Artistic Judgment Research Articles

Evaluation in Interaction: The Pragmatic Approach to Artistic Judgement

The aim of this paper is to discuss the pragmatic approach to studying artistic evaluation. The paper engages with recent literature and examines current trends in research on amateur and expert artistic judgement, arguing that the pragmatic scholarship has much to offer to the sociology of art and culture. It demonstrates the growth of qualitative research inspired by interpretivist approaches and symbolic interactionism, highlighting the main areas of researchers’ interest, such as (1) (Social) interaction between evaluators and artistic objects, or (2) Pragmatic rules and the situational character of artistic evaluation. This paper also identifies research gaps and provides directions for future research.

"‘Hebrew Melody in a Minor, Op. 33’ by Joseph Achron. The Dehiscence of Temporalities Between “{In}-flesh-ization” and “Holding[s]-still” Phenomenon in Musicalized Mournfulness

"Long times being left in a penumbra, the violinist Joseph Achron needs a revaluation from the part of phenomenological aesthetic and musicology fields. Following the basic theory of Maurice Merleau– Ponty’s flesh, and few perspectives from Edmund Husserl’s, we demonstrate that insisting on the idea of the inverted plenitude as dehiscence will take us to another level of the perception of the Beauty in ‘Hebrew Melody’, composed by Joseph Achron. The final part of the paper offers to the listener the real possibility to see Beauty’s ingrown/incarnation in the mournfulness “as-it-is” – in its dehiscential plenitude. The purpose of music must also be to bring us closer to the sufferer’s interior structures, but so that we can see the Beauty that lies in it. To achieve this, more ontic openings are needed, and this phenomenon well-characterized by the term dehiscential. ‘Hebrew Melody, Op. 33’– encompasses a whole world. In sound, pain can be exposed much more easily and much more cleansed of its negative aspects. Sonorous mournfulness is different from mournfulness-in-itself, but similar. At the level of human suffering, the two have the same ontic place. When they are filtered through artistic catharsis or artistic judgments, they receive a sublimated note that cuts the thresholds of the common world. The sounds that break the silence of the Being (in its successive openings), are the sounds that crumble the most, are those that scream so soft, so fragile, but scream. This is what we experience with ‘Hebrew Melody, Op.33’. The touching of the impossible things, the nostalgia for the lost memories, the desire to feel a piece of quietness, the sadness of not being happy, like a ship gone towards the blue horizon, the nothingness lived in a mourn – all these penumbrae of a sad soul which may have lost everything shape in us a beautiful Hebrew canvas, the necessity of a never-ending return to the Hebrew village, its synagogue, and life. Keywords: Joseph Achron; ‘Hebrew Melody’; dehiscence; mournfulness’-temporality [‘piangere’-state-of-mind]; mournfulness; inverted plenitude; incarnation; flesh; holding[s]-still; {in}-flesh-ing[s]. "

The Gilded Interior: French Style and American Renaissance

ABSTRACTIn the decades around the turn of the twentieth century, New York was seized by a passion for things French in interior decoration. The influx of French eighteenth-century decorative arts from London and Paris exerted a powerful influence over the imaginations of a new millionaire class, while the emergence of the professional dealer-decorator established channels for the incorporation of these materials into the luxury residence. While these interiors were developed in collaboration with leading US architects such as Richard Morris Hunt and George B. Post, they also posed a subtle challenge to the discourse of intellectualism developed on architects’ behalf. Governed by issues of taste and commerce as well as by artistic judgement, these French interiors presented a compelling vision of aristocratic stature that was at once in keeping, and in conflict, with the aspirations of an American Renaissance. This article considers the role of eighteenth-century French-style interiors in the articulation of a ‘civilised’ architectural tradition in the United States during the so-called Gilded Age. Focusing on the private mansion, it reconsiders the notion of the American Renaissance as a principally academic movement by calling attention to the ways in which it also responded to the requirements of the elite class as well as the commercial marketplace.

KOMI FEMALE DRAMA: SOME ASPECTS OF STUDYING THE QUESTION

The beginning of the 21st century opened a new page in the development of Komi literature connected with the activity of female authors earlier unprecedented on a dramatic field. In the 2000s Nina Kuratova, Elena Kozlova and Nina Obrezkova addressed dramaturgic genres. By this time they had already been popular writers. Having addressed a dramaturgic genre, new to itself, each writer introduced organic features in a palette of dramaturgic poetics, enriching and updating national culture. We devoted this work to research the specifics of Komi female dramatic art. Gender approach and method of the comparative analysis allowed us to reveal features of Komi female dramatic art. The Komi female dramatic art is not stereotypical and cliched, there is no similarity in the creation of plots and the features of characters in plays by the playwrights. N. Kuratova's, E. Kozlova's and N. Obrezkova's plays differ on the one hand from each other, on the other hand from plays by male Komi playwrights. It is not only about female playwrights reproducing in plays the female character and especially female household reality, but also about reproduction of how women feel and understand the world. In the Komi female drama we see the desire of the woman to live in harmony with the world, to constantly feel safe, to arrange family cosiness, to keep and transfer to the subsequent generations family values, love and respect (Kuratova). Also female drama transmits that pain which is felt by the woman, building relations with men, feeling their pressure and even violence (Kozlova). The female drama reveals changes the woman in modern society experiences, her finding new social roles, finding male features against the background of spiritual weakening of men (Obrezkova). So, the female consciousness gets into Komi dramaturgic space, opening new ways in an artistic judgment of reality, enriching an aesthetic paradigm.

Striving for Consensus: How Panels Evaluate Artistic Productions

Researchers have studied how artistic judgments are made in group interactions, but much remains to be known about artistic evaluations in decision-making settings where agreements need to be reached. This paper analyzes panel evaluations of artistic productions, drawing on interviews with panelists from a Polish theater competition. The article focuses on two aspects of panel decision-making: (1) concepts of artistic value that members of expert panels apply when evaluating art productions; and (2) interpersonal rules of deliberation, that is, norms and patterns of behavior that allow panelists to attach legitimacy to the decision-making process and its outcomes. The authors find that panel evaluations are based on a combination of two different logics (content and context logic) and develop a matrix of values the conceptualizes artistic standards and their applications. Furthermore, the authors find that panelists follow three types of interpersonal rules for decision-making: substantive, procedural, and contextual.

Aesthetical Quality & Artistic Values of Beauty of Tagore and Seal

Some separate aesthetics and philosophy of art, claiming that the former is the study of beauty while the latter is the study of works of art. However, most commonly Aesthetics encompasses both questions around beauty as well as questions about art. It examines topics such as aesthetic objects, aesthetic experience, and aesthetic judgments. For some, aesthetics is considered a synonym for the philosophy of art since Hegel, while others insist that there is a significant distinction between these closely related fields. In practice, aesthetic judgement refers to the sensory contemplation or appreciation of an object (not necessarily an art object), while artistic judgement refers to the recognition, appreciation or criticism of art or an art work.

ХУДОЖНІЙ СМАК ЯК НАУКОВА ДЕФІНІЦІЯ: ФІЛОСОФСЬКО-ІСТОРИЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

У статті розглядається поняття «художній смак» та інші його різновиди. Автор проводить аналіз виникнення та становлення дефініції «смак» в історії філософії. В науковій праці узагальнюється теоретична інформація щодо визначення сутності художнього смаку та його змістового наповнення. Висвітлюється безпосередній зв'язок художнього смаку з художньою потребою, естетичним ідеалом та художньо-естетичними судженнями, які впливають на формування естетичної свідомості особистості. У статті обґрунтовується значущість формування художнього смаку у підростаючого покоління.

Normativity and Beauty in Contemporary Arts

Our intuitions related to art are generally associated to ideas such as creativity, freedom of expression, experimentation. The fact that so many artists (especially writers, but also musicians, painters, performance artists) are or have been people with training in legal disciplines should be taken into account when considering the apparently extrinsic relationship between art and law. The question we have to answer is the following. When we make a judgment of taste looking, say, at the Mona Lisa, what does that mean exactly? What do we mean when we say that “the Mona Lisa is beautiful and an absolute masterpiece of Western art”? This statement contains a judgment of taste (Mona Lisa is beautiful) and an artistic judgment (it is a masterpiece of Western art). In what follows I will show that: i) the two judgments are different, ii) both judgments have normative nature, but the normativity of the judgment of taste refers to different elements from the artistic judgment and, finally, iii) contemporary visual arts require the formulation of an artistic judgment rather than a judgment of taste.

1. Emotional Development through Art Expressions

Abstract Aesthetic education forms and develops a mental quality of the individual, namely, general receptivity to the world and life. It can be said, however, that aesthetic education includes a multiplicity of meanings, formative and educative in relation to personality. All this has a profound echo in the whole personality, whether at the emotional or behavioral level. Art touches and contributes to creating prints from which the later emotional pleasure, taste, artistic judgment and discernment on human values will develop. Emotion refers not only to the aesthetics but involves more often, ethics, behavioral preferences in choosing one or another conduct. Emotions enrich the register of artistic self-expression and complements the temperamental and the character profile of a person. Here we analyze these relevant issues in an experiment conducted at the “Elena Cuza” Primary School of Iasi, Romania. We also present the conclusions of Art Intervention in school for these students. Art intervention in school can become an affective-emotional aim in educator-student relationship and may have important, long term evolutionary consequences, referring to the achievement of personal ideals and efficiency of educational activity.

La biblioteca del collezionista. Una palestra del ‘gusto’ artistico?

The paper argues that art collectors leveraged their library as one of the formative places of artistic taste. Acquiring knowledge through books may have helped shaping one’s artistic judgment, usually a mix of both intellective and emotional processes. Based on the Venetian case study of 17th-18th centuries patrician libraries, the paper explores the works used by art collectors in order to increase their discernment and artistic judgment: emblem, hieroglyphic and exempla books served as database of both pictorial and textual symbols which helped decipher paintings’ symbols and scenes. The Venetian libraries’ inventories and catalogues reveal the existence of two distinct phenomena: the inclusion of generic emblem printed books (with rare manuscript exceptions) in almost all surveyed libraries and the presence of rare and sometimes costly emblem books, specifically tailored to the collector’s field of interest in several libraries. Moreover, the more professional art collectors shared knowledge and titles in order to cut on expenses, relying on the fact that at least one copy was to be found in Venice.

The collector library. A training for the artistic 'taste'?

The paper argues that art collectors leveraged their library as one of the formative places of artistic taste. Acquiring knowledge through books may have helped shaping one’s artistic judgment, usually a mix of both intellective and emotional processes. Based on the Venetian case study of 17th-18th centuries patrician libraries, the paper explores the works used by art collectors in order to increase their discernment and artistic judgment: emblem, hieroglyphic and exempla books served as database of both pictorial and textual symbols which helped decipher paintings’ symbols and scenes. The Venetian libraries’ inventories and catalogues reveal the existence of two distinct phenomena: the inclusion of generic emblem printed books (with rare manuscript exceptions) in almost all surveyed libraries and the presence of rare and sometimes costly emblem books, specifically tailored to the collector’s field of interest in several libraries. Moreover, the more professional art collectors shared knowledge and titles in order to cut on expenses, relying on the fact that at least one copy was to be found in Venice.

MRI of an artistic judgment aptitude construct derived from Eysenck’s K factor.

MRI of an artistic judgment aptitude construct derived from Eysenck’s K factor.

La musicalidad como parte de la cognición distribuida en danza

Musicality in dance does not need music. ?How is musicality apparent in the dance studio, and to what extent is a social construct? We define musicality as a social skill. We analize how dancers share their artistic judgement when narrating the choreographical tasks that take place when rehearsing a new piece. Our claim for this paper is that musicality is part of a vocabulary of motives as artistic justification. As a social skill, musicality relies on two other social skills, listening and fisicality. To capture the variability of the phenomenon, we have observed what happens when the choreographer gives instructions and directs a rehearsal within a cognitive ethnography of a British neoclasical dance company. We selected from the general corpus of data 11 interviews to the company members, which we analized with grounded theory principles. Our findings show how our unit of analysis must be the interaction among dancers in a self-regulated coupling. Thus, we show how musicality is a social hability that can only work in a network of social skills, together with fisicality and listening. It is, in all, the local product of distributed cognition in the dance studio.

Unavoidable Aesthetic Judgments in Copyright Law: A Community of Practice Standard

Aesthetic judgments are “dangerous undertakings” for courts, but they are unavoidable in copyright law. In theory, copyright does not distinguish between works on the basis of aesthetic values or merit (or lack thereof), and courts often go to great lengths to try to avoid artistic judgments. In practice, however, implicit aesthetic criteria are deeply embedded throughout copyright case law. The questions “What is art?” and “How should it be interpreted?” are inextricably linked to the questions “What does copyright protect?,” “Who is an author?,” “What is misappropriation?,” and many other issues essential to copyright. Although courts rarely (if ever) explicitly adhere to aesthetic principles in their decisions, the judicial logic used in copyright cases closely mirrors three major aesthetic theories: Formalism, Intentionalism, and Reader-Response. Unfortunately for courts, these theories are largely incompatible. Furthermore, none are sufficiently expansive to cover the variety of practices contained within a single artistic tradition, let alone the panoply of expressive mediums protected by copyright law. As a result, doctrinal inconsistencies abound (both inter- and intra-circuit), and the case law largely fails to provide clear guidance as to the scope of protection — and risk of liability — associated with different artistic practices. This Article examines how courts have applied aesthetic theories to resolve doctrinal issues concerning copyright eligibility, derivative works, useful articles, and statutory fair use. Based on this analysis, this Article argues that courts should adopt a uniform approach to aesthetic judgments from the perspective of a hypothetical “Community of Practice” capable of situating an expressive work in a specific artistic context.

Political Aesthetics, by Crispin Sartwell.Artistic Judgement: A Framework for Philosophical Aesthetics, by Graham McFee.

<i>Political Aesthetics</i>, by Crispin Sartwell.<i>Artistic Judgement: A Framework for Philosophical Aesthetics</i>, by Graham McFee.

Censura e street creativity

This paper argues that censorship plays a leading role in street creativity. It also explores how the borders between legal and illegal vacillate within the complex relationships between institutions and street artists. Street creativity is defined as any iconographic production displayed in the public arena, either commissioned or not, regardless of the media or technique employed, and abstaining from any aesthetic or artistic judgment. The study is based on pieces found in 2014 in Italian, French, German and English cities. It focuses on their particular location, the meanings of the figures and/or texts, and the doers’ motives, if known. Several forms of censorship stimulate serve as catalysts for street creativity: first of all the regulation of visibility in the urban environment, and the orders and prohibitions implied by this environment. Doers also denounce the authorities’ lies, either by depicting the censored truth or doing artivism. Other seminal inputs are the thrill of transgression, the desire to comunicate with people and the underlying awareness of the transience of life.

Birkhoff's aesthetics, Arnheim's entropy. Some remarks on complexity and fuzzy entropy in arts

AbstractA judgement of aesthetic in arts is, by sheer consensus, a daunting task that requires evaluation of a whole host of endogenous and exogenous cultural factors. A few of them can actually provide very useful hints in tackling foundational problems in Information Science in a more natural setting than what is usually provided by a typical engineering stance. This interaction can however work the other way about, as instruments from the Information and Computer Science toolkit may help in focusing the less explored features of art and its evaluation. When all the social, historical, hermeneutical and political considerations are stripped from the living flesh of the piece, we lose most of what differentiates creation from description. This notwithstanding, or maybe exactly for this reason, measuring structures is still an important element of artistic judgement, and the folk concept that beauty stems from some sort of order/chaos relationship, formalized by G. D. Birkhoff as the aesthetic measure, req...

XEPA - Autonomous Intelligent Light and Sound Sculptures That Improvise Group Performances

XEPA anticipates a future where machines form their own societies. Going beyond mere generative art, machines will exhibit artistic creativity with the addition of artistic judgment via computational aesthetic evaluation. In such a future our notions of aesthetics will undergo a radical translation. The XEPA intelligent sculptures create animated light and sound sequences. Each sculpture “watches” the others and modifies its own aesthetic behavior to create a collaborative, improvisational performance. No coordination information or commands are used. Each XEPA independently evaluates the aesthetics of the other sculptures, infers a theme or mood being attempted, and then modifies its own aesthetics to better reinforce that theme. Each performance is unique and widely varied. XEPA is an ever-evolving artwork, intended as a platform for ongoing experiments in computational aesthetic evaluation.

The Texts of O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon appeared in two editions within four and a half years. The first, published March 1920, printed a text that O’Neill probably completed in 1918 but may have tweaked for publication. It has not been reprinted since 1922, has never been edited, and was only recently reissued online.1 The second edition incorporated collaborative cuts made during a boozy span in mid-January 1920, prior to the play’s February 3 premiere. That edition debuted in O’Neill’s 1924 Complete Works and has been the basis of all subsequent editions. These are different texts, written at different times and representing different assumptions about authorship. Both are essential to our understanding of O’Neill. But I am aware of no study of the play or of O’Neill that engages the first-edition text. My purpose is threefold. First, I will consolidate and clarify the textual history of Beyond the Horizon. Second, I will enumerate significant differences between the two editions, with special attention to the generosity that O’Neill initially accorded to Ruth Mayo, the depressive wife of the poet manque Robert Mayo. Finally, I will argue that in the first edition O’Neill ponders the challenge of melding art and marriage in a gender-savvy manner reflective of his relationship with Agnes Boulton and characteristic of his fellow Provincetown playwrights Neith Boyce and Rita Wellman. The argument attempts to restore to Ruth a measure of dignity that O’Neill briefly allowed her, then withdrew. Judith E. Barlow discerns in the 1924 text “the venerable myth that domesticity, even when freely chosen, kills the male of the species” and “annihilat[es]” his “artistic soul.”2 But the first edition Ruth Mayo, agnes Boulton,

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Lucrative Fandom: Recognizing the Economic Power of Fanworks and Reimagining Fair Use in Copyright

“Fan” culture in the guise of fan-created works like fanfiction, fanart, and fanvids is often connected in the popular imagination with the Internet. However, “fandom” has existed for as long as stories have been told. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories inspired a passionate fandom, long before the age of the Internet. Despite their persistence, fanworks have long existed in a nebulous gray area of copyright law. Determining if any given fanwork is infringing requires a fair use analysis. While paying lip service to a requirement of aesthetic neutrality, such analyses tend to become bogged down in unarticulated artistic judgments that hinge on a court’s personal interpretations of the work in question. One outcome of this emphasis on aesthetic value has been a de-emphasis of the market harm factor of fair use, whose examination has come to be subsumed by courts’ aesthetic judgments. This de-emphasis of the financial aspect of fair use has strong implications for the realm of fanworks. Fanworks have historically been considered to have little aesthetic value by the dominant culture, which can lead to a knee-jerk finding of infringement in an aesthetic-based fair use analysis. However, both old, venerable fandoms like Sherlock Holmes and new works funded by Kickstarters tell us that fanworks can actually enable further creativity by the copyright-holder and increase the value of the original work rather than detracting from it. Shifting the focus of fair use to a market-based approach would prioritize economic returns over artistic opinions. This can correct the imbalance worked by aesthetic value judgments of free works that cause no economic harm, recognizing that fandoms often operate as market facilitators, not market rivals. This Article examines the phenomenon of fandom and its effect on the original works that have inspired it through the medium of both “old” fandoms that pre-date the Internet age and “new” fandoms that have come of age in a digital world. This Article argues that active fandoms producing a large amount of fanworks tend to aid the goals of copyright. It further posits that fair use analyses should be re-focused on ensuring a meaningful examination of the effect on the market factor that avoids the taint of the courts’ aesthetic judgments. A renewed appreciation for the effect on the market factor would result in a more accurate application of the fair use doctrine that would acknowledge the role of fanworks and their participatory culture in supporting the economic incentive motivation of copyright.