, and the others play the colonized, and the context for actions. Philosophers of sport have, accordingly, developed only starting rule is, “The colonizer is always right,” and only the their own set of aesthetic questions, which are very different from colonizer is allowed to make new rules. Or: The Quiet Year, a strange questions about meaning. For philosophers of sport, the aesthetics and moody little game set sometime after the apocalypse where the of sport has to do with performance: with the experience of skilled players guide a small community, perched on the edge of survival, performance, with the feel of overcoming challenges, with the appre- through a quiet year between catastrophes. The players don’t play ciation of extraordinary performance and competitive drama by the individuals—they play values or thought patterns in the community, spectators. This has led philosophers of sport to an entirely different like “xenophobia” or “fraternity” and act through individuals. Or set of aesthetic questions. For example: is an aesthetic experience only the truly cynical board game Imperial, a game where the players play available to those spectators with no particular sporting allegiance, or shadowy bankers, trading war bonds during WWI, manipulating the can a fan have an aesthetic experience? And: can playing a sport be sovereign powers into the most profitable wars. an aesthetic experience, or does the essentially competitive, aggres- sive nature of skilled sport make aesthetic experiences impossible? So: are games a form of art? Are games capable of supporting aesthetic experiences? There’s already quite a bit written on these topics, much It seems to me clear that both tracks are on to something very im- of it by members of the ASA. There are, to paint with a broad brush, portant about games. Surely games are fictions, surely games can two main approaches. The first is to view games as a descendent of make arguments, but surely they also do something distinctive: they some familiar aesthetic form; the second is to view games as a unique present challenges, provide opportunities for the use and display and new form. There are, of course, both extremists and diplomatic of skills. Bernard Suits’ account of games is quite useful here: Suits synthesizers of the two traditions. In the European game studies suggests that playing a game is voluntarily underrating unnecessary community, this took the form of a debate between the “narratolo- obstacles for the sake of the activity they make possible—for example, gists” and the “ludologists.” The narratologists think that games can for the experience of overcoming challenges. Such an account unites be read with the techniques developed for texts (Janet Murray, for sports, computer games, and board games, and opens the door for example, famously read Tetris, the high-speed game of placing falling the possibility of a unified aesthetic of designed experiences of over- blocks, as a metaphor for over-busy working lives of Americans). The coming challenges. Dominic Lopes has suggested that any account ludologists think that games are an entirely unique and new form, of computer art must take seriously its interactivity; for Lopes, an and must be studied with an entirely fresh set of tools. account of computer art fails if it doesn’t successfully differentiate between the aesthetic experience of an interactive user and a mere One particular academic discipline, which calls itself “game studies”, spectator to interaction. is populated by many a ludologist, but elsewhere in the academy, games tend to be assimilated to more familiar forms. For example: It seems to me that computer games are a subset of computer art; Mary Flanagan, game designer and game academic, has spear-headed they meet Lopes’ definition of computer art, but add one more crite- a movement for what she calls “critical play”—for games that are rion: they are goal-oriented. We explore computer art, but we play socially aware and critical. Her bid for the worthiness of games computer games to win. If this is so, then an aesthetics of computer involves showing how they function in a way similar to much con- games must take into account the goal-orientation of game-play. That temporary art, especially conceptual art and performance art. She’s is, to parrot and amplify Lopes, an aesthetic of computer games must interested in games as social disruption and political critique: like distinguish between the spectator of play, the interactive explorer Frasca’s September 2012: A Toy World, where you play the US army, and the goal-oriented player. gunsights aimed at a Middle Eastern village, searching for terrorists, and discover, over the course of play, that your attempts to eliminate So: let me suggest the following questions that are addressed to the terrorists only result in destroyed property, slaughtered innocents, unique properties of computer games, and games in general. First: and more terrorists. Over in the analytic aesthetics scene, there’s how do the interactivity and the goal orientation of games help build
SPRING 2016 5 the experience of game-play? How can goal-oriented play help the and the appreciative kind of games. Games need to be played well fictional experience, or the rhetorical experience, and vice versa? to be brought fully into view. Second, what are the possible modes of game-appreciation? Since games are such richly complex interactive objects, I’d like to suggest There are hints, here and there, that are worth pursuing. Some people that there are several ways we can appreciate a game. First, we can in the philosophy of sports have suggested that there is an aesthetic appreciate it, as Lopes suggests, from an exploratory standpoint. We of experiencing one’s bodily skills in deployment. There are mo- can appreciate the way the work constructs the available space of ments scattered throughout the literature of games that make similar interactions. Second, we can appreciate it in play—in the absorbed noises about the aesthetics of puzzles—the aesthetics of feeling one’s moment of skilled and active overcoming of a game’s challenges. mind confront, struggle with, and grasp, in an epiphanic moment, the solution. Similar words have been spoken about the beauty of a This leads to, I think, a number of quite unique questions about the well-played game of chess. And then there are questions about how nature of the game object, and the nature of proper appreciation. the aesthetics of challenge might integrate with the aesthetics of fic- Suppose we were actually convinced that games could offer aesthetic tion, with the rhetorical capacity of games. experiences. What is the nature of the work of a game, and what are the norms for proper experience? For example, if we are to follow For those that are interested in these topics, there are a number of out Lopes’ view that interactive arts require an exploration of the venues available. There is an annual European conference on the possibility-space for proper appreciation, then we get a straightfor- Philosophy of Computer Games, and, as of this year, a brand new Journal ward normative response: for proper appreciation of a computer of the Philosophy of Games (the latest CFP’s are at jpg.gamephilosophy. game, one must play many times, and explore the possible outcomes. org). I and other members of the ASA are in the process of organiz- Furthermore: what is the relationship between skilled play and aes- ing a (hopefully annual) Stateside workshop on the philosophy of thetic appreciation? Does one have to be any good at a game to be an games (for more information on this, see http://objectionable.net/ appropriate judge of its design qualities? I suspect so, and I suspect philgames/). that this presents a significant difference between the appreciative kinds of museum computer art, which Lopes primarily focuses on,
Call for Submissions
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the American Society for Aesthetics. In addition to the special issue of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (see p. 3 of this newsletter for more information), one of the planned commemorations of this event is a special issue of this newsletter.
To that end, the editors would like to solicit your contributions to be published in Fall 2016. We are interested in any stories you might have about the Society and its history, including anecdotes about meetings, talks, members, and more. Any length of submission is welcome (though we reserve the right to edit anything that is too long!), so please don’t hesitate to share any reminiscences you have!
In particular, if you have any photographs of past ASA events you would like us to share with our readership, we would be excited to print them.
Please send any submissions to the Newsletter editors, David Goldblatt (at [email protected]) and Henry Prattt (at [email protected]).
Deadline: November 1, 2016
6 ASA NEWSLETTER ple on project ideas and to review draft pro- Membership News from the posals with an eye to ASA priorities and is- sues that have been of concern to the Board. Membership is moving in a positive direction National Office Funding decisions are made by the Trustees, again, but it will be a tough slog to reach the and proposals are accepted throughout the 1000 members we enjoyed in 1999. We are As the American Society for Aesthetics ap- year. We have several important priorities more systematically enforcing long-standing proaches our 75th anniversary in 2017, I am we are aiming to support with these grants requirements for membership benefits and confident that our founding members and the and welcome ideas for future projects and are always looking for more “perks” we could thousands that joined ASA over the ensuing initiatives. add to encourage people to join and re- decades would be very proud of the direction new their memberships. Suggestions are the Society has taken. Our membership is Annual Meeting welcome. Our membership rates are very increasing again, after a long slide. We are reasonable and you can save substantially reaching multiple generations with this print Work is proceeding on organizing our Annual by buying a two- or three-year membership. newsletter, a much more powerful web site, Meeting for 2016 at the Seattle Renaissance an outstanding journal, a superb graduate Hotel November 16-19. We expect that the Support for Students and Junior Scholars student on-line journal, a Facebook group program committee, led by Sherri Irvin, will (now with over 600 members), and a Twitter have a draft program ready in June, which Supporting future generations of persons in account. we will post on our web site, the Grupio app, aesthetics is an important element of our ef- and Facebook. On-line registration will be forts to recruit and retain membership. Our We are supporting dozens of exciting projects available on the web site about August 1, student memberships are still only $35 a year that show the academy and the art-loving with hotel reservations at the conference rate and come with the full complement of mem- public what aesthetics has to offer. In the available shortly after. Registration rates for bership benefits. We are extremely generous last year, the Board has supported confer- ASA members will remain the same as in in supporting travel to our annual meeting. ences and workshops on aesthetics and the 2015 and we will again offer a substantial Full-time students with papers accepted for environment, dance, games, Shakespeare, discount for Early-Bird Registration until the program receive reimbursement up to street art, and stand-up comedy. We sup- thirty days before the meeting. For those $1250 in travel costs to the meetings, and ported another successful Graduate Confer- who do not use the web site, forms for mail-in there is no upper limit on the number of ence on Aesthetics in Philadelphia. We just registration and membership renewal will be these awards. In 2014, for the annual meet- awarded our second dissertation fellowship included in the August issue this newsletter, ing in San Antonio, we supported seventeen in aesthetics (to Marilynn Johnson at the as they were last year. students for a total of $15,268.81. In 2015, CUNY Graduate Center). We awarded funds for the annual meeting in Savannah, we for the fourth update of the Graduate Guide We are again using Grupio, the meeting app supported twenty-one students for a total of to Aesthetics in North America. We continue which you can download for free at the Ap- $20,075.03. We are acutely aware that many to provide support for the blog Aesthetics for ple Store or Google Playstore. If you used junior scholars who have completed PhDs, Birds. Our three divisions (Eastern, Pacific, it last year, go to the home menu to clear but do not have full-time employment, have Rocky Mountain) hold successful annual last year’s program and search “aesthetics.” great difficulty finding travel money to meet- meetings and are organizing more for the Some basic information about the meeting is ings, a gap we hope to address in the future. coming years. already available on Grupio and also on the ASA web site. Let me note our gratitude for a new stu- We funded an ASA-sponsored faculty mem- dent travel program at the British Society ber (Sondra Bacharach) for the second year Jonathan Neufeld, Program Chair for the of Aesthetics. For BSA members who are at the UCSD Summer Program for Women 2017 meeting in New Orleans, expects to pursuing graduate studies at a UK institution, in Philosophy. We also funded an ASA- have a Call for Papers ready this summer, travel funds are available to attend aesthet- sponsored speaker (Anna Christina Ribeiro) with a submission deadline in February. We ics programs elsewhere, including the three for the second year at the Rutgers Summer will post it on the web site and Facebook, ASA divisional meetings. If you are eligible, Institute for Diversity in Philosophy. We are in as well as the next issue of this newslet- please contact BSA for more information and the second year of a three-year commitment ter. Locations and dates have been set for consider submitting a paper for our divisional by ASA to support development of diversity annual meetings in 2018 (Toronto-October meetings in 2017. The dates and locations curricula in aesthetics, with $5,000 awards. 10-13) and 2019 (Phoenix-October 9-12). are included in our list of Meetings at the bot- We continue to look for more opportunities We have a survey on the inside pages of the tom of each page of the web site. to improve diversity in the profession and to web site, “Where should ASA Meet?” Let us introduce promising undergraduate majors know your preferences for future meetings. At Several of our funded activities also provide to aesthetics. Please contact me if you have present, the most popular choices are Wash- good financial opportunities for students and ideas for additional activities. ington, DC, Montreal, and Chicago. Havana junior scholars. We will award our third dis- and Mexico City also have strong interest. sertation fellowship in 2017. Five will receive The ASA is fortunate to have a substantial It is increasingly difficult to find hotels with travel funds to Seattle to present their ideas investment account and a very successful reasonable sleeping room rates in attractive on the future of aesthetics and the ASA. The journal to finance these activities. We are locations of interest to our members, and we curriculum diversity grants, while open to committed to using much of this revenue to always welcome your suggestions. If you all ASA members, are especially attractive support grants of various kinds that will pro- and your university would like to host a future $5,000 awards for junior scholars to create mote the ASA and aesthetics. The complete meeting, please get in touch with me at your curriculum during the summer. Many of the list of grants funded in 2011-2016 is available earliest opportunity. conferences we fund include travel support on the web site, along with the guidelines. I for students and other junior scholars. Are am always available to brainstorm with peo- there additional things we could do to sup-
SPRING 2016 7 port students and junior scholars? Send us Ted Cohen Prize, the Monograph Prize, the Chinese Context was published by Springer. your ideas. Outstanding Student Paper, and the Selma She was a board member of the Hong Kong Jeanne Cohen Prize in Dance Aesthetics. Arts Development Council and the Museums Elections In 2017, JAAC will again award the John Advisory Board of HKSAR. She writes art crit- Fisher prize for junior scholars. Guidelines icism and hosts cultural programme for local Three trustees will complete their three-year and deadlines for all of these opportunities media. In 2004, she was a Fulbright scholar terms on January 31, 2017 (Gary Iseminger, are available on our web site under “News- at University of California, Berkeley. In 2009, Peg Brand Weiser, and Rachel Zuckert). The Grants and Prizes.” We also post these on she was AMUW Woman Chair at Marquette trustees will draw up a slate of six candidates the Facebook-Group page. The prizes will University. Man joined ASA in 1992 and has this fall so ASA members can elect their re- be awarded at the November annual meeting since then attended ASA annual meetings placements. In addition, we will elect a new and travel funds are provided to winners so almost every year from Hong Kong. Vice-President who, after a two-year term, they can accept their prize in person. Also will succeed to the Presidency. Our by-laws on the new web site, there is now a “dona- Katherine Thomson-Jones is an Associate provide that additional nominations can be tions” section where anyone can easily make Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Oberlin made with signatures of eight ASA members; a tax-deductible donation to the Ted Cohen College, where she has taught aesthetics these must be submitted to the secretary- and John Fisher Prize funds. and value courses since receiving her PhD treasurer no later than two weeks after the from the University of Toronto in 2003. She annual meeting (December 3, 2016). I look forward to hearing from ASA members is the author of Aesthetics and Film (Con- with your ideas on the future of ASA and tinuum, 2008) as well as articles on ethical Bios of all nominees will be posted this fall on aesthetics. I visit all of our divisional meetings art criticism, imagination, formalism, film the “Trustee elections” submenu on the Mem- and I’m always available by e-mail: secretary- narration, and empathy in film. She is editor bers section of the new web site. That is also [email protected]. of Current Controversies in Philosophy of where the elections will be held in December. Film (Routledge, 2016) and co-editor with The new web site enables us to set up elec- Julie Van Camp Kathleen Stock of New Waves in Aesthetics tions that are completely confidential and Secretary-Treasurer (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Her latest pro- easy to submit, which we hope will increase American Society for Aesthetics ject, undertaken with the support of an ACLS the participation rate. Members who do not 1550 Larimer St. #644 grant, is a monograph on digital aesthetics. use the internet can request a printed ballot Denver, CO 80202-1602 She has been an active member of the ASA which can be returned by mail. Telephone: 562-331-4424 since 1999 and served on the 2011 program e-mail:
8 ASA NEWSLETTER for two or three years. How to find out when Division Archives: We have Pacific programs performance, and the visual arts. He is the your membership expires: Log into the new from 1972 to the present, missing just a few author of Art as Performance (Blackwell web site. Click Manage Profile in the upper (1978, 1979, 1984, 1996, and anything prior 2004), Aesthetics and Literature (Continuum right. On the next page you see, look on the to 1972). We have Eastern programs from 2007), and Philosophy of the Performing Arts left for Membership. Click that and it will tell 2006-2015 (missing everything prior to 2006). (Wiley-Blackwell 2011), editor of The Thin you when your membership expires. Red Line (Routledge 2008), and co-editor Our thanks to Sondra Bacharach, Arnold of Blade Runner (Routledge 2015). He is How to renew your membership on-line: Log Berleant, Aili Bresnahan, Don Crawford, founding director of the Philosophy of Art into the new web site. Click Manage Profile Tom Leddy, Dom Lopes, and Henry Pratt for conference held at the Inter-University Centre in the upper right. Click on the left for Mem- loaning us materials to create these archives. in Dubrovnik, Croatia, since 2012. bership. You can renew up to three months before your expiration date. The new site If you have any of the missing items and accepts credit cards from MasterCard, Visa, would be willing to loan them to ASA for scan- Feminist Caucus News Discover, and American Express. To use a ning, please contact: secretary-treasurer@ check, you must mail in a membership form aesthetics-online.org. We will reimburse you Happy 2016 to all, with a big thanks to eve- (see below). for your postage to ship them to us. ryone who participated in the successful day of ASA Feminist Caucus Committee work- How to renew your membership through the Print archives: ASA also has four boxes of shops in Savannah, Georgia, last November mail: Go to the new web site. You do not materials from 1935 – 1995 in the Special celebrating the 25th anniversary of the FCC need to log in. Hover over the ASA button Collection and University Archives, Malcolm (a summary will appear in an upcoming in the upper right and look for “Join ASA A. Love Library, San Diego State University. ASA Newsletter). Photos are posted on the (mail-in)” on the sub-menus, near the bottom An inventory of those materials is included in ASA website, including our celebration at of the list. Click that and it will open a Word ASA Records (above). the end of the day: http://aesthetics-online. document which you can print out and mail in org/?page=photogalleries. (Feel free to send with a check. We are not able to accept credit any additional photos you may have to me.) cards with mail-in membership. Or look for David Davies Named to JAAC Editorial A special thanks to Carolyn Korsmeyer and the membership form in the blue paper insert Board Ivan Gaskell for organizing workshops, to in the August 2015 issue of this newsletter. Don Crawford, editor of the first issue ofThe After 32 years of service, Mary Wiseman Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism to Goldstein has stepped down from the edi- feature feminist research (1990), and to all ASA’s On-line Archives torial board of The Journal of Aesthetics speakers and attendees. Feminist scholar- and Art Criticism. Until her retirement, she ship has certainly expanded in the past 25 We are very pleased to report that we now taught philosophy and comparative litera- years, thanks to your efforts! have extensive digitized archives of ASA’s ture at Brooklyn College and the Graduate history on the new web site. As we approach Center of the City Unviersity of New York. our 75th anniversary in 2017, we hope these Her publications include The Ecstasies of ASA Funds Workshop on Philosophy of will be helpful to members preparing reports Roland Barthes (Routledge 1989, reissued Games and papers for the special issue of JAAC and 2016) and co-edited Subversive Strategies in the 2017 meeting itself. Contemporary Chinese Art (Brill 2011). She The Board of Trustees of the American So- has lectured and taught in Paris, Beijing, and ciety for Aesthetics has approved funding up To see the collection, first log in as a member. other cities in China. In addition to serving to $5,000 in support of the Workshop on the Look for the Members tab in the upper-right on the JAAC editorial board, she is a former Philosophy of Games, to be held October and the various sub-menus. Here’s what we trustee of St. John’s College and the Ameri- 14-15, 2016, in Salt Lake City. Conference have so far: can Society for Aesthetics. Organizers are C. Thi Nguyen (Utah Valley University) and Brock Rough (University of ASA Records: From the early years of the The editorial board has selected David Maryland). Society (through 1955), we have posted Davies to succeed her. Davies is Professor scans of minutes, annual meeting programs, and Chair of Philosophy at McGill University, The conference will explore a variety of is- proceedings, and other documents, includ- where he has taught since 1987. He has sues: What are games? What is their value? ing the ASA application to join the American a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Can games be artworks or possess aes- Council of Learned Societies. We also have Western Ontario (1987), following a BA in thetic value? Are there ethical issues that all annual meeting programs from 1967 to Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Wad- arise with game play? As more information the present. We are missing programs from ham College, Oxford, 1970) and an MA in becomes available, including the Call for 1956 – 1966. Philosophy (Manitoba 1979). His doctoral Papers, it will be posted on the ASA web site research and much of his research for the and ASA Facebook pages. Newsletter Archives: We have a nearly com- following few years was on the Realism/Anti- plete set of the ASA Newsletter, which was Realism debate in contemporary metaphys- The conference will feature ten presenta- begun in 1980 by Selma Jeanne Cohen. ics, and on related issues in the Philosophy tions, in a round-table workshop format. Many prominent members from ASA’s past of Mind and Philosophy of Language. For Travel funding reimbursement of $500 will be wrote original essays for the Newsletter over the past 18 years his research has focused offered for each paper, with one $1000 travel the years, which cannot be found anywhere mainly on metaphysical and epistemological grant for the best graduate student paper. else, making this a particularly valuable re- issues in the Philosophy of Art, where he There will be one commentator per session. source. We are still missing a few: Vol. 1 (all), has also published widely on topics relat- 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 8.2, 22.2, 25.3. ing to literature, film, photography, music, Additional funding is being provided by the
SPRING 2016 9 Utah Valley University Department of Phi- Guide to Graduate Aesthetics in North on adherence to the standards of writing in losophy, the UVU College of Humanities, America to Be Published the statement above. Self-nominations are the UVU College of Computing and Technol- welcome. Only one nomination per year ogy, the University of Utah Department of Preparation of the fourth edition of the Guide should be submitted. Nominees must be ASA Philosophy, and the Westminster College to Graduate Aesthetics in North America is members at the time of nomination. Department of Philosophy. underway, with publication on-line on the ASA web site expected in early summer. Publica- Submissions should be directed c/o Julie Van For more information, contact the organizers tion was authorized by the ASA Board of Camp, ASA Secretary-Treasurer, at 1550 at: [email protected] or [email protected]. Trustees last month. Larimer St. #644, Denver, CO 80202-1602, or secretary-treasurer@aesthetics-online. Print surveys have been mailed to all depart- org. The nominated article or book chapter/ Book Review Editor Search for The Jour- ment heads of departments offering an MA section must be submitted in full. Electronic nal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism and/or PhD in North America, using lists submissions are strongly preferred, in PDF provided by the Philosophy Documentation format replicating the original publication. If The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Center. The current guide is available for PDF submission is not possible, then two invites applications for the position of Book free on the ASA web site under the Resourc- copies of articles or book chapter/section Review Editor. The new editorial appointment es tab: http://aesthetics-online.org/resource/ must be submitted. begins February 1, 2018. The primary duty resmgr/Files/graduateguide.pdf. of the Book Review Editor is to commission Deadline: June 1, 2016 book reviews for each of the quarterly issues Over 1000 copies a year of the Guide are of the Journal. The Journal publishes ap- downloaded, making it a uniquely valuable proximately 28-30 book reviews per year. The promotional opportunity for departments and Call for Nominations: Selma Jeanne Co- Book Review Editor has significant autonomy an important resource for students interested hen Prize in Dance over the book review section of the Journal, in aesthetics. selecting the books for review and then In memory of Selma Jeanne Cohen, the approving and editing the book reviews for American Society for Aesthetics established each issue. The editor is expected to attend Call for Nominations: Ted Cohen Prize a $1000 biennial prize in dance aesthetics, the annual meeting of the American Society dance theory, or the history of dance. Begun for Aesthetics in order to attend the Journal’s To honor the enormous contributions of in 2008, the prize was awarded for a critical annual editorial board meeting. Ted Cohen to aesthetics and the American article or book of distinction published in Eng- Society for Aesthetics, Andy Austin Cohen lish; the prize was awarded in alternate years The Journal is an official publication of the and the ASA established in 2014 a $1000 from 2008 through 2014. American Society for Aesthetics. The ASA annual prize “to recognize writing that is provides an annual budget for hiring an clear, graceful, and unencumbered by jargon Commencing in 2016, the prize will be award- editorial assistant, and travel support for at- or academic clichés. It should examine seri- ed every year, alternating critical articles and tending the annual meeting. The editor must ous problems in aesthetics while also giving books of distinction. In 2016, the Prize will be be a member of the Society and receives an pleasure to the reader.” In memory of Ted, awarded for an outstanding article published annual honorarium from the Society. his wife Andy Austin Cohen has generously from July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2016. In 2017, funded this prize. the Prize will be awarded for an outstanding Applicants must be a current member of the book published from July 1, 2014 – June 30, American Society for Aesthetics. There is The 2016 prize winner will be selected by a 2017. Thereafter, the prize will be awarded no fixed term of office for the Book Review committee of three members appointed by for publications in the two-year period prior to Editor, but there is a strong preference for the President of the ASA and will be notified the award. The prize winner will be selected applicants who will commit to a term of at by August 1, 2016. The award will be an- by a committee of three members appointed least five years. nounced publicly during the national meeting by the President of the ASA and will be noti- of the ASA in Seattle, WA, November 17-19, fied by August 1 of the prize year. The award The ASA Board of Trustees is expected to 2016. The winner will be encouraged but not will be announced publicly during the national select the new Book Review Editor at the required to attend the meeting, and travel ex- meeting of the ASA that fall. The winner will annual meeting in November 2016. The cur- penses to the meeting will be provided. The be encouraged but not required to attend the rent book review editor, James Harold, has prize may not be awarded if, in the opinion of meeting, and reasonable travel expenses kindly agreed to work with the new editor the judges, no nomination of sufficient merit will be reimbursed for attendance. The prize from approximately November 1, 2017, until and appropriateness is received. may not be awarded if, in the opinion of the the 2018 appointment date, taking the new judges, no nomination of sufficient merit and editor through the work cycle of one issue. The ASA selection committee welcomes pub- appropriateness is received. lished work of distinction published between Applications should consist of a letter ad- June 1, 2015 – May 31, 2016. Eligible works The ASA selection committee welcomes pub- dressing qualifications for the position and a are articles or chapters/sections of books. lished work of distinction that contributes to current C.V., and may be submitted to either Publication is understood to mean publica- dance aesthetics, dance theory, or the history of the journal’s co-editors: Robert Stecker tion in venues with peer review recognized of dance. Publication is understood to mean at [email protected] or Theodore Gracyk at by the scholarly community and that are publication in venues with peer review rec- [email protected]. permanently available to the interested schol- ognized by the scholarly community and that arly community of students and researchers. are permanently available to the interested Deadline: October 1, 2016 Eligible publication includes reputable on-line scholarly community of students and re- journals. Nominations will be judged based searchers. Nominations will be judged based
10 ASA NEWSLETTER on significance of the topic or issue, quality of has the potential to make an outstanding the research, quality of the writing, originality, contribution to scholarship in aesthetics. Ap- Calls for Papers and contribution to the dance literature. plications are adjudicated by the Society’s Dissertation Fellowships Committee, which Submissions should be directed to Julie represents diverse traditions and approaches Engagement: Symposium for Philosophy Van Camp, ASA Secretary-Treasurer, 1550 in the field. of Dance and Performance Larimer St. #644, Denver, CO 80202-1602 San Marcos, Texas or [email protected]. The nominated Deadline: January 1, 2017 September 8-10, 2016 article or book must be submitted in full. Elec- We invite scholars to submit abstracts for tronic submissions are strongly preferred, in an interdisciplinary symposium investigating PDF format replicating the original publica- The 2017 John Fisher Memorial Prize philosophy and dance. Featuring live per- tion. If electronic submissions are not avail- formances and keynote speakers from the able, two copies must be submitted, whether The American Society for Aesthetics is fields of ballet, modern, and popular dance, books or articles. pleased to announce the guidelines for the aesthetics, philosophy of art, dance theory, 2017 John Fisher Memorial Prize, an award choreography, and multi-media dance; the Deadline: July 1, 2016 for an original essay in aesthetics, created in symposium will also include interdiscipli- memory of the late John Fisher, editor of The nary panels for scholars, practitioners, and Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism from students, and will result in a book and two 1973 to 1988. ASA Dissertation Fellowships special issues of scholarly journals. Invited keynote speakers include, Julie Van Camp, The American Society for Aesthetics will The amount of the Prize is $1,000. The Prize Arnold Berleant, Richard Shustermann, Rob- award up to one Doctoral Dissertation Fel- is intended to foster the development of new ert Crease, and Barbara Montero. The per- lowship each academic year. This fellowship talent in the field of aesthetics. The competi- forming dance companies will be Mark Morris is intended to support original and significant tion is limited to those persons who have Dance Company (Brooklyn, New York), Erick research in aesthetics by enabling the re- completed the terminal degree in their field Hawkins Dance Company (NYC, New York), cipient to complete his or her dissertation in and are in the early stages of participation in and ARCOS (Austin, Texas). a timely manner. For the purpose of this fel- their profession. Persons in doubt about their lowship, aesthetics is understood to include qualifications are encouraged to consult the We plan an exploration of aspects of dance the philosophical study of art, criticism, each editors of JAAC in advance (jaac@cmich. that impact our understanding of what it of the arts, and related phenomena. edu). Entrants should include with their entry means to be a human being, through discus- a statement indicating how they qualify. En- sion and dialogue as well as practice and Fellowships are open to doctoral candidates trants must be members of the ASA. performance. There will be workshops and at institutions located in North America who master-class sessions held in conjunction reasonably anticipate completion of their The essay may be on any topic in aesthetics with the symposium. We invite individual dissertations during the fellowship year. Ap- understood according to the characterization papers, as well as panels of professors and plicants must be members of the American on the masthead of JAAC. The essay should students. Society for Aesthetics. The fellowship year for be a maximum of 7,500 words including ref- applications made by the January 1 deadline erences (about thirty double-spaced pages). Papers are to be limited to 20 minutes to al- is August 15 to August 14 the following year. Entries will also be considered for publication low time for discussion. Please submit a 250- in JAAC, unless the entrant requests other- 300 word abstract, and a CV or professional The fellowship tenure may be carried out in wise. A decision on the Prize will be made bio. Panels will be scheduled for 1-hour, and residence at the fellow’s home institution or by April 10, 2017. The winning essay will be can include 3-5 participants. Please submit at another appropriate site for the research. published in JAAC. The author will also be a 500-600 word abstract of your topic and The amount of the fellowship is $25,000, in invited to read the paper at the annual meet- panel, along with the names and short bios addition to fees and dissertation-level tuition ing of the American Society for Aesthetics or CVs of panel participants. not exceeding $5000. The recipient shall not in November 2017. Submissions may not normally hold employment during the tenure have been previously published or under For more information on submissions, see of the fellowship and may not accept other consideration for publication elsewhere. www..txstate.edu/philosophy/SymposiumPhi- awards that provide similar benefits, except Upload submissions to the JAAC online sub- losophyDancePerformance.html. that smaller local awards may be permitted mission website, http://mc.manuscriptcentral. at the discretion of the Society. These fel- com/jaac. Submissions should include an Deadline: June 1, 2016 lowships may not be held concurrently with abstract. Make sure the submission letter any other fellowship or grant, unless express clearly identifies the paper as a submission permission in advance is given by the ASA. for the John Fisher Memorial Prize, and in- The Cognitive Value of Literature: X Inter- clude a statement of qualifications. University Workshop on Mind, Art and Application forms are available at aesthetics- Morality online.org. Applications should be submitted For questions, contact [email protected]. Valencia, Spain as a PDF to secretary-treasurer@aesthetics- October 26-28, 2016 online.org. A public announcement of the Deadline: January 15, 2017 award will be made in early May. Incomplete The Inter-University Workshop on Mind, Art applications will not be reviewed. The suc- and Morality promotes the interconnections cessful applicant will have demonstrated across different areas in philosophy and, in that he or she will complete their dissertation particular, the study of issues lying at the according to plan and that this dissertation intersection of ethics, aesthetics and the
SPRING 2016 11 philosophy of mind. In previous editions, manner. This workshop aims to unite the further information to philosophyofgames- the Workshop has been devoted either to various strands of work on the philosophy [email protected]. the production of a particular philosoher, in- of games. Furthermore, the workshop aims cluding Richard Wollheim, Jonathan Dancy, to unite the discussion of the many forms of Deadline: July 1, 2016 Christine Korsgaard, Shaun Nichols, David games, including videogames, sports, board Filkenstein, and Malcolm Budd; or to explore games, card games, role playing games, topics such as the Philosophy of Music (Peter and more. Coimbra Conference On the Virtual Kivy, Noël Carroll or Derek Matravers), Self- Coimbra, Portugal Knowledge (David Filkenstein and Sarah Possible topics to be addressed include, but October 27-29, 2016 Sawyer) and Art and Negative Emotions are not limited to, the following: (Susan Feagin and Eileen John). On the Recent technological innovations with huge 2016 edition, we intend to focus on the cog- -What is the ontological structure of a game? consequences in media metamorphosis and nitive value of literature. Among others, we Is it to be identified with the rules of the incorporation of meaning through informa- will consider issues concerning the fictional game, the physical apparatus that supports it, tion storage and manipulation made explicit vs. non-fictional divide and how it conditions or some larger social structure? In particular, the use of “virtual reality”. The concept is of our ability to acquire knowledge from litera- are games such as sports ontologically simi- everyday usage. Nonetheless, it is impor- ture, the relevance of aesthetic values to the lar to, or distinctive from, computer games? tant the clarification of the motives of such cognitive values associated with literature, -What is the definition of a “game”, and how semantic success taking into account the the specific kind of knowledge or insight that does it relate to other closely allied concepts, media evolution. The Coimbra Conference could be derived from literature, and how such as “artwork”, “sport”, “play”, and “social On the Virtual will deal with the conceptual literary works relate to philosophical treatises contract”? trends and theories here mentioned. We en- or essays. -What are the norms of game-play? Are there courage researchers to present the results of norms for good and bad play, above and be- their work according to the following general We invite submissions on any aspect of yond simply following the rules? thematic divisions. the current debate on the cognitive value -Is there an aesthetic value to games? Is of literature. Authors should submit either there a distinctive aesthetic value to the 1. The Semantics of Virtuality and the main a full paper (5000 words) or an extended physical aspects of computer games? Is conceptual trends in the contemporary mean- abstract (2000 words). Submissions should there an aesthetic value to the play experi- ing of the virtual in Philosophy and across the be sent to [email protected]. ence? Is there an aesthetic experience to the Humanities. The layout of the manuscript should accom- spectators of game-play? modate anonymous refereeing (i.e. name -Is there a moral value to games? Is there a 2. The Virtual in Perception and in Communi- and address on a separate sheet, and not particular moral problem to enacting fictional cation Systems. The use of simulation and its repeated in the text). For more information, violence in a computer game which goes special structure of reflection. The reference see mindartandmorality.wordpress.com. beyond the moral problem of seeing fictional to embodiment to translate physical-psychic violence in a film? Is there a moral problem virtualization in Cognitive Sciences and con- Deadline: June 15, 2016 to consenting to interfere with one another? temporary Philosophy. Is competition, in itself, problematic or good? -To what extent is game-play a part of normal 3. Media Evolution, “Digital Convergence” Inaugural Workshop on the Philosophy life, and to what extent is it removed from and Remediation. Descriptions and concep- of Games normal life? tual evaluation of the contemporary media Salt Lake City, Utah transformations, their virtual co-references October 14-15, 2016 As this is a workshop, papers will be pre- and the overlapping of information, embodi- sented in a round-table format in a single ment and meaning. Games are growing in cultural weight and stream. Thus attendees will be able to be importance. There are many philosophical present for all papers and presenters will be 4. Technology, Memory and Imagination. The questions that can and have been raised able to expect all attendees present. connection between memory and virtuality. about games: What are games? What is their The contemporary use of “techno-fantasies” value? Can games be artworks, or possess Travel funding compensation will be available and the new scenarios for the imagination. aesthetic value? Are there ethical issues that for presenters and commentators. We aim arise with gameplay? to provide at least $500 of travel support for In order to write your proposal of presenta- each presenter and commentator. tion we suggest that you carefully take into In the philosophical world, discussion of account these aforementioned items. Please, these topics has been split over several We invite scholars in any field of studies who be aware that you need to inscribe your pres- communities, which rarely speak to each take a professional interest in the philosophy entation in lines 1-4. You can select more other, including computer game studies, the of games to submit papers to the inaugural than one line. Please, write your proposal philosophy of sport, and digital aesthetics. workshop on the philosophy of games. This within 2000 words in word format and send It is the belief of the conference organizers includes, but is not limited to, scholars in the to [email protected]. that these various conversational threads fields of analytic aesthetic, philosophy of have tremendous relevance to one another, sport, and philosophy of computer games, Deadline: July 31, 2016 but have remained isolated from each other the philosophy of technology, and the phi- for sociological reasons. Though there have losophy of play. been conferences specifically on the phi- Ricœur Studies (ERRS) losophy of sports, of play, and of computer Submissions should not exceed 3000 words games, there have been no conferences and be prepared for blind review. Please Ricœur Studies Vol. 7, No. 2 (2016) will be that seek to address these topics in a unified send your submission and any inquiries for dedicated to the issues of art and aesthetics
12 ASA NEWSLETTER in Ricœur’s philosophy. Even if Paul Ricœur Articles may be written in either English Associate Professor, both of the Depart- does not place this question concerning art or French. For more information, see the ment of Philosophy. The interdisciplinary and aesthetics at the center of his philosophy, journal’s website at http://ricoeur.pitt.edu/ojs/ conference will explore the intersections of as he is able to do in the case of the ques- index.php/ricoeur. stand-up comedy with other art forms and its tions of ethics and politics, it is still a question potential for dialogue with social and political that he often raises and one that plays an Deadline: September 15, 2016 critiques. In addition to academic papers and important role in his work, something that presentations, the conference will include a really needs to be acknowledged. This is performance workshop, an “open-mic” night, particularly apparent in the period that cov- Contemporary Aesthetics roundtable discussions with comedians, and ers The Rule of the Metaphor and Time and stand-up comedy performances. The Con- Narrative. Contemporary Aesthetics invites papers for ference Organizing Committee includes fac- its fourteenth annual volume. The purpose ulty from English, Interdisciplinary Arts, and We will try to examine the relationship be- of Contemporary Aesthetics is to publish Women’s and Gender Studies, representing tween Ricœur’s thought and the field of the international, interdisciplinary, peer- and several colleges in the region. arts and aesthetics, separating out three blind-reviewed articles on contemporary areas of study in particular: (a) Ricœur’s theory, research, and application in aesthet- Confirmed speakers include: Luvell An- problematization of the poetic and the aes- ics. CA invites submissions of articles of derson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, thetic, (b) the relationships that Ricœur’s 7,000 words or less (including abstract and University of Memphis; Noël Carroll, Dis- thought maintains with the artistic object, notes). Discussions should be accessible to tinguished Professor of Philosophy, CUNY aesthetic experience, and the world of the an audience across disciplines and promote Graduate Center; Eva Dadlez, Professor of text or the work, (c) the links between this conversation across fields and practices. We Philosophy, University of Central Oklahoma; reflexive hermeneutics and a philosophical welcome the use of visual images and audi- Oliver Double, Senior Lecturer and Deputy conception of art. tory and video clips to illustrate the text. For Head of the School of Arts, University of more information about submitting work to Kent; Tanya Rodriguez, Assistant Professor While the volume has a preference for con- Contemporary Aesthetics, visit www.contem- of Philosophy, Sacramento State University; tributions that discover a Ricœurian philoso- paesthetics.org, or contact: Arnold Berleant Aaron Smuts, Associate Professor of Philoso- phy of art and aesthetics, it remains open to at [email protected]. phy, Rhode Island College; Cynthia Willett, contributions that are interested in what could Professor of Philosophy, Emory University; seem like blind spots in Ricœur’s thinking in Deadline: November 1, 2016 Jason Zinoman, Comedy Critic for The New this area. For example, one might think of a York Times. type of privilege afforded to the link between aesthetics and poetics and ethics at the Conference on Ethics and Aesthetics of Possible topics include: expense of the link between aesthetics and Stand-up Comedy politics, something which lies at the heart of Aesthetics of Stand-Up Comedy: theories of the discourse of the avant-gardes, or alter- The American Society for Aesthetics has humor, satire, irony, style, theories of emotion natively, one might think of the relation to the awarded $7,000 in partial support for the and affect, self-conscious emotions (shame, question of perception, which is of interest to Conference on the Ethics and Aesthetics embarrassment, guilt, pride), reflections Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, Deleuze’s of Stand-Up Comedy at Bucknell Univer- on the state of the art, relations with other transcendental empiricism, but also to every sity, Lewisburg, PA, April 19-22, 2017. The arts (e.g., poetry, spoken word, pantomime, approach that maintains to a greater or lesser conference was organized by Sheila Lintott, music, improv), analyses of joke structure, degree a link to cognitivism. Associate Professor, and Jason Leddington, boundaries of aesthetic taste, appropriation
Time to Renew Your ASA Membership!
If your membership has expired, there’s still time to renew! You’ll save money by renewing for two or three years.
How to find out when your membership expires: Log into the new web site. Click Manage Profile in the upper right. On the next page you see, look on the left for Membership. Click that and it will tell you when your membership expires.
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How to renew your membership through the mail: Go to the new web site. You do not need to log in. Hover over the ASA button in the upper right and look for “Join ASA (mail-in)” on the sub-menus, near the bottom of the list. Click that and it will open a Word document which you can print out and mail in with a check. We are not able to accept credit cards with mail-in membership. Or look for the membership form in the blue paper insert in the August 2015 issue of this newsletter.
SPRING 2016 13 and originality, case studies of particular Environmental Ethics and Aesthetics: At stand-up comedians, cross-cultural com- Upcoming Events the Intersection parisons, historical reflections on the art form, Bloomington, Indiana public persona and comic identity. ASA Rocky Mountain Division Meeting May 12-14, 2016 Santa Fe, New Mexico Ethics/Social Political Issues of Stand-up July 8-10, 2016 More and more people today are concerned Comedy: alternative stand-up comedy, politi- about the impact humans have on the natu- cal stand-up comedy, ethnic humor, identity The Rocky Mountain Division of the American ral environment. Therefore, of increasing (gender, race, age, etc.) and performance, Society for Aesthetics is a relatively small, philosophical concern is the question, what racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, big- interdisciplinary group of scholars and artists grounds our responsibility to protect the natu- otry, feminism, anti-racism, censorship, law, devoted to the study of aesthetics, its theo- ral world, especially the non-sentient parts of political correctness, agency and subversion, ries, applications, history, and origins. it? A number of philosophers have suggested nationalism, stereotypes and tropes, political that we should justify protecting the environ- efficacy and limitations, the politics of rep- Founded in 1983, the division gathers each ment partly for aesthetic reasons. resentation, the ethics of heckling, hostility, year in July in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to aspects of identity in stand-up comedy, such share research and hold discussions in sev- There have been several recent attempts to as race, ethnicity, ability, gender, sexuality, eral forums, including the presentation of provide a theory of environmental aesthetics. ability, age, and/or class, performance and scholarly papers, the keynote address, and Yet most of the attention in environmental appreciation, social movements/activism. the exhibition of work by a visiting artist. In- aesthetics has been focused on whether terested faculty, graduate students, and inde- the theories on offer are good accounts of Please send either a 3000-word full paper pendent scholars and artists are encouraged our aesthetic experiences of nature. What draft or a 1000-word extended abstract out- to join us at the annual conference. has remained in the background is whether lining the paper, workshop, or panel via the environmental aesthetic theories can ground, conference website: http://www.bustandup- For more information on the conference, provide reasons for, or even justify protecting comcon.com. Include the paper/panel/work- including program, registration, and lodging, the environment. shop title, contact information and current see https://asarmd.com, or contact Reuben J. affiliation (if any) of all participants. Please Ellis, at [email protected]. We aim to foreground the relation between bear in mind that the papers should be suit- environmental aesthetics and environmen- able for a twenty-minute presentation; panels tal protection. Bringing together an array of for less than 90 minutes; and workshops British Society of Aesthetics Annual Meet- international scholars, we will discuss why, from 60-120 minutes. Submissions will be ing if at all, we have a responsibility to protect evaluated for their clarity of content, strength Oxford, UK non-sentient parts of the natural environment. of central arguments, relevance to the confer- September 16-18, 2016 Are such responsibilities best justified on aes- ence themes, and potential interest and use thetic or moral grounds, or some combination of content. Our 56th annual conference takes place at of the two? This conference is open to the St Anne’s College, Oxford. Situated within public. Registration is free but required. Visit Deadline: December 20, 2016 five acres of tranquil leafy grounds, St Anne’s http://enviroethics.indiana.edu/ for further enjoys a unique atmosphere and a traditional information. of intellectual generosity. Whilst dating from 1879, it is modern in its outlook and architec- ture and is one of Oxford’s largest colleges, 11th Conference of the Association for with some 700 students and staff. Program Researching and Applying Metaphor: details will be available shortly. Metaphor in the Arts, in Media and Com- munication New ASA Trustees Confirmed keynote speakers include Susan Berlin, Germany Feagin (Temple University), giving the 2016 July 1-4, 2016 Richard Wollheim Lecture; Tacita Dean will Congratulations to Eva Kit Wah Man deliver the William Empson Lecture. RaAM 11 is hosted by Hermann Kappelhoff and Katherine Thomson-Jones on their (Cinepoetics – Center for Advanced Film election to the American Society for For more information, see http://british-aes- Studies / Freie Universität Berlin) and Cor- Aesthetics Board of Trustees for three- thetics.org/?portfolio=annual-conference. nelia Müller (European University Viadrina year terms from February 1, 2016 - Frankfurt (Oder)) and will take place 1-4 July January 31, 2019. 2016 at Freie Universität Berlin. ASA Annual Meeting Seattle, Washington RaAM is committed to the study of metaphor, And thanks again to James Harold and November 16-19, 2016 metonymy and other forms of figurative ex- Sarah Worth, who stepped down as pression in all domains of life and with a par- Trustees on January 31, 2016, for their Program details and registration informa- ticular focus on the application of metaphor service. tion will be forthcoming soon. For more research to real-life issues. With the 2016 information, including travel details and lo- theme “Metaphor in the Arts, in Media and cal attractions, see http://aesthetics-online. Communication”, the conference RaAM 11 org/?page=74thConf. will embrace this central thought by putting the spotlight on ways of metaphorical com- munication – often beyond the scope of sole- ly language-based discourse – in some of the
14 ASA NEWSLETTER most prominent areas of metaphor usage: For more information, see https://psn2016. film and other audio-visual media, literature, org. Active poetry, architecture, theatre, painting, music and dance as well as product design, social Aestheticians media and face-to-face communication. The 20th International Congress for Aes- thetics MARILYNN H. JOHNSON, a PhD Candidate For further information, please visit: www.fu- Seoul, Korea at the Graduate Center, City University of berlin.de/raam2016. Or join us on Facebook July 24-29, 2016 New York, has been awarded the ASA Dis- (www.facebook.com/raam2016) or Twitter (@ sertation Fellowship for 2016-17. Her disser- RaAM11Berlin). If you have any questions The Korean Society for Aesthetics will hold tation, “Meaning Through Things,” examines please contact us at raam2016@cinepoetics. the 20th International Congress for Aesthet- the nature of interpretation across diverse fu-berlin.de. ics in Seoul, in 2016 under the theme of practices and modes of inquiry, including art, “Aesthetics and Mass Culture.” The congress literature, the law, and archeology. will be held on the campus of Seoul National Fourth Performance Studies Network In- University, the most prestigious university ANNA CHRISTINA RIBEIRO will be the ternational Conference in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and ASA-sponsored speaker at the 2016 Rutgers Bath, UK home to the only Department of Aesthetics Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy. July 14-17, 2016 in the country. She is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. The international Performance Studies Net- The congress will focus on the various aes- She was selected by the Institute Director work comprises professional and amateur thetic aspects of mass culture, which, due to from an exceptionally strong field of candi- musicians, scholars working in a range of the rapid development of information technol- dates who applied to ASA for this appoint- musicological disciplines (including music ogy, has become one of the most prominent ment. history, analysis, psychology, pedagogy, of contemporary cultural phenomena. Even ethnomusicology and composition), and so, the congress will be open to every tra- The editors welcome your submissions colleagues from the creative industries. The ditional subject of aesthetics. This 20th con- about your professional acheivements: fourth international conference of the Perfor- gress will consist of several panels and round books published, grants, prizes, honors and mance Studies Network will be held at Bath tables, along with dozens of sessions, includ- accolades, and more. Please send your Spa University, Newton Park campus, from ing sessions for individual artistic genres. news to us at
SPRING 2016 15 American Society for Aesthetics Non-Profit Organization c/o Julie Van Camp U.S. POSTAGE 1550 Larimer St. #644 PAID Denver, CO SAVANNAH GA Permit No. 1565 80202-1602
ASA Newsletter edited by David Goldblatt and Henry Pratt ISSN 1089-1668
The Newsletter is published three times a year by the American Society for Aesthetics. Subscriptions are available to non-mem- bers for $15 per year plus postage. For subscription or membership information: ASA, c/o Julie Van Camp, 1550 Larimer St. #644, Denver, CO 80202-1602 Tel. 562-331-4424; email:
Send calls for papers, event announcements, conference reports, and other items of interest to:
David Goldblatt, Department of Philosophy, Denison University, Granville, OH 43023,
Deadlines: December 1, April 15, August 1
16 ASA NEWSLETTER