Kurzbeschreibung
Esteemed critic, painter, and writer Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe offers a provocative critique of beauty in relation to the contemporary notion of the sublime, which is now found in technology and a high-powered economy rather than in nature. Refuting established views, this book questions today's ideas of beauty, including those applied to contemporary art, and proposes a secular theory of beauty as glamorous rather than good, frivolous rather than serious. An illuminating read, this book provides excellent course material for classes in philosophy, cultural studies, art history, and aesthetics.
Synopsis
This text offers a provocative critique of beauty in interaction with the contemporary notion of the sublime. Refuting established views of beauty, the author considers beauty as glamor, related to a sublime now found in technology and capitalism rather than in nature. The text brings together several questions surrounding ideas of the beautiful, including its place in contemporary art, and proposes a secular theory of beauty, one that poses it as glamorous rather than good, frivolous rather than serious. The text aims to be of use to those interested in philosophy, cultural studies and art history, as well as the relationship between discourse and technology, technology and the body and the aesthetic versus the counter-aesthetic.